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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/gitcli.txt')
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diff --git a/Documentation/gitcli.txt b/Documentation/gitcli.txt index 8fb5d889e5..29e5929db2 100644 --- a/Documentation/gitcli.txt +++ b/Documentation/gitcli.txt @@ -13,8 +13,37 @@ gitcli DESCRIPTION ----------- -This manual describes best practice in how to use git CLI. Here are -the rules that you should follow when you are scripting git: +This manual describes the convention used throughout git CLI. + +Many commands take revisions (most often "commits", but sometimes +"tree-ish", depending on the context and command) and paths as their +arguments. Here are the rules: + + * Revisions come first and then paths. + E.g. in `git diff v1.0 v2.0 arch/x86 include/asm-x86`, + `v1.0` and `v2.0` are revisions and `arch/x86` and `include/asm-x86` + are paths. + + * When an argument can be misunderstood as either a revision or a path, + they can be disambiguated by placing `\--` between them. + E.g. `git diff \-- HEAD` is, "I have a file called HEAD in my work + tree. Please show changes between the version I staged in the index + and what I have in the work tree for that file". not "show difference + between the HEAD commit and the work tree as a whole". You can say + `git diff HEAD \--` to ask for the latter. + + * Without disambiguating `\--`, git makes a reasonable guess, but errors + out and asking you to disambiguate when ambiguous. E.g. if you have a + file called HEAD in your work tree, `git diff HEAD` is ambiguous, and + you have to say either `git diff HEAD \--` or `git diff \-- HEAD` to + disambiguate. + +When writing a script that is expected to handle random user-input, it is +a good practice to make it explicit which arguments are which by placing +disambiguating `\--` at appropriate places. + +Here are the rules regarding the "flags" that you should follow when you are +scripting git: * it's preferred to use the non dashed form of git commands, which means that you should prefer `"git foo"` to `"git-foo"`. @@ -34,8 +63,8 @@ the rules that you should follow when you are scripting git: if you happen to have a file called `HEAD` in the work tree. -ENHANCED CLI ------------- +ENHANCED OPTION PARSER +---------------------- From the git 1.5.4 series and further, many git commands (not all of them at the time of the writing though) come with an enhanced option parser. @@ -104,9 +133,45 @@ $ git describe --abbrev 10 HEAD # NOT WHAT YOU MEANT ---------------------------- +NOTES ON FREQUENTLY CONFUSED OPTIONS +------------------------------------ + +Many commands that can work on files in the working tree +and/or in the index can take `--cached` and/or `--index` +options. Sometimes people incorrectly think that, because +the index was originally called cache, these two are +synonyms. They are *not* -- these two options mean very +different things. + + * The `--cached` option is used to ask a command that + usually works on files in the working tree to *only* work + with the index. For example, `git grep`, when used + without a commit to specify from which commit to look for + strings in, usually works on files in the working tree, + but with the `--cached` option, it looks for strings in + the index. + + * The `--index` option is used to ask a command that + usually works on files in the working tree to *also* + affect the index. For example, `git stash apply` usually + merges changes recorded in a stash to the working tree, + but with the `--index` option, it also merges changes to + the index as well. + +`git apply` command can be used with `--cached` and +`--index` (but not at the same time). Usually the command +only affects the files in the working tree, but with +`--index`, it patches both the files and their index +entries, and with `--cached`, it modifies only the index +entries. + +See also http://marc.info/?l=git&m=116563135620359 and +http://marc.info/?l=git&m=119150393620273 for further +information. + Documentation ------------- -Documentation by Pierre Habouzit. +Documentation by Pierre Habouzit and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. GIT --- |