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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt | 79 |
1 files changed, 48 insertions, 31 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt b/Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt index 68ac6a65df..ef68ad2b71 100644 --- a/Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt +++ b/Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt @@ -3,50 +3,67 @@ git-symbolic-ref(1) NAME ---- -git-symbolic-ref - read and modify symbolic refs +git-symbolic-ref - Read, modify and delete symbolic refs SYNOPSIS -------- -'git-symbolic-ref' <name> [<ref>] +[verse] +'git symbolic-ref' [-m <reason>] <name> <ref> +'git symbolic-ref' [-q] [--short] <name> +'git symbolic-ref' --delete [-q] <name> 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. +argument to see which branch your working tree is on. -Give two arguments, create or update a symbolic ref <name> to +Given two arguments, creates or updates 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 +Given `--delete` and an additional argument, deletes the given +symbolic ref. + +A symbolic ref is a regular file that stores a string that +begins with `ref: refs/`. For example, your `.git/HEAD` is +a regular file whose contents is `ref: refs/heads/master`. + +OPTIONS +------- + +-d:: +--delete:: + Delete the symbolic ref <name>. + +-q:: +--quiet:: + Do not issue an error message if the <name> is not a + symbolic ref but a detached HEAD; instead exit with + non-zero status silently. + +--short:: + When showing the value of <name> as a symbolic ref, try to shorten the + value, e.g. from `refs/heads/master` to `master`. + +-m:: + Update the reflog for <name> with <reason>. This is valid only + when creating or updating a symbolic ref. + +NOTES +----- +In the past, `.git/HEAD` was a symbolic link pointing at +`refs/heads/master`. When we wanted to switch to another branch, +we did `ln -sf refs/heads/newbranch .git/HEAD`, and when we wanted 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> +But symbolic links are not entirely portable, so they are now +deprecated and symbolic refs (as described above) are used by +default. + +'git symbolic-ref' will exit with status 0 if the contents of the +symbolic ref were printed correctly, with status 1 if the requested +name is not a symbolic ref, or 128 if another error occurs. GIT --- -Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite +Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |