0b444cdb19
The documentation was quite inconsistent when spelling 'git cmd' if it
only refers to the program, not to some specific invocation syntax:
both 'git-cmd' and 'git cmd' spellings exist.
The current trend goes towards dashless forms, and there is precedent
in 647ac70 (git-svn.txt: stop using dash-form of commands.,
2009-07-07) to actively eliminate the dashed variants.
Replace 'git-cmd' with 'git cmd' throughout, except where git-shell,
git-cvsserver, git-upload-pack, git-receive-pack, and
git-upload-archive are concerned, because those really live in the
$PATH.
380 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
380 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
git-read-tree(1)
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================
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NAME
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----
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git-read-tree - Reads tree information into the index
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SYNOPSIS
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--------
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'git read-tree' [[-m [--trivial] [--aggressive] | --reset | --prefix=<prefix>]
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[-u [--exclude-per-directory=<gitignore>] | -i]]
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[--index-output=<file>]
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<tree-ish1> [<tree-ish2> [<tree-ish3>]]
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DESCRIPTION
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-----------
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Reads the tree information given by <tree-ish> into the index,
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but does not actually *update* any of the files it "caches". (see:
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linkgit:git-checkout-index[1])
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Optionally, it can merge a tree into the index, perform a
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fast-forward (i.e. 2-way) merge, or a 3-way merge, with the `-m`
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flag. When used with `-m`, the `-u` flag causes it to also update
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the files in the work tree with the result of the merge.
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Trivial merges are done by 'git read-tree' itself. Only conflicting paths
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will be in unmerged state when 'git read-tree' returns.
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OPTIONS
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-------
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-m::
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Perform a merge, not just a read. The command will
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refuse to run if your index file has unmerged entries,
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indicating that you have not finished previous merge you
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started.
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--reset::
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Same as -m, except that unmerged entries are discarded
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instead of failing.
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-u::
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After a successful merge, update the files in the work
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tree with the result of the merge.
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-i::
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Usually a merge requires the index file as well as the
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files in the working tree are up to date with the
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current head commit, in order not to lose local
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changes. This flag disables the check with the working
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tree and is meant to be used when creating a merge of
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trees that are not directly related to the current
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working tree status into a temporary index file.
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-v::
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Show the progress of checking files out.
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--trivial::
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Restrict three-way merge by 'git read-tree' to happen
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only if there is no file-level merging required, instead
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of resolving merge for trivial cases and leaving
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conflicting files unresolved in the index.
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--aggressive::
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Usually a three-way merge by 'git read-tree' resolves
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the merge for really trivial cases and leaves other
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cases unresolved in the index, so that Porcelains can
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implement different merge policies. This flag makes the
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command to resolve a few more cases internally:
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+
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* when one side removes a path and the other side leaves the path
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unmodified. The resolution is to remove that path.
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* when both sides remove a path. The resolution is to remove that path.
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* when both sides adds a path identically. The resolution
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is to add that path.
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--prefix=<prefix>/::
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Keep the current index contents, and read the contents
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of named tree-ish under directory at `<prefix>`. The
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original index file cannot have anything at the path
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`<prefix>` itself, and have nothing in `<prefix>/`
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directory. Note that the `<prefix>/` value must end
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with a slash.
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--exclude-per-directory=<gitignore>::
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When running the command with `-u` and `-m` options, the
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merge result may need to overwrite paths that are not
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tracked in the current branch. The command usually
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refuses to proceed with the merge to avoid losing such a
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path. However this safety valve sometimes gets in the
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way. For example, it often happens that the other
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branch added a file that used to be a generated file in
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your branch, and the safety valve triggers when you try
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to switch to that branch after you ran `make` but before
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running `make clean` to remove the generated file. This
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option tells the command to read per-directory exclude
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file (usually '.gitignore') and allows such an untracked
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but explicitly ignored file to be overwritten.
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--index-output=<file>::
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Instead of writing the results out to `$GIT_INDEX_FILE`,
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write the resulting index in the named file. While the
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command is operating, the original index file is locked
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with the same mechanism as usual. The file must allow
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to be rename(2)ed into from a temporary file that is
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created next to the usual index file; typically this
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means it needs to be on the same filesystem as the index
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file itself, and you need write permission to the
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directories the index file and index output file are
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located in.
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<tree-ish#>::
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The id of the tree object(s) to be read/merged.
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Merging
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-------
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If `-m` is specified, 'git read-tree' can perform 3 kinds of
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merge, a single tree merge if only 1 tree is given, a
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fast-forward merge with 2 trees, or a 3-way merge if 3 trees are
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provided.
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Single Tree Merge
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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If only 1 tree is specified, 'git read-tree' operates as if the user did not
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specify `-m`, except that if the original index has an entry for a
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given pathname, and the contents of the path matches with the tree
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being read, the stat info from the index is used. (In other words, the
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index's stat()s take precedence over the merged tree's).
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That means that if you do a `git read-tree -m <newtree>` followed by a
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`git checkout-index -f -u -a`, the 'git checkout-index' only checks out
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the stuff that really changed.
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This is used to avoid unnecessary false hits when 'git diff-files' is
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run after 'git read-tree'.
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Two Tree Merge
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Typically, this is invoked as `git read-tree -m $H $M`, where $H
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is the head commit of the current repository, and $M is the head
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of a foreign tree, which is simply ahead of $H (i.e. we are in a
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fast-forward situation).
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When two trees are specified, the user is telling 'git read-tree'
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the following:
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1. The current index and work tree is derived from $H, but
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the user may have local changes in them since $H;
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2. The user wants to fast-forward to $M.
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In this case, the `git read-tree -m $H $M` command makes sure
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that no local change is lost as the result of this "merge".
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Here are the "carry forward" rules:
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I (index) H M Result
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-------------------------------------------------------
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0 nothing nothing nothing (does not happen)
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1 nothing nothing exists use M
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2 nothing exists nothing remove path from index
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3 nothing exists exists, use M if "initial checkout"
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H == M keep index otherwise
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exists fail
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H != M
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clean I==H I==M
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------------------
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4 yes N/A N/A nothing nothing keep index
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5 no N/A N/A nothing nothing keep index
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6 yes N/A yes nothing exists keep index
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7 no N/A yes nothing exists keep index
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8 yes N/A no nothing exists fail
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9 no N/A no nothing exists fail
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10 yes yes N/A exists nothing remove path from index
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11 no yes N/A exists nothing fail
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12 yes no N/A exists nothing fail
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13 no no N/A exists nothing fail
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clean (H=M)
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------
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14 yes exists exists keep index
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15 no exists exists keep index
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clean I==H I==M (H!=M)
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------------------
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16 yes no no exists exists fail
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17 no no no exists exists fail
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18 yes no yes exists exists keep index
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19 no no yes exists exists keep index
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20 yes yes no exists exists use M
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21 no yes no exists exists fail
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In all "keep index" cases, the index entry stays as in the
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original index file. If the entry were not up to date,
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'git read-tree' keeps the copy in the work tree intact when
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operating under the -u flag.
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When this form of 'git read-tree' returns successfully, you can
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see what "local changes" you made are carried forward by running
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`git diff-index --cached $M`. Note that this does not
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necessarily match `git diff-index --cached $H` would have
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produced before such a two tree merge. This is because of cases
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18 and 19 --- if you already had the changes in $M (e.g. maybe
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you picked it up via e-mail in a patch form), `git diff-index
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--cached $H` would have told you about the change before this
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merge, but it would not show in `git diff-index --cached $M`
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output after two-tree merge.
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Case #3 is slightly tricky and needs explanation. The result from this
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rule logically should be to remove the path if the user staged the removal
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of the path and then switching to a new branch. That however will prevent
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the initial checkout from happening, so the rule is modified to use M (new
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tree) only when the contents of the index is empty. Otherwise the removal
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of the path is kept as long as $H and $M are the same.
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3-Way Merge
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~~~~~~~~~~~
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Each "index" entry has two bits worth of "stage" state. stage 0 is the
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normal one, and is the only one you'd see in any kind of normal use.
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However, when you do 'git read-tree' with three trees, the "stage"
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starts out at 1.
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This means that you can do
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----------------
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$ git read-tree -m <tree1> <tree2> <tree3>
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----------------
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and you will end up with an index with all of the <tree1> entries in
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"stage1", all of the <tree2> entries in "stage2" and all of the
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<tree3> entries in "stage3". When performing a merge of another
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branch into the current branch, we use the common ancestor tree
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as <tree1>, the current branch head as <tree2>, and the other
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branch head as <tree3>.
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Furthermore, 'git read-tree' has special-case logic that says: if you see
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a file that matches in all respects in the following states, it
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"collapses" back to "stage0":
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- stage 2 and 3 are the same; take one or the other (it makes no
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difference - the same work has been done on our branch in
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stage 2 and their branch in stage 3)
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- stage 1 and stage 2 are the same and stage 3 is different; take
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stage 3 (our branch in stage 2 did not do anything since the
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ancestor in stage 1 while their branch in stage 3 worked on
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it)
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- stage 1 and stage 3 are the same and stage 2 is different take
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stage 2 (we did something while they did nothing)
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The 'git write-tree' command refuses to write a nonsensical tree, and it
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will complain about unmerged entries if it sees a single entry that is not
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stage 0.
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OK, this all sounds like a collection of totally nonsensical rules,
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but it's actually exactly what you want in order to do a fast
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merge. The different stages represent the "result tree" (stage 0, aka
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"merged"), the original tree (stage 1, aka "orig"), and the two trees
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you are trying to merge (stage 2 and 3 respectively).
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The order of stages 1, 2 and 3 (hence the order of three
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<tree-ish> command line arguments) are significant when you
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start a 3-way merge with an index file that is already
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populated. Here is an outline of how the algorithm works:
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- if a file exists in identical format in all three trees, it will
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automatically collapse to "merged" state by 'git read-tree'.
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- a file that has _any_ difference what-so-ever in the three trees
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will stay as separate entries in the index. It's up to "porcelain
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policy" to determine how to remove the non-0 stages, and insert a
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merged version.
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- the index file saves and restores with all this information, so you
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can merge things incrementally, but as long as it has entries in
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stages 1/2/3 (i.e., "unmerged entries") you can't write the result. So
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now the merge algorithm ends up being really simple:
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* you walk the index in order, and ignore all entries of stage 0,
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since they've already been done.
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* if you find a "stage1", but no matching "stage2" or "stage3", you
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know it's been removed from both trees (it only existed in the
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original tree), and you remove that entry.
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* if you find a matching "stage2" and "stage3" tree, you remove one
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of them, and turn the other into a "stage0" entry. Remove any
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matching "stage1" entry if it exists too. .. all the normal
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trivial rules ..
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You would normally use 'git merge-index' with supplied
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'git merge-one-file' to do this last step. The script updates
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the files in the working tree as it merges each path and at the
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end of a successful merge.
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When you start a 3-way merge with an index file that is already
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populated, it is assumed that it represents the state of the
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files in your work tree, and you can even have files with
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changes unrecorded in the index file. It is further assumed
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that this state is "derived" from the stage 2 tree. The 3-way
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merge refuses to run if it finds an entry in the original index
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file that does not match stage 2.
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This is done to prevent you from losing your work-in-progress
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changes, and mixing your random changes in an unrelated merge
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commit. To illustrate, suppose you start from what has been
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committed last to your repository:
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----------------
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$ JC=`git rev-parse --verify "HEAD^0"`
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$ git checkout-index -f -u -a $JC
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----------------
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You do random edits, without running 'git update-index'. And then
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you notice that the tip of your "upstream" tree has advanced
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since you pulled from him:
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----------------
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$ git fetch git://.... linus
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$ LT=`cat .git/FETCH_HEAD`
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----------------
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Your work tree is still based on your HEAD ($JC), but you have
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some edits since. Three-way merge makes sure that you have not
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added or modified index entries since $JC, and if you haven't,
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then does the right thing. So with the following sequence:
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----------------
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$ git read-tree -m -u `git merge-base $JC $LT` $JC $LT
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$ git merge-index git-merge-one-file -a
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$ echo "Merge with Linus" | \
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git commit-tree `git write-tree` -p $JC -p $LT
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----------------
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what you would commit is a pure merge between $JC and $LT without
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your work-in-progress changes, and your work tree would be
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updated to the result of the merge.
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However, if you have local changes in the working tree that
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would be overwritten by this merge, 'git read-tree' will refuse
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to run to prevent your changes from being lost.
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In other words, there is no need to worry about what exists only
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in the working tree. When you have local changes in a part of
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the project that is not involved in the merge, your changes do
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not interfere with the merge, and are kept intact. When they
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*do* interfere, the merge does not even start ('git read-tree'
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complains loudly and fails without modifying anything). In such
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a case, you can simply continue doing what you were in the
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middle of doing, and when your working tree is ready (i.e. you
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have finished your work-in-progress), attempt the merge again.
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SEE ALSO
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--------
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linkgit:git-write-tree[1]; linkgit:git-ls-files[1];
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linkgit:gitignore[5]
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Author
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------
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Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
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Documentation
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--------------
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Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
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GIT
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---
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Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
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