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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/git-fast-import.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/git-fast-import.txt | 808 |
1 files changed, 690 insertions, 118 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt index 77a14bb076..66910aa2fa 100644 --- a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt +++ b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt @@ -8,14 +8,15 @@ git-fast-import - Backend for fast Git data importers SYNOPSIS -------- -frontend | 'git-fast-import' [options] +[verse] +frontend | 'git fast-import' [options] DESCRIPTION ----------- This program is usually not what the end user wants to run directly. Most end users want to use one of the existing frontend programs, which parses a specific type of foreign source and feeds the contents -stored there to git-fast-import. +stored there to 'git fast-import'. fast-import reads a mixed command/data stream from standard input and writes one or more packfiles directly into the current repository. @@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ updated branch and tag refs, fully updating the current repository with the newly imported data. The fast-import backend itself can import into an empty repository (one that -has already been initialized by gitlink:git-init[1]) or incrementally +has already been initialized by 'git init') or incrementally update an existing populated repository. Whether or not incremental imports are supported from a particular foreign source depends on the frontend program in use. @@ -32,37 +33,95 @@ the frontend program in use. OPTIONS ------- ---date-format=<fmt>:: - Specify the type of dates the frontend will supply to - fast-import within `author`, `committer` and `tagger` commands. - See ``Date Formats'' below for details about which formats - are supported, and their syntax. --force:: Force updating modified existing branches, even if doing so would cause commits to be lost (as the new commit does not contain the old commit). ---max-pack-size=<n>:: - Maximum size of each output packfile, expressed in MiB. - The default is 4096 (4 GiB) as that is the maximum allowed - packfile size (due to file format limitations). Some - importers may wish to lower this, such as to ensure the - resulting packfiles fit on CDs. +--quiet:: + Disable all non-fatal output, making fast-import silent when it + is successful. This option disables the output shown by + --stats. ---depth=<n>:: - Maximum delta depth, for blob and tree deltification. - Default is 10. +--stats:: + Display some basic statistics about the objects fast-import has + created, the packfiles they were stored into, and the + memory used by fast-import during this run. Showing this output + is currently the default, but can be disabled with --quiet. ---active-branches=<n>:: - Maximum number of branches to maintain active at once. - See ``Memory Utilization'' below for details. Default is 5. +Options for Frontends +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +--cat-blob-fd=<fd>:: + Write responses to `get-mark`, `cat-blob`, and `ls` queries to the + file descriptor <fd> instead of `stdout`. Allows `progress` + output intended for the end-user to be separated from other + output. + +--date-format=<fmt>:: + Specify the type of dates the frontend will supply to + fast-import within `author`, `committer` and `tagger` commands. + See ``Date Formats'' below for details about which formats + are supported, and their syntax. + +--done:: + Terminate with error if there is no `done` command at the end of + the stream. This option might be useful for detecting errors + that cause the frontend to terminate before it has started to + write a stream. + +Locations of Marks Files +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --export-marks=<file>:: Dumps the internal marks table to <file> when complete. Marks are written one per line as `:markid SHA-1`. Frontends can use this file to validate imports after they - have been completed. + have been completed, or to save the marks table across + incremental runs. As <file> is only opened and truncated + at checkpoint (or completion) the same path can also be + safely given to --import-marks. + +--import-marks=<file>:: + Before processing any input, load the marks specified in + <file>. The input file must exist, must be readable, and + must use the same format as produced by --export-marks. + Multiple options may be supplied to import more than one + set of marks. If a mark is defined to different values, + the last file wins. + +--import-marks-if-exists=<file>:: + Like --import-marks but instead of erroring out, silently + skips the file if it does not exist. + +--[no-]relative-marks:: + After specifying --relative-marks the paths specified + with --import-marks= and --export-marks= are relative + to an internal directory in the current repository. + In git-fast-import this means that the paths are relative + to the .git/info/fast-import directory. However, other + importers may use a different location. ++ +Relative and non-relative marks may be combined by interweaving +--(no-)-relative-marks with the --(import|export)-marks= options. + +Performance and Compression Tuning +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +--active-branches=<n>:: + Maximum number of branches to maintain active at once. + See ``Memory Utilization'' below for details. Default is 5. + +--big-file-threshold=<n>:: + Maximum size of a blob that fast-import will attempt to + create a delta for, expressed in bytes. The default is 512m + (512 MiB). Some importers may wish to lower this on systems + with constrained memory. + +--depth=<n>:: + Maximum delta depth, for blob and tree deltification. + Default is 10. --export-pack-edges=<file>:: After creating a packfile, print a line of data to @@ -71,18 +130,11 @@ OPTIONS This information may be useful after importing projects whose total object set exceeds the 4 GiB packfile limit, as these commits can be used as edge points during calls - to gitlink:git-pack-objects[1]. + to 'git pack-objects'. ---quiet:: - Disable all non-fatal output, making fast-import silent when it - is successful. This option disables the output shown by - \--stats. - ---stats:: - Display some basic statistics about the objects fast-import has - created, the packfiles they were stored into, and the - memory used by fast-import during this run. Showing this output - is currently the default, but can be disabled with \--quiet. +--max-pack-size=<n>:: + Maximum size of each output packfile. + The default is unlimited. Performance @@ -113,9 +165,9 @@ an ideal situation, given that most conversion tools are throw-away Parallel Operation ------------------ -Like `git-push` or `git-fetch`, imports handled by fast-import are safe to +Like 'git push' or 'git fetch', imports handled by fast-import are safe to run alongside parallel `git repack -a -d` or `git gc` invocations, -or any other Git operation (including `git prune`, as loose objects +or any other Git operation (including 'git prune', as loose objects are never used by fast-import). fast-import does not lock the branch or tag refs it is actively importing. @@ -127,8 +179,8 @@ fast-forward update, fast-import will skip updating that ref and instead prints a warning message. fast-import will always attempt to update all branch refs, and does not stop on the first failure. -Branch updates can be forced with \--force, but its recommended that -this only be used on an otherwise quiet repository. Using \--force +Branch updates can be forced with --force, but it's recommended that +this only be used on an otherwise quiet repository. Using --force is not necessary for an initial import into an empty repository. @@ -159,21 +211,31 @@ especially when a higher level language such as Perl, Python or Ruby is being used. fast-import is very strict about its input. Where we say SP below we mean -*exactly* one space. Likewise LF means one (and only one) linefeed. +*exactly* one space. Likewise LF means one (and only one) linefeed +and HT one (and only one) horizontal tab. Supplying additional whitespace characters will cause unexpected results, such as branch names or file names with leading or trailing spaces in their name, or early termination of fast-import when it encounters unexpected input. +Stream Comments +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +To aid in debugging frontends fast-import ignores any line that +begins with `#` (ASCII pound/hash) up to and including the line +ending `LF`. A comment line may contain any sequence of bytes +that does not contain an LF and therefore may be used to include +any detailed debugging information that might be specific to the +frontend and useful when inspecting a fast-import data stream. + Date Formats ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following date formats are supported. A frontend should select the format it will use for this import by passing the format name -in the \--date-format=<fmt> command line option. +in the --date-format=<fmt> command-line option. `raw`:: This is the Git native format and is `<time> SP <offutc>`. - It is also fast-import's default format, if \--date-format was + It is also fast-import's default format, if --date-format was not specified. + The time of the event is specified by `<time>` as the number of @@ -189,7 +251,7 @@ advisement to help formatting routines display the timestamp. If the local offset is not available in the source material, use ``+0000'', or the most common local offset. For example many organizations have a CVS repository which has only ever been accessed -by users who are located in the same location and timezone. In this +by users who are located in the same location and time zone. In this case a reasonable offset from UTC could be assumed. + Unlike the `rfc2822` format, this format is very strict. Any @@ -200,7 +262,7 @@ variation in formatting will cause fast-import to reject the value. + An example value is ``Tue Feb 6 11:22:18 2007 -0500''. The Git parser is accurate, but a little on the lenient side. It is the -same parser used by gitlink:git-am[1] when applying patches +same parser used by 'git am' when applying patches received from email. + Some malformed strings may be accepted as valid dates. In some of @@ -209,7 +271,7 @@ the malformed string. There are also some types of malformed strings which Git will parse wrong, and yet consider valid. Seriously malformed strings will be rejected. + -Unlike the `raw` format above, the timezone/UTC offset information +Unlike the `raw` format above, the time zone/UTC offset information contained in an RFC 2822 date string is used to adjust the date value to UTC prior to storage. Therefore it is important that this information be as accurate as possible. @@ -221,22 +283,22 @@ been well tested in the wild. + Frontends should prefer the `raw` format if the source material already uses UNIX-epoch format, can be coaxed to give dates in that -format, or its format is easiliy convertible to it, as there is no +format, or its format is easily convertible to it, as there is no ambiguity in parsing. `now`:: - Always use the current time and timezone. The literal + Always use the current time and time zone. The literal `now` must always be supplied for `<when>`. + -This is a toy format. The current time and timezone of this system +This is a toy format. The current time and time zone of this system is always copied into the identity string at the time it is being created by fast-import. There is no way to specify a different time or -timezone. +time zone. + -This particular format is supplied as its short to implement and +This particular format is supplied as it's short to implement and may be useful to a process that wants to create a new commit right now, without needing to use a working directory or -gitlink:git-update-index[1]. +'git update-index'. + If separate `author` and `committer` commands are used in a `commit` the timestamps may not match, as the system clock will be polled @@ -278,6 +340,40 @@ and control the current import process. More detailed discussion This command is optional and is not needed to perform an import. +`progress`:: + Causes fast-import to echo the entire line to its own + standard output. This command is optional and is not needed + to perform an import. + +`done`:: + Marks the end of the stream. This command is optional + unless the `done` feature was requested using the + `--done` command-line option or `feature done` command. + +`get-mark`:: + Causes fast-import to print the SHA-1 corresponding to a mark + to the file descriptor set with `--cat-blob-fd`, or `stdout` if + unspecified. + +`cat-blob`:: + Causes fast-import to print a blob in 'cat-file --batch' + format to the file descriptor set with `--cat-blob-fd` or + `stdout` if unspecified. + +`ls`:: + Causes fast-import to print a line describing a directory + entry in 'ls-tree' format to the file descriptor set with + `--cat-blob-fd` or `stdout` if unspecified. + +`feature`:: + Enable the specified feature. This requires that fast-import + supports the specified feature, and aborts if it does not. + +`option`:: + Specify any of the options listed under OPTIONS that do not + change stream semantic to suit the frontend's needs. This + command is optional and is not needed to perform an import. + `commit` ~~~~~~~~ Create or update a branch with a new commit, recording one logical @@ -286,13 +382,13 @@ change to the project. .... 'commit' SP <ref> LF mark? - ('author' SP <name> SP LT <email> GT SP <when> LF)? - 'committer' SP <name> SP LT <email> GT SP <when> LF + ('author' (SP <name>)? SP LT <email> GT SP <when> LF)? + 'committer' (SP <name>)? SP LT <email> GT SP <when> LF data - ('from' SP <committish> LF)? - ('merge' SP <committish> LF)? - (filemodify | filedelete | filedeleteall)* - LF + ('from' SP <commit-ish> LF)? + ('merge' SP <commit-ish> LF)? + (filemodify | filedelete | filecopy | filerename | filedeleteall | notemodify)* + LF? .... where `<ref>` is the name of the branch to make the commit on. @@ -314,12 +410,15 @@ commit message use a 0 length data. Commit messages are free-form and are not interpreted by Git. Currently they must be encoded in UTF-8, as fast-import does not permit other encodings to be specified. -Zero or more `filemodify`, `filedelete` and `filedeleteall` commands +Zero or more `filemodify`, `filedelete`, `filecopy`, `filerename`, +`filedeleteall` and `notemodify` commands may be included to update the contents of the branch prior to creating the commit. These commands may be supplied in any order. -However it is recommended that a `filedeleteall` command preceed -all `filemodify` commands in the same commit, as `filedeleteall` -wipes the branch clean (see below). +However it is recommended that a `filedeleteall` command precede +all `filemodify`, `filecopy`, `filerename` and `notemodify` commands in +the same commit, as `filedeleteall` wipes the branch clean (see below). + +The `LF` after the command is optional (it used to be required). `author` ^^^^^^^^ @@ -336,14 +435,14 @@ they made it. Here `<name>` is the person's display name (for example ``Com M Itter'') and `<email>` is the person's email address -(``cm@example.com''). `LT` and `GT` are the literal less-than (\x3c) +(``\cm@example.com''). `LT` and `GT` are the literal less-than (\x3c) and greater-than (\x3e) symbols. These are required to delimit the email address from the other fields in the line. Note that -`<name>` is free-form and may contain any sequence of bytes, except -`LT` and `LF`. It is typically UTF-8 encoded. +`<name>` and `<email>` are free-form and may contain any sequence +of bytes, except `LT`, `GT` and `LF`. `<name>` is typically UTF-8 encoded. The time of the change is specified by `<when>` using the date format -that was selected by the \--date-format=<fmt> command line option. +that was selected by the --date-format=<fmt> command-line option. See ``Date Formats'' above for the set of supported formats, and their syntax. @@ -351,29 +450,34 @@ their syntax. ^^^^^^ The `from` command is used to specify the commit to initialize this branch from. This revision will be the first ancestor of the -new commit. +new commit. The state of the tree built at this commit will begin +with the state at the `from` commit, and be altered by the content +modifications in this commit. Omitting the `from` command in the first commit of a new branch will cause fast-import to create that commit with no ancestor. This tends to be desired only for the initial commit of a project. +If the frontend creates all files from scratch when making a new +branch, a `merge` command may be used instead of `from` to start +the commit with an empty tree. Omitting the `from` command on existing branches is usually desired, as the current commit on that branch is automatically assumed to be the first ancestor of the new commit. As `LF` is not valid in a Git refname or SHA-1 expression, no -quoting or escaping syntax is supported within `<committish>`. +quoting or escaping syntax is supported within `<commit-ish>`. -Here `<committish>` is any of the following: +Here `<commit-ish>` is any of the following: * The name of an existing branch already in fast-import's internal branch - table. If fast-import doesn't know the name, its treated as a SHA-1 + table. If fast-import doesn't know the name, it's treated as a SHA-1 expression. * A mark reference, `:<idnum>`, where `<idnum>` is the mark number. + The reason fast-import uses `:` to denote a mark reference is this character is not legal in a Git branch name. The leading `:` makes it easy -to distingush between the mark 42 (`:42`) and the branch 42 (`42` +to distinguish between the mark 42 (`:42`) and the branch 42 (`42` or `refs/heads/42`), or an abbreviated SHA-1 which happened to consist only of base-10 digits. + @@ -382,31 +486,34 @@ Marks must be declared (via `mark`) before they can be used. * A complete 40 byte or abbreviated commit SHA-1 in hex. * Any valid Git SHA-1 expression that resolves to a commit. See - ``SPECIFYING REVISIONS'' in gitlink:git-rev-parse[1] for details. + ``SPECIFYING REVISIONS'' in linkgit:gitrevisions[7] for details. + +* The special null SHA-1 (40 zeros) specifies that the branch is to be + removed. The special case of restarting an incremental import from the current branch value should be written as: ---- from refs/heads/branch^0 ---- -The `{caret}0` suffix is necessary as fast-import does not permit a branch to +The `^0` suffix is necessary as fast-import does not permit a branch to start from itself, and the branch is created in memory before the -`from` command is even read from the input. Adding `{caret}0` will force +`from` command is even read from the input. Adding `^0` will force fast-import to resolve the commit through Git's revision parsing library, rather than its internal branch table, thereby loading in the existing value of the branch. `merge` ^^^^^^^ -Includes one additional ancestor commit, and makes the current -commit a merge commit. An unlimited number of `merge` commands per +Includes one additional ancestor commit. The additional ancestry +link does not change the way the tree state is built at this commit. +If the `from` command is +omitted when creating a new branch, the first `merge` commit will be +the first ancestor of the current commit, and the branch will start +out with no files. An unlimited number of `merge` commands per commit are permitted by fast-import, thereby establishing an n-way merge. -However Git's other tools never create commits with more than 15 -additional ancestors (forming a 16-way merge). For this reason -it is suggested that frontends do not use more than 15 `merge` -commands per commit. -Here `<committish>` is any of the commit specification expressions +Here `<commit-ish>` is any of the commit specification expressions also accepted by `from` (see above). `filemodify` @@ -423,9 +530,11 @@ External data format:: 'M' SP <mode> SP <dataref> SP <path> LF .... + -Here `<dataref>` can be either a mark reference (`:<idnum>`) +Here usually `<dataref>` must be either a mark reference (`:<idnum>`) set by a prior `blob` command, or a full 40-byte SHA-1 of an -existing Git blob object. +existing Git blob object. If `<mode>` is `040000`` then +`<dataref>` must be the full 40-byte SHA-1 of an existing +Git tree object or a mark reference set with `--import-marks`. Inline data format:: The data content for the file has not been supplied yet. @@ -447,31 +556,43 @@ in octal. Git only supports the following modes: what you want. * `100755` or `755`: A normal, but executable, file. * `120000`: A symlink, the content of the file will be the link target. +* `160000`: A gitlink, SHA-1 of the object refers to a commit in + another repository. Git links can only be specified by SHA or through + a commit mark. They are used to implement submodules. +* `040000`: A subdirectory. Subdirectories can only be specified by + SHA or through a tree mark set with `--import-marks`. In both formats `<path>` is the complete path of the file to be added (if not already existing) or modified (if already existing). -A `<path>` string must use UNIX-style directory seperators (forward +A `<path>` string must use UNIX-style directory separators (forward slash `/`), may contain any byte other than `LF`, and must not start with double quote (`"`). -If an `LF` or double quote must be encoded into `<path>` shell-style -quoting should be used, e.g. `"path/with\n and \" in it"`. +A path can use C-style string quoting; this is accepted in all cases +and mandatory if the filename starts with double quote or contains +`LF`. In C-style quoting, the complete name should be surrounded with +double quotes, and any `LF`, backslash, or double quote characters +must be escaped by preceding them with a backslash (e.g., +`"path/with\n, \\ and \" in it"`). -The value of `<path>` must be in canoncial form. That is it must not: +The value of `<path>` must be in canonical form. That is it must not: * contain an empty directory component (e.g. `foo//bar` is invalid), -* end with a directory seperator (e.g. `foo/` is invalid), -* start with a directory seperator (e.g. `/foo` is invalid), +* end with a directory separator (e.g. `foo/` is invalid), +* start with a directory separator (e.g. `/foo` is invalid), * contain the special component `.` or `..` (e.g. `foo/./bar` and `foo/../bar` are invalid). +The root of the tree can be represented by an empty string as `<path>`. + It is recommended that `<path>` always be encoded using UTF-8. `filedelete` ^^^^^^^^^^^^ -Included in a `commit` command to remove a file from the branch. -If the file removal makes its directory empty, the directory will +Included in a `commit` command to remove a file or recursively +delete an entire directory from the branch. If the file or directory +removal makes its parent directory empty, the parent directory will be automatically removed too. This cascades up the tree until the first non-empty directory or the root is reached. @@ -479,9 +600,60 @@ first non-empty directory or the root is reached. 'D' SP <path> LF .... -here `<path>` is the complete path of the file to be removed. +here `<path>` is the complete path of the file or subdirectory to +be removed from the branch. See `filemodify` above for a detailed description of `<path>`. +`filecopy` +^^^^^^^^^^ +Recursively copies an existing file or subdirectory to a different +location within the branch. The existing file or directory must +exist. If the destination exists it will be completely replaced +by the content copied from the source. + +.... + 'C' SP <path> SP <path> LF +.... + +here the first `<path>` is the source location and the second +`<path>` is the destination. See `filemodify` above for a detailed +description of what `<path>` may look like. To use a source path +that contains SP the path must be quoted. + +A `filecopy` command takes effect immediately. Once the source +location has been copied to the destination any future commands +applied to the source location will not impact the destination of +the copy. + +`filerename` +^^^^^^^^^^^^ +Renames an existing file or subdirectory to a different location +within the branch. The existing file or directory must exist. If +the destination exists it will be replaced by the source directory. + +.... + 'R' SP <path> SP <path> LF +.... + +here the first `<path>` is the source location and the second +`<path>` is the destination. See `filemodify` above for a detailed +description of what `<path>` may look like. To use a source path +that contains SP the path must be quoted. + +A `filerename` command takes effect immediately. Once the source +location has been renamed to the destination any future commands +applied to the source location will create new files there and not +impact the destination of the rename. + +Note that a `filerename` is the same as a `filecopy` followed by a +`filedelete` of the source location. There is a slight performance +advantage to using `filerename`, but the advantage is so small +that it is never worth trying to convert a delete/add pair in +source material into a rename for fast-import. This `filerename` +command is provided just to simplify frontends that already have +rename information and don't want bother with decomposing it into a +`filecopy` followed by a `filedelete`. + `filedeleteall` ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Included in a `commit` command to remove all files (and also all @@ -506,6 +678,45 @@ more memory per active branch (less than 1 MiB for even most large projects); so frontends that can easily obtain only the affected paths for a commit are encouraged to do so. +`notemodify` +^^^^^^^^^^^^ +Included in a `commit` `<notes_ref>` command to add a new note +annotating a `<commit-ish>` or change this annotation contents. +Internally it is similar to filemodify 100644 on `<commit-ish>` +path (maybe split into subdirectories). It's not advised to +use any other commands to write to the `<notes_ref>` tree except +`filedeleteall` to delete all existing notes in this tree. +This command has two different means of specifying the content +of the note. + +External data format:: + The data content for the note was already supplied by a prior + `blob` command. The frontend just needs to connect it to the + commit that is to be annotated. ++ +.... + 'N' SP <dataref> SP <commit-ish> LF +.... ++ +Here `<dataref>` can be either a mark reference (`:<idnum>`) +set by a prior `blob` command, or a full 40-byte SHA-1 of an +existing Git blob object. + +Inline data format:: + The data content for the note has not been supplied yet. + The frontend wants to supply it as part of this modify + command. ++ +.... + 'N' SP 'inline' SP <commit-ish> LF + data +.... ++ +See below for a detailed description of the `data` command. + +In both formats `<commit-ish>` is any of the commit specification +expressions also accepted by `from` (see above). + `mark` ~~~~~~ Arranges for fast-import to save a reference to the current object, allowing @@ -534,10 +745,9 @@ lightweight (non-annotated) tags see the `reset` command below. .... 'tag' SP <name> LF - 'from' SP <committish> LF - 'tagger' SP <name> SP LT <email> GT SP <when> LF + 'from' SP <commit-ish> LF + 'tagger' (SP <name>)? SP LT <email> GT SP <when> LF data - LF .... where `<name>` is the name of the tag to create. @@ -569,7 +779,7 @@ recommended, as the frontend does not (easily) have access to the complete set of bytes which normally goes into such a signature. If signing is required, create lightweight tags from within fast-import with `reset`, then create the annotated versions of those tags offline -with the standard gitlink:git-tag[1] process. +with the standard 'git tag' process. `reset` ~~~~~~~ @@ -580,13 +790,15 @@ branch from an existing commit without creating a new commit. .... 'reset' SP <ref> LF - ('from' SP <committish> LF)? - LF + ('from' SP <commit-ish> LF)? + LF? .... -For a detailed description of `<ref>` and `<committish>` see above +For a detailed description of `<ref>` and `<commit-ish>` see above under `commit` and `from`. +The `LF` after the command is optional (it used to be required). + The `reset` command can also be used to create lightweight (non-annotated) tags. For example: @@ -613,7 +825,7 @@ assigned mark. The mark command is optional here as some frontends have chosen to generate the Git SHA-1 for the blob on their own, and feed that -directly to `commit`. This is typically more work than its worth +directly to `commit`. This is typically more work than it's worth however, as marks are inexpensive to store and easy to use. `data` @@ -625,29 +837,40 @@ intended for production-quality conversions should always use the exact byte count format, as it is more robust and performs better. The delimited format is intended primarily for testing fast-import. +Comment lines appearing within the `<raw>` part of `data` commands +are always taken to be part of the body of the data and are therefore +never ignored by fast-import. This makes it safe to import any +file/message content whose lines might start with `#`. + Exact byte count format:: The frontend must specify the number of bytes of data. + .... 'data' SP <count> LF - <raw> LF + <raw> LF? .... + where `<count>` is the exact number of bytes appearing within `<raw>`. The value of `<count>` is expressed as an ASCII decimal integer. The `LF` on either side of `<raw>` is not included in `<count>` and will not be included in the imported data. ++ +The `LF` after `<raw>` is optional (it used to be required) but +recommended. Always including it makes debugging a fast-import +stream easier as the next command always starts in column 0 +of the next line, even if `<raw>` did not end with an `LF`. Delimited format:: A delimiter string is used to mark the end of the data. fast-import will compute the length by searching for the delimiter. - This format is primarly useful for testing and is not + This format is primarily useful for testing and is not recommended for real data. + .... 'data' SP '<<' <delim> LF <raw> LF <delim> LF + LF? .... + where `<delim>` is the chosen delimiter string. The string `<delim>` @@ -656,6 +879,8 @@ fast-import will think the data ends earlier than it really does. The `LF` immediately trailing `<raw>` is part of `<raw>`. This is one of the limitations of the delimited format, it is impossible to supply a data chunk which does not have an LF as its last byte. ++ +The `LF` after `<delim> LF` is optional (it used to be required). `checkpoint` ~~~~~~~~~~~~ @@ -664,11 +889,11 @@ save out all current branch refs, tags and marks. .... 'checkpoint' LF - LF + LF? .... Note that fast-import automatically switches packfiles when the current -packfile reaches \--max-pack-size, or 4 GiB, whichever limit is +packfile reaches --max-pack-size, or 4 GiB, whichever limit is smaller. During an automatic packfile switch fast-import does not update the branch refs, tags or marks. @@ -683,6 +908,342 @@ process access to a branch. However given that a 30 GiB Subversion repository can be loaded into Git through fast-import in about 3 hours, explicit checkpointing may not be necessary. +The `LF` after the command is optional (it used to be required). + +`progress` +~~~~~~~~~~ +Causes fast-import to print the entire `progress` line unmodified to +its standard output channel (file descriptor 1) when the command is +processed from the input stream. The command otherwise has no impact +on the current import, or on any of fast-import's internal state. + +.... + 'progress' SP <any> LF + LF? +.... + +The `<any>` part of the command may contain any sequence of bytes +that does not contain `LF`. The `LF` after the command is optional. +Callers may wish to process the output through a tool such as sed to +remove the leading part of the line, for example: + +==== + frontend | git fast-import | sed 's/^progress //' +==== + +Placing a `progress` command immediately after a `checkpoint` will +inform the reader when the `checkpoint` has been completed and it +can safely access the refs that fast-import updated. + +`get-mark` +~~~~~~~~~~ +Causes fast-import to print the SHA-1 corresponding to a mark to +stdout or to the file descriptor previously arranged with the +`--cat-blob-fd` argument. The command otherwise has no impact on the +current import; its purpose is to retrieve SHA-1s that later commits +might want to refer to in their commit messages. + +.... + 'get-mark' SP ':' <idnum> LF +.... + +This command can be used anywhere in the stream that comments are +accepted. In particular, the `get-mark` command can be used in the +middle of a commit but not in the middle of a `data` command. + +See ``Responses To Commands'' below for details about how to read +this output safely. + +`cat-blob` +~~~~~~~~~~ +Causes fast-import to print a blob to a file descriptor previously +arranged with the `--cat-blob-fd` argument. The command otherwise +has no impact on the current import; its main purpose is to +retrieve blobs that may be in fast-import's memory but not +accessible from the target repository. + +.... + 'cat-blob' SP <dataref> LF +.... + +The `<dataref>` can be either a mark reference (`:<idnum>`) +set previously or a full 40-byte SHA-1 of a Git blob, preexisting or +ready to be written. + +Output uses the same format as `git cat-file --batch`: + +==== + <sha1> SP 'blob' SP <size> LF + <contents> LF +==== + +This command can be used anywhere in the stream that comments are +accepted. In particular, the `cat-blob` command can be used in the +middle of a commit but not in the middle of a `data` command. + +See ``Responses To Commands'' below for details about how to read +this output safely. + +`ls` +~~~~ +Prints information about the object at a path to a file descriptor +previously arranged with the `--cat-blob-fd` argument. This allows +printing a blob from the active commit (with `cat-blob`) or copying a +blob or tree from a previous commit for use in the current one (with +`filemodify`). + +The `ls` command can be used anywhere in the stream that comments are +accepted, including the middle of a commit. + +Reading from the active commit:: + This form can only be used in the middle of a `commit`. + The path names a directory entry within fast-import's + active commit. The path must be quoted in this case. ++ +.... + 'ls' SP <path> LF +.... + +Reading from a named tree:: + The `<dataref>` can be a mark reference (`:<idnum>`) or the + full 40-byte SHA-1 of a Git tag, commit, or tree object, + preexisting or waiting to be written. + The path is relative to the top level of the tree + named by `<dataref>`. ++ +.... + 'ls' SP <dataref> SP <path> LF +.... + +See `filemodify` above for a detailed description of `<path>`. + +Output uses the same format as `git ls-tree <tree> -- <path>`: + +==== + <mode> SP ('blob' | 'tree' | 'commit') SP <dataref> HT <path> LF +==== + +The <dataref> represents the blob, tree, or commit object at <path> +and can be used in later 'get-mark', 'cat-blob', 'filemodify', or +'ls' commands. + +If there is no file or subtree at that path, 'git fast-import' will +instead report + +==== + missing SP <path> LF +==== + +See ``Responses To Commands'' below for details about how to read +this output safely. + +`feature` +~~~~~~~~~ +Require that fast-import supports the specified feature, or abort if +it does not. + +.... + 'feature' SP <feature> ('=' <argument>)? LF +.... + +The <feature> part of the command may be any one of the following: + +date-format:: +export-marks:: +relative-marks:: +no-relative-marks:: +force:: + Act as though the corresponding command-line option with + a leading '--' was passed on the command line + (see OPTIONS, above). + +import-marks:: +import-marks-if-exists:: + Like --import-marks except in two respects: first, only one + "feature import-marks" or "feature import-marks-if-exists" + command is allowed per stream; second, an --import-marks= + or --import-marks-if-exists command-line option overrides + any of these "feature" commands in the stream; third, + "feature import-marks-if-exists" like a corresponding + command-line option silently skips a nonexistent file. + +get-mark:: +cat-blob:: +ls:: + Require that the backend support the 'get-mark', 'cat-blob', + or 'ls' command respectively. + Versions of fast-import not supporting the specified command + will exit with a message indicating so. + This lets the import error out early with a clear message, + rather than wasting time on the early part of an import + before the unsupported command is detected. + +notes:: + Require that the backend support the 'notemodify' (N) + subcommand to the 'commit' command. + Versions of fast-import not supporting notes will exit + with a message indicating so. + +done:: + Error out if the stream ends without a 'done' command. + Without this feature, errors causing the frontend to end + abruptly at a convenient point in the stream can go + undetected. This may occur, for example, if an import + front end dies in mid-operation without emitting SIGTERM + or SIGKILL at its subordinate git fast-import instance. + +`option` +~~~~~~~~ +Processes the specified option so that git fast-import behaves in a +way that suits the frontend's needs. +Note that options specified by the frontend are overridden by any +options the user may specify to git fast-import itself. + +.... + 'option' SP <option> LF +.... + +The `<option>` part of the command may contain any of the options +listed in the OPTIONS section that do not change import semantics, +without the leading '--' and is treated in the same way. + +Option commands must be the first commands on the input (not counting +feature commands), to give an option command after any non-option +command is an error. + +The following command-line options change import semantics and may therefore +not be passed as option: + +* date-format +* import-marks +* export-marks +* cat-blob-fd +* force + +`done` +~~~~~~ +If the `done` feature is not in use, treated as if EOF was read. +This can be used to tell fast-import to finish early. + +If the `--done` command-line option or `feature done` command is +in use, the `done` command is mandatory and marks the end of the +stream. + +Responses To Commands +--------------------- +New objects written by fast-import are not available immediately. +Most fast-import commands have no visible effect until the next +checkpoint (or completion). The frontend can send commands to +fill fast-import's input pipe without worrying about how quickly +they will take effect, which improves performance by simplifying +scheduling. + +For some frontends, though, it is useful to be able to read back +data from the current repository as it is being updated (for +example when the source material describes objects in terms of +patches to be applied to previously imported objects). This can +be accomplished by connecting the frontend and fast-import via +bidirectional pipes: + +==== + mkfifo fast-import-output + frontend <fast-import-output | + git fast-import >fast-import-output +==== + +A frontend set up this way can use `progress`, `get-mark`, `ls`, and +`cat-blob` commands to read information from the import in progress. + +To avoid deadlock, such frontends must completely consume any +pending output from `progress`, `ls`, `get-mark`, and `cat-blob` before +performing writes to fast-import that might block. + +Crash Reports +------------- +If fast-import is supplied invalid input it will terminate with a +non-zero exit status and create a crash report in the top level of +the Git repository it was importing into. Crash reports contain +a snapshot of the internal fast-import state as well as the most +recent commands that lead up to the crash. + +All recent commands (including stream comments, file changes and +progress commands) are shown in the command history within the crash +report, but raw file data and commit messages are excluded from the +crash report. This exclusion saves space within the report file +and reduces the amount of buffering that fast-import must perform +during execution. + +After writing a crash report fast-import will close the current +packfile and export the marks table. This allows the frontend +developer to inspect the repository state and resume the import from +the point where it crashed. The modified branches and tags are not +updated during a crash, as the import did not complete successfully. +Branch and tag information can be found in the crash report and +must be applied manually if the update is needed. + +An example crash: + +==== + $ cat >in <<END_OF_INPUT + # my very first test commit + commit refs/heads/master + committer Shawn O. Pearce <spearce> 19283 -0400 + # who is that guy anyway? + data <<EOF + this is my commit + EOF + M 644 inline .gitignore + data <<EOF + .gitignore + EOF + M 777 inline bob + END_OF_INPUT + + $ git fast-import <in + fatal: Corrupt mode: M 777 inline bob + fast-import: dumping crash report to .git/fast_import_crash_8434 + + $ cat .git/fast_import_crash_8434 + fast-import crash report: + fast-import process: 8434 + parent process : 1391 + at Sat Sep 1 00:58:12 2007 + + fatal: Corrupt mode: M 777 inline bob + + Most Recent Commands Before Crash + --------------------------------- + # my very first test commit + commit refs/heads/master + committer Shawn O. Pearce <spearce> 19283 -0400 + # who is that guy anyway? + data <<EOF + M 644 inline .gitignore + data <<EOF + * M 777 inline bob + + Active Branch LRU + ----------------- + active_branches = 1 cur, 5 max + + pos clock name + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + 1) 0 refs/heads/master + + Inactive Branches + ----------------- + refs/heads/master: + status : active loaded dirty + tip commit : 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 + old tree : 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 + cur tree : 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 + commit clock: 0 + last pack : + + + ------------------- + END OF CRASH REPORT +==== Tips and Tricks --------------- @@ -692,7 +1253,7 @@ users of fast-import, and are offered here as suggestions. Use One Mark Per Commit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When doing a repository conversion, use a unique mark per commit -(`mark :<n>`) and supply the \--export-marks option on the command +(`mark :<n>`) and supply the --export-marks option on the command line. fast-import will dump a file which lists every mark and the Git object SHA-1 that corresponds to it. If the frontend can tie the marks back to the source repository, it is easy to verify the @@ -742,7 +1303,7 @@ is not `refs/heads/TAG_FIXUP`). When committing fixups, consider using `merge` to connect the commit(s) which are supplying file revisions to the fixup branch. -Doing so will allow tools such as gitlink:git-blame[1] to track +Doing so will allow tools such as 'git blame' to track through the real commit history and properly annotate the source files. @@ -752,12 +1313,12 @@ to remove the dummy branch. Import Now, Repack Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As soon as fast-import completes the Git repository is completely valid -and ready for use. Typicallly this takes only a very short time, +and ready for use. Typically this takes only a very short time, even for considerably large projects (100,000+ commits). However repacking the repository is necessary to improve data locality and access performance. It can also take hours on extremely -large projects (especially if -f and a large \--window parameter is +large projects (especially if -f and a large --window parameter is used). Since repacking is safe to run alongside readers and writers, run the repack in the background and let it finish when it finishes. There is no reason to wait to explore your new Git project! @@ -771,11 +1332,20 @@ Repacking Historical Data ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are repacking very old imported data (e.g. older than the last year), consider expending some extra CPU time and supplying -\--window=50 (or higher) when you run gitlink:git-repack[1]. +--window=50 (or higher) when you run 'git repack'. This will take longer, but will also produce a smaller packfile. You only need to expend the effort once, and everyone using your project will benefit from the smaller repository. +Include Some Progress Messages +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +Every once in a while have your frontend emit a `progress` message +to fast-import. The contents of the messages are entirely free-form, +so one suggestion would be to output the current month and year +each time the current commit date moves into the next month. +Your users will feel better knowing how much of the data stream +has been processed. + Packfile Optimization --------------------- @@ -812,8 +1382,8 @@ Memory Utilization ------------------ There are a number of factors which affect how much memory fast-import requires to perform an import. Like critical sections of core -Git, fast-import uses its own memory allocators to ammortize any overheads -associated with malloc. In practice fast-import tends to ammoritize any +Git, fast-import uses its own memory allocators to amortize any overheads +associated with malloc. In practice fast-import tends to amortize any malloc overheads to 0, due to its use of large block allocations. per object @@ -864,13 +1434,13 @@ branch, their in-memory storage size can grow to a considerable size fast-import automatically moves active branches to inactive status based on a simple least-recently-used algorithm. The LRU chain is updated on each `commit` command. The maximum number of active branches can be -increased or decreased on the command line with \--active-branches=. +increased or decreased on the command line with --active-branches=. per active tree ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Trees (aka directories) use just 12 bytes of memory on top of the memory required for their entries (see ``per active file'' below). -The cost of a tree is virtually 0, as its overhead ammortizes out +The cost of a tree is virtually 0, as its overhead amortizes out over the individual file entries. per active file entry @@ -886,16 +1456,18 @@ and lazy loading of subtrees, allows fast-import to efficiently import projects with 2,000+ branches and 45,114+ files in a very limited memory footprint (less than 2.7 MiB per active branch). +Signals +------- +Sending *SIGUSR1* to the 'git fast-import' process ends the current +packfile early, simulating a `checkpoint` command. The impatient +operator can use this facility to peek at the objects and refs from an +import in progress, at the cost of some added running time and worse +compression. -Author ------- -Written by Shawn O. Pearce <spearce@spearce.org>. - -Documentation --------------- -Documentation by Shawn O. Pearce <spearce@spearce.org>. +SEE ALSO +-------- +linkgit:git-fast-export[1] GIT --- -Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite - +Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |