2005-10-05 07:45:01 +08:00
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git-symbolic-ref(1)
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===================
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NAME
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----
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git-symbolic-ref - read and modify symbolic refs
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SYNOPSIS
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--------
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'git-symbolic-ref' <name> [<ref>]
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DESCRIPTION
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-----------
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Given one argument, reads which branch head the given symbolic
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ref refers to and outputs its path, relative to the `.git/`
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directory. Typically you would give `HEAD` as the <name>
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argument to see on which branch your working tree is on.
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Give two arguments, create or update a symbolic ref <name> to
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point at the given branch <ref>.
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Traditionally, `.git/HEAD` is a symlink pointing at
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`refs/heads/master`. When we want to switch to another branch,
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we did `ln -sf refs/heads/newbranch .git/HEAD`, and when we want
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to find out which branch we are on, we did `readlink .git/HEAD`.
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This was fine, and internally that is what still happens by
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2005-11-17 13:32:44 +08:00
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default, but on platforms that do not have working symlinks,
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or that do not have the `readlink(1)` command, this was a bit
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2005-10-05 07:45:01 +08:00
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cumbersome. On some platforms, `ln -sf` does not even work as
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advertised (horrors).
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A symbolic ref can be a regular file that stores a string that
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begins with `ref: refs/`. For example, your `.git/HEAD` *can*
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be a regular file whose contents is `ref: refs/heads/master`.
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This can be used on a filesystem that does not support symbolic
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links. Instead of doing `readlink .git/HEAD`, `git-symbolic-ref
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HEAD` can be used to find out which branch we are on. To point
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the HEAD to `newbranch`, instead of `ln -sf refs/heads/newbranch
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.git/HEAD`, `git-symbolic-ref HEAD refs/heads/newbranch` can be
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used.
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Currently, .git/HEAD uses a regular file symbolic ref on Cygwin,
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and everywhere else it is implemented as a symlink. This can be
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changed at compilation time.
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Author
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------
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Written by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
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GIT
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---
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Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
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