Re: [PATCH] branch: make --set-upstream saner without an explicit starting point

> Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> writes:
> 
> > I think it was a mistake that nobody noticed that it is likely that
> > the operation most often will be done for the current branch and the
> > usual "give me one branch name to operate on, or I'll operate on the
> > current branch" command line convention of "git branch" commannd is
> > not a good fit for it, when "set upstream" feature was added, and
> > suggested an alternative syntax that avoids the mistake you quoted
> > above, perhaps something like:
> >
> > 	git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/master [HEAD]
> >
> > which would have been very clear whose upstream is set to what (with
> > or without the name of the other branch).  In other words, make the
> > name "origin/master" *NOT* the first branch name on the command line
> > in the usual sense, but a parameter to the --set-upstream option, so
> > that "give me one branch name to operate on, or I'll operate on the
> > current branch" convention is still kept.
> > 
> > You also broke people who corrected another kind of mistake in this
> > workflow:
> > ...
> > Coming from the above observation, while I am sympathetic to your
> > cause and agree that we would want to do something about it, I am
> > having a hard time to convince myself that your patch is the best
> > way to go.
> >
> > I am not entirely happy with the hypothetical "set-upstream-to"
> > myself, either.
>
> Thinking about it a bit more, I am starting to think that something
> based on the "set upstream to" could be a sane way forward:
> 
>  * add "git branch [--set-upstream-to=<name>]" that does what your
>    patch does.  The synopsis must make it clear that <name> is not
>    the usual first <name> like other "branch" command line arguments
>    that specify the branch being operated on, but is an argument to
>    the --set-upstream option [*1*].

> 
>  * when "git branch --set-upstream <name>" without <start point>
>    is given, you first see if <name> exists and find out the
>    upstream of <name>, do what the user told you to do (i.e. reset
>    the upstream of the <name>d branch to the current branch), and
>    give hints to recover.  Two possibilities:
> 
>      $ git checkout frotz
>      $ git branch --set-upstream xyzzy
>      Branch xyzzy set up to track local branch frotz.
>      If you wanted to make frotz track xyzzy, do this:
>        $ git branch --set-upstream xyzzy <original>
>        $ git branch --set-upstream-to xyzzy
> 
>      $ git checkout frotz
>      $ git branch --set-upstream origin/xyzzy
>      Branch origin/xyzzy set up to track local branch frotz.
>      If you wanted to make frotz track xyzzy, do this:
>        $ git branch -d origin/xyzzy
>        $ git branch --set-upstream-to origin/xyzzy