summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/Documentation/git-replace.txt
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/git-replace.txt')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/git-replace.txt156
1 files changed, 156 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-replace.txt b/Documentation/git-replace.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8fff598fd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/git-replace.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+git-replace(1)
+==============
+
+NAME
+----
+git-replace - Create, list, delete refs to replace objects
+
+SYNOPSIS
+--------
+[verse]
+'git replace' [-f] <object> <replacement>
+'git replace' [-f] --edit <object>
+'git replace' [-f] --graft <commit> [<parent>...]
+'git replace' -d <object>...
+'git replace' [--format=<format>] [-l [<pattern>]]
+
+DESCRIPTION
+-----------
+Adds a 'replace' reference in `refs/replace/` namespace.
+
+The name of the 'replace' reference is the SHA-1 of the object that is
+replaced. The content of the 'replace' reference is the SHA-1 of the
+replacement object.
+
+The replaced object and the replacement object must be of the same type.
+This restriction can be bypassed using `-f`.
+
+Unless `-f` is given, the 'replace' reference must not yet exist.
+
+There is no other restriction on the replaced and replacement objects.
+Merge commits can be replaced by non-merge commits and vice versa.
+
+Replacement references will be used by default by all Git commands
+except those doing reachability traversal (prune, pack transfer and
+fsck).
+
+It is possible to disable use of replacement references for any
+command using the `--no-replace-objects` option just after 'git'.
+
+For example if commit 'foo' has been replaced by commit 'bar':
+
+------------------------------------------------
+$ git --no-replace-objects cat-file commit foo
+------------------------------------------------
+
+shows information about commit 'foo', while:
+
+------------------------------------------------
+$ git cat-file commit foo
+------------------------------------------------
+
+shows information about commit 'bar'.
+
+The 'GIT_NO_REPLACE_OBJECTS' environment variable can be set to
+achieve the same effect as the `--no-replace-objects` option.
+
+OPTIONS
+-------
+-f::
+--force::
+ If an existing replace ref for the same object exists, it will
+ be overwritten (instead of failing).
+
+-d::
+--delete::
+ Delete existing replace refs for the given objects.
+
+--edit <object>::
+ Edit an object's content interactively. The existing content
+ for <object> is pretty-printed into a temporary file, an
+ editor is launched on the file, and the result is parsed to
+ create a new object of the same type as <object>. A
+ replacement ref is then created to replace <object> with the
+ newly created object. See linkgit:git-var[1] for details about
+ how the editor will be chosen.
+
+--raw::
+ When editing, provide the raw object contents rather than
+ pretty-printed ones. Currently this only affects trees, which
+ will be shown in their binary form. This is harder to work with,
+ but can help when repairing a tree that is so corrupted it
+ cannot be pretty-printed. Note that you may need to configure
+ your editor to cleanly read and write binary data.
+
+--graft <commit> [<parent>...]::
+ Create a graft commit. A new commit is created with the same
+ content as <commit> except that its parents will be
+ [<parent>...] instead of <commit>'s parents. A replacement ref
+ is then created to replace <commit> with the newly created
+ commit. See contrib/convert-grafts-to-replace-refs.sh for an
+ example script based on this option that can convert grafts to
+ replace refs.
+
+-l <pattern>::
+--list <pattern>::
+ List replace refs for objects that match the given pattern (or
+ all if no pattern is given).
+ Typing "git replace" without arguments, also lists all replace
+ refs.
+
+--format=<format>::
+ When listing, use the specified <format>, which can be one of
+ 'short', 'medium' and 'long'. When omitted, the format
+ defaults to 'short'.
+
+FORMATS
+-------
+
+The following format are available:
+
+* 'short':
+ <replaced sha1>
+* 'medium':
+ <replaced sha1> -> <replacement sha1>
+* 'long':
+ <replaced sha1> (<replaced type>) -> <replacement sha1> (<replacement type>)
+
+CREATING REPLACEMENT OBJECTS
+----------------------------
+
+linkgit:git-filter-branch[1], linkgit:git-hash-object[1] and
+linkgit:git-rebase[1], among other git commands, can be used to create
+replacement objects from existing objects. The `--edit` option can
+also be used with 'git replace' to create a replacement object by
+editing an existing object.
+
+If you want to replace many blobs, trees or commits that are part of a
+string of commits, you may just want to create a replacement string of
+commits and then only replace the commit at the tip of the target
+string of commits with the commit at the tip of the replacement string
+of commits.
+
+BUGS
+----
+Comparing blobs or trees that have been replaced with those that
+replace them will not work properly. And using `git reset --hard` to
+go back to a replaced commit will move the branch to the replacement
+commit instead of the replaced commit.
+
+There may be other problems when using 'git rev-list' related to
+pending objects.
+
+SEE ALSO
+--------
+linkgit:git-hash-object[1]
+linkgit:git-filter-branch[1]
+linkgit:git-rebase[1]
+linkgit:git-tag[1]
+linkgit:git-branch[1]
+linkgit:git-commit[1]
+linkgit:git-var[1]
+linkgit:git[1]
+
+GIT
+---
+Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite