a0a7e9e511
It is an unimportant implementation detail that branches and tags are stored somewhere under $GIT_DIR/refs directory. What is more important is that branches live in refs/heads and tags live in refs/tags hierarchy in the ref namespace. Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
100 lines
3.2 KiB
Plaintext
100 lines
3.2 KiB
Plaintext
git-check-ref-format(1)
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=======================
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NAME
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----
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git-check-ref-format - Ensures that a reference name is well formed
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SYNOPSIS
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--------
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[verse]
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'git check-ref-format' <refname>
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'git check-ref-format' --print <refname>
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'git check-ref-format' --branch <branchname-shorthand>
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DESCRIPTION
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-----------
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Checks if a given 'refname' is acceptable, and exits with a non-zero
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status if it is not.
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A reference is used in git to specify branches and tags. A
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branch head is stored in the `refs/heads` hierarchy, while
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a tag is stored in the `refs/tags` hierarchy of the ref namespace
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(typically in `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads` and `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags`
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directories or, as entries in file `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs`
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if refs are packed by `git gc`).
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git imposes the following rules on how references are named:
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. They can include slash `/` for hierarchical (directory)
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grouping, but no slash-separated component can begin with a
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dot `.`.
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. They must contain at least one `/`. This enforces the presence of a
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category like `heads/`, `tags/` etc. but the actual names are not
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restricted.
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. They cannot have two consecutive dots `..` anywhere.
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. They cannot have ASCII control characters (i.e. bytes whose
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values are lower than \040, or \177 `DEL`), space, tilde `~`,
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caret `{caret}`, colon `:`, question-mark `?`, asterisk `*`,
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or open bracket `[` anywhere.
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. They cannot end with a slash `/` nor a dot `.`.
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. They cannot end with the sequence `.lock`.
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. They cannot contain a sequence `@{`.
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. They cannot contain a `\`.
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These rules make it easy for shell script based tools to parse
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reference names, pathname expansion by the shell when a reference name is used
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unquoted (by mistake), and also avoids ambiguities in certain
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reference name expressions (see linkgit:gitrevisions[7]):
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. A double-dot `..` is often used as in `ref1..ref2`, and in some
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contexts this notation means `{caret}ref1 ref2` (i.e. not in
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`ref1` and in `ref2`).
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. A tilde `~` and caret `{caret}` are used to introduce the postfix
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'nth parent' and 'peel onion' operation.
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. A colon `:` is used as in `srcref:dstref` to mean "use srcref\'s
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value and store it in dstref" in fetch and push operations.
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It may also be used to select a specific object such as with
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'git cat-file': "git cat-file blob v1.3.3:refs.c".
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. at-open-brace `@{` is used as a notation to access a reflog entry.
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With the `--print` option, if 'refname' is acceptable, it prints the
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canonicalized name of a hypothetical reference with that name. That is,
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it prints 'refname' with any extra `/` characters removed.
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With the `--branch` option, it expands the ``previous branch syntax''
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`@{-n}`. For example, `@{-1}` is a way to refer the last branch you
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were on. This option should be used by porcelains to accept this
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syntax anywhere a branch name is expected, so they can act as if you
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typed the branch name.
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EXAMPLES
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--------
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* Print the name of the previous branch:
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+
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------------
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$ git check-ref-format --branch @{-1}
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------------
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* Determine the reference name to use for a new branch:
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+
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------------
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$ ref=$(git check-ref-format --print "refs/heads/$newbranch") ||
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die "we do not like '$newbranch' as a branch name."
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------------
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GIT
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---
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Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
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