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author | Kaartic Sivaraam <kaartic.sivaraam@gmail.com> | 2017-12-16 11:13:49 +0300 |
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committer | Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> | 2017-12-19 21:00:45 +0300 |
commit | c6342e052535a5097a5bebe270e01b3cc9014bc3 (patch) | |
tree | 80fb4a8109864e0ae9afcad36e0a62f28bd6443d /Documentation/git-check-ref-format.txt | |
parent | 52015aaf9d19c97b52c47c7046058e6d029ff856 (diff) |
Doc/check-ref-format: clarify information about @{-N} syntax
When the N-th previous thing checked out syntax (@{-N}) is used
with '--branch' option of check-ref-format the result may not be
the name of a branch that currently exists or ever existed. This
is because @{-N} is used to refer to the N-th last checked out
"thing", which might be a commit object name if the previous check
out was a detached HEAD state; or a branch name, otherwise. The
documentation thus does a wrong thing by promoting it as the
"previous branch syntax".
State that @{-N} is the syntax for specifying "N-th last thing
checked out" and also state that the result of using @{-N} might
also result in an commit object name.
Signed-off-by: Kaartic Sivaraam <kaartic.sivaraam@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/git-check-ref-format.txt')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/git-check-ref-format.txt | 19 |
1 files changed, 12 insertions, 7 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-check-ref-format.txt b/Documentation/git-check-ref-format.txt index cf0a0b7df2..d9de992585 100644 --- a/Documentation/git-check-ref-format.txt +++ b/Documentation/git-check-ref-format.txt @@ -79,16 +79,21 @@ reference name expressions (see linkgit:gitrevisions[7]): With the `--branch` option, the command takes a name and checks if it can be used as a valid branch name (e.g. when creating a new -branch). The rule `git check-ref-format --branch $name` implements +branch). But be cautious when using the +previous checkout syntax that may refer to a detached HEAD state. +The rule `git check-ref-format --branch $name` implements may be stricter than what `git check-ref-format refs/heads/$name` says (e.g. a dash may appear at the beginning of a ref component, but it is explicitly forbidden at the beginning of a branch name). When run with `--branch` option in a repository, the input is first -expanded for the ``previous branch syntax'' -`@{-n}`. For example, `@{-1}` is a way to refer the last branch you -were on. This option should be used by porcelains to accept this -syntax anywhere a branch name is expected, so they can act as if you -typed the branch name. +expanded for the ``previous checkout syntax'' +`@{-n}`. For example, `@{-1}` is a way to refer the last thing that +was checked out using "git checkout" operation. This option should be +used by porcelains to accept this syntax anywhere a branch name is +expected, so they can act as if you typed the branch name. As an +exception note that, the ``previous checkout operation'' might result +in a commit object name when the N-th last thing checked out was not +a branch. OPTIONS ------- @@ -116,7 +121,7 @@ OPTIONS EXAMPLES -------- -* Print the name of the previous branch: +* Print the name of the previous thing checked out: + ------------ $ git check-ref-format --branch @{-1} |