Opening files in correct order

[m.scholze]

Aaron, thank You for your answer, simple and clear.
Will find a new file naming convention for right opening order.

[Aaron]

Hello,

BC3 accepts the order that Explorer passes them in to us with. This makes the selected, right-clicked file "last" (which makes it the center), and then it ascends and loops around. So if you right click 1, it'll go 2,3,1. If you right click 2, it'll go 3,1,2.
Our command line then expects: left, right, center.

If you right click one file at a time, you can select the Left file manually first, the right file, then the center.

[m.scholze]

Hi there,

3-way merge I use very often and nearly everything works like a charm
Actually the only one thing seems a little bit strange to me - how to open files in correct order.

I have these - alphabetically ordered - files to merge:
base-new.txt ... new version of base
base-old.txt ..... common ancestor (base)
cust-old.txt ..... common ancestor (base) modified for customer

I expect BC to open files this way:
left = base-new.txt
middle = base-old.txt
right = cust-new.txt

Now, what happens if I select all three files and open them using right-button context menu "Merge"? It gives me these results:
In Windows Explorer

• clicking on base-new: left = base-old, middle = base-new, right = cust-old.
• clicking on base-old: left = cust-old, middle = base-old, right = base-new.
• clicking on cust-old: left = base-new, middle = cust-old, right = base-old.

In Total Commander
everytime (doesn't matter what file I clicked) left = base-old, middle = base-new, right = cust-old.

So, is there any way to tell BC "open files in alpha order from left to right"?

Many thanks for your time and answers.

Mirek Scholze