Re: pull into dirty working tree

> On Wed, Jun 13, 2007 at 09:14:32AM -0500, Bill Lear wrote:
> > We have some CVS users who complain that they cannot do a pull
> > into a dirty working tree, as they could under CVS.  Here is
> > their scenario: they make a few changes to their code and want
> > to test it out; someone else pushes changes to the central repo
> > that they then want to add to their working tree to test also;
> > they then want to pull in these changes and test everything, as
> > if they had done 'mv stuff stuff-; git pull; mv stuff- stuff'.
> > 
> > They would like an option (perhaps a config option) to do a "dirty
> > pull".
> > 
> > The git-merge documentation states:
> > 
> >   You may have local modifications in the working tree files. In other
> >   words, git-diff is allowed to report changes. However, the merge uses
> >   your working tree as the working area, and in order to prevent the
> >   merge operation from losing such changes, it makes sure that they do
> >   not interfere with the merge. Those complex tables in read-tree
> >   documentation define what it means for a path to "interfere with the
> >   merge". And if your local modifications interfere with the merge,
> >   again, it stops before touching anything.
> > 
> > But my colleagues are still wondering: why can't git just do it as
> > CVS does?
> > 
> > I know there are workarounds: I myself documented a set of commands
> > to "put things on a shelf", but they still are whining.
> > 
> > I need a convincing argument: not a technical one, but one that is
> > practical (e.g. where CVS would do harm that git is preventing).
> > 
> > So, any explanation that I can give them why we can't have a 'git pull
> > --dirty' that moves things out of the way, then does the merge, then
> > moves thing back, aside from that it is stupid?
> 
>   I suppose the following way would work:
> 
>   $ git commit -a -m "temporary commit"  # save current work
>   $ git branch -f dirty                  # ..in a separate branch
>   $ git reset --hard HEAD~1              # unwind this commit
>   $ git pull                             # perform a clean pull
>   $ git rebase master dirty              # rewrite the work
>   <you may have to fix some conficts here>