Re: Branch merge bug

Ramkumar Ramachandra venit, vidit, dixit 19.01.2010 08:22:

It's not a bug, it's a feature. Git does not track renames. It tracks content and detects renames when necessary. Knowing that it is easy to construct examples on which git merge "fails", such as the one you present.

A file which is changed completely is not a renamed file, it's a new one under the same name. Whether the committer meant to create a new file (using the same name by accident or on purpose) or whether it is really a heavily modified and renamed version - who knows? Git doesn't, and cannot, and it leaves that decision up to you.

If you really mean to modify and rename an existing file, then tell Git so:

git mv fil fila git commit -m 'we need a new name'

instead of your 'git rm fil' will record your intentions (not only for Git, but also for everyone else reading your log, such as you a year from now) and will make the merge succeed.

Michael