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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt')
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diff --git a/Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt b/Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..68ac6a65df --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt @@ -0,0 +1,52 @@ +git-symbolic-ref(1) +=================== + +NAME +---- +git-symbolic-ref - read and modify symbolic refs + +SYNOPSIS +-------- +'git-symbolic-ref' <name> [<ref>] + +DESCRIPTION +----------- +Given one argument, reads which branch head the given symbolic +ref refers to and outputs its path, relative to the `.git/` +directory. Typically you would give `HEAD` as the <name> +argument to see on which branch your working tree is on. + +Give two arguments, create or update a symbolic ref <name> to +point at the given branch <ref>. + +Traditionally, `.git/HEAD` is a symlink pointing at +`refs/heads/master`. When we want to switch to another branch, +we did `ln -sf refs/heads/newbranch .git/HEAD`, and when we want +to find out which branch we are on, we did `readlink .git/HEAD`. +This was fine, and internally that is what still happens by +default, but on platforms that do not have working symlinks, +or that do not have the `readlink(1)` command, this was a bit +cumbersome. On some platforms, `ln -sf` does not even work as +advertised (horrors). + +A symbolic ref can be a regular file that stores a string that +begins with `ref: refs/`. For example, your `.git/HEAD` *can* +be a regular file whose contents is `ref: refs/heads/master`. +This can be used on a filesystem that does not support symbolic +links. Instead of doing `readlink .git/HEAD`, `git-symbolic-ref +HEAD` can be used to find out which branch we are on. To point +the HEAD to `newbranch`, instead of `ln -sf refs/heads/newbranch +.git/HEAD`, `git-symbolic-ref HEAD refs/heads/newbranch` can be +used. + +Currently, .git/HEAD uses a regular file symbolic ref on Cygwin, +and everywhere else it is implemented as a symlink. This can be +changed at compilation time. + +Author +------ +Written by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net> + +GIT +--- +Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite |