git-commit-vandalism/Documentation/git-branch.txt
Junio C Hamano 049716b370 branch --merged/--no-merged: allow specifying arbitrary commit
"git-branch --merged" is a handy way to list all the branches that have
already been merged to the current branch, but it did not allow checking
against anything but the current branch.  Having to switch branches only
to list the branches that are merged with another branch made the feature
practically useless.

This updates the option parser so that "git branch --merged next" is
accepted when you are on 'master' branch.

Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
2008-07-09 02:12:24 -07:00

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git-branch(1)
=============
NAME
----
git-branch - List, create, or delete branches
SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
'git-branch' [--color | --no-color] [-r | -a]
[-v [--abbrev=<length> | --no-abbrev]]
[(--merged | --no-merged | --contains) [<commit>]]
'git-branch' [--track | --no-track] [-l] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>]
'git-branch' (-m | -M) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch>
'git-branch' (-d | -D) [-r] <branchname>...
DESCRIPTION
-----------
With no arguments, existing branches are listed, the current branch will
be highlighted with an asterisk. Option `-r` causes the remote-tracking
branches to be listed, and option `-a` shows both.
With `--contains`, shows only the branches that contains the named commit
(in other words, the branches whose tip commits are descendant of the
named commit). With `--merged`, only branches merged into the named
commit (i.e. the branches whose tip commits are reachable from the named
commit) will be listed. With `--no-merged` only branches not merged into
the named commit will be listed. Missing <commit> argument defaults to
'HEAD' (i.e. the tip of the current branch).
In its second form, a new branch named <branchname> will be created.
It will start out with a head equal to the one given as <start-point>.
If no <start-point> is given, the branch will be created with a head
equal to that of the currently checked out branch.
Note that this will create the new branch, but it will not switch the
working tree to it; use "git checkout <newbranch>" to switch to the
new branch.
When a local branch is started off a remote branch, git sets up the
branch so that linkgit:git-pull[1] will appropriately merge from
the remote branch. This behavior may be changed via the global
`branch.autosetupmerge` configuration flag. That setting can be
overridden by using the `--track` and `--no-track` options.
With a '-m' or '-M' option, <oldbranch> will be renamed to <newbranch>.
If <oldbranch> had a corresponding reflog, it is renamed to match
<newbranch>, and a reflog entry is created to remember the branch
renaming. If <newbranch> exists, -M must be used to force the rename
to happen.
With a `-d` or `-D` option, `<branchname>` will be deleted. You may
specify more than one branch for deletion. If the branch currently
has a reflog then the reflog will also be deleted.
Use -r together with -d to delete remote-tracking branches. Note, that it
only makes sense to delete remote-tracking branches if they no longer exist
in remote repository or if linkgit:git-fetch[1] was configured not to fetch
them again. See also 'prune' subcommand of linkgit:git-remote[1] for way to
clean up all obsolete remote-tracking branches.
OPTIONS
-------
-d::
Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in HEAD.
-D::
Delete a branch irrespective of its merged status.
-l::
Create the branch's reflog. This activates recording of
all changes made to the branch ref, enabling use of date
based sha1 expressions such as "<branchname>@\{yesterday}".
-f::
Force the creation of a new branch even if it means deleting
a branch that already exists with the same name.
-m::
Move/rename a branch and the corresponding reflog.
-M::
Move/rename a branch even if the new branchname already exists.
--color::
Color branches to highlight current, local, and remote branches.
--no-color::
Turn off branch colors, even when the configuration file gives the
default to color output.
-r::
List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches.
-a::
List both remote-tracking branches and local branches.
-v::
--verbose::
Show sha1 and commit subject line for each head.
--abbrev=<length>::
Alter minimum display length for sha1 in output listing,
default value is 7.
--no-abbrev::
Display the full sha1s in output listing rather than abbreviating them.
--track::
When creating a new branch, set up configuration so that git-pull
will automatically retrieve data from the start point, which must be
a branch. Use this if you always pull from the same upstream branch
into the new branch, and if you don't want to use "git pull
<repository> <refspec>" explicitly. This behavior is the default
when the start point is a remote branch. Set the
branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable to `false` if you want
git-checkout and git-branch to always behave as if '--no-track' were
given. Set it to `always` if you want this behavior when the
start-point is either a local or remote branch.
--no-track::
Ignore the branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable.
--contains <commit>::
Only list branches which contain the specified commit.
--merged::
Only list branches which are fully contained by HEAD.
--no-merged::
Do not list branches which are fully contained by HEAD.
<branchname>::
The name of the branch to create or delete.
The new branch name must pass all checks defined by
linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1]. Some of these checks
may restrict the characters allowed in a branch name.
<start-point>::
The new branch will be created with a HEAD equal to this. It may
be given as a branch name, a commit-id, or a tag. If this option
is omitted, the current branch is assumed.
<oldbranch>::
The name of an existing branch to rename.
<newbranch>::
The new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for
<branchname> applies.
Examples
--------
Start development off of a known tag::
+
------------
$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6
$ cd my2.6
$ git branch my2.6.14 v2.6.14 <1>
$ git checkout my2.6.14
------------
+
<1> This step and the next one could be combined into a single step with
"checkout -b my2.6.14 v2.6.14".
Delete unneeded branch::
+
------------
$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/.../git.git my.git
$ cd my.git
$ git branch -d -r origin/todo origin/html origin/man <1>
$ git branch -D test <2>
------------
+
<1> Delete remote-tracking branches "todo", "html", "man". Next 'fetch' or
'pull' will create them again unless you configure them not to. See
linkgit:git-fetch[1].
<2> Delete "test" branch even if the "master" branch (or whichever branch is
currently checked out) does not have all commits from test branch.
Notes
-----
If you are creating a branch that you want to immediately checkout, it's
easier to use the git checkout command with its `-b` option to create
a branch and check it out with a single command.
The options `--contains`, `--merged` and `--no-merged` serves three related
but different purposes:
- `--contains <commit>` is used to find all branches which will need
special attention if <commit> were to be rebased or amended, since those
branches contain the specified <commit>.
- `--merged` is used to find all branches which can be safely deleted,
since those branches are fully contained by HEAD.
- `--no-merged` is used to find branches which are candidates for merging
into HEAD, since those branches are not fully contained by HEAD.
Author
------
Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
Documentation
--------------
Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
GIT
---
Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite