Re: how to combine two clones in a collection

From: martin f krafft <madduck@madduck.net>
Date: Jul 11, 2007, 18:13 UTC
Message-ID: <20070711181301.GA26815@piper.oerlikon.madduck.net>
In-Reply-To: <200707110145.28931.robin.rosenberg.lists@dewire.com>

also sprach robin:

> And the simplest way to create an new indpendent branch:

> echo ref: refs/heads/newbranch >.git/HEAD
> Then prepare the content and commit like you used to do.

Hi Robin, thanks for this nice suggestion, which doesn't only createa a new, independent branch, it also teaches me yet a bit more about git.

I am a little uneasy about touching files in .git with non-git tools, but everyone seems to be doing it, so I guess it's okay, and it make git a lot more powerful too.

Anyway, I tried your method and there is one small problem:

  piper:~> git init-db
  Initialized empty Git repository in .git/
  piper:~> date > date; git add date; git commit -m.
  Created initial commit 2dd8d6f: .
  1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
  create mode 100644 date
  piper:~> echo ref: refs/heads/newbranch >| .git/HEAD
  piper:~> git status
  # On branch newbranch
  #
  # Initial commit
  #
  # Changes to be committed:
  #   (use "git rm --cached <file>..." to unstage)
  #
  #       new file: date
  #

If I were to run commit now, the file 'date' would become part of the first commit to newbranch. But it's already in the master branch.

Is there anyway I can prevent this and start a new branch from scratch without having to unstage all previous additions?

Thanks,

-- 
martin;              (greetings from the heart of the sun.)
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