Merge previewing in a version control system

A data processing method comprising:

• in a content version control system, obtaining input specifying a source branch of content, a destination branch of content, and a repository of content relating to a prospective merge of the source branch into the destination branch in the repository prior to merging in the repository;
• storing a copy of the source branch of content and a copy of the destination branch of content in a temporary storage location comprising a temporary tree and temporary index;
• in the temporary storage location:
• performing a merge of the copy of the source branch and the copy of the destination branch with respect to a first common ancestor branch of the source branch and destination branch;
• creating and causing displaying a diff of changes between the copy of the source branch and the copy of the destination branch based upon a merge committed using the temporary tree, temporary index, and the copy of the destination branch;
• in the diff, displaying one or more conflicts of the copy of the source branch and the copy of the destination branch that would occur if the merge is committed to the repository based upon the temporary index;
• wherein the method is performed using one or more computing devices.

A computer system comprising a server computer comprising one or more non-transitory computer-readable data storage media stored with one or more sequences of instructions which when executed using a particular user computer among a plurality of user computers cause the particular user computer to perform:

• using the particular user computer, alone or in combination with the server computer, in a content version control system, obtaining input specifying a source branch of content, a destination branch of content, and a repository of content relating to a prospective merge of the source branch into the destination branch in the repository prior to merging in a preview partition in the repository;
• storing a copy of the source branch of content and a copy of the destination branch of content in a temporary storage location comprising a temporary tree and temporary index;
• in the temporary storage location:
• performing a merge of the copy of the source branch and the copy of the destination branch with respect to a first common ancestor branch of the source branch and destination branch;
• creating and causing displaying a diff of changes between the copy of the source branch and the copy of the destination branch based upon a merge committed using the temporary tree, temporary index, and the copy of the destination branch;
• and
• in the diff, displaying one or more conflicts of the copy of the source branch and the copy of the destination branch that would occur if the merge is committed to the repository based upon the temporary index;
• wherein in the server computer, stored downloading instructions which, when executed using the server computer, cause downloading a plurality of copies of the one or more sequences of instructions to the plurality of user computers.