Re: Automatically remote prune

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Nov 4, 2009, 18:04 UTC
Message-ID: <7v639qi2un.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>
In-Reply-To: <43d8ce650911040242l44bbf87dm35494e04ce9039aa@mail.gmail.com>

John Tapsell <johnflux@gmail.com> writes:

Show 6 quoted lines

> $> git branch -r
> origin/blah1 [Deleted]
> origin/blah2
>
> (Some branches have been deleted on the remote server.  Use  "git
> remote prune origin" to remove these)

There is no information locally available to do this, unless you are willing to contact the remote every time somebody says "branch -r" (or "branch -a"). I tend to think it is not very nice for the branch command that has long been a "local" command to suddenly start talking to outside world.

You could store necessary information somewhere else when you contacted the remote the last time, but we need to consider what the benefits are to give this information in the first place.a

The [Deleted] mark in your suggestion tells the user:

    This is already removed in the remote, and this tracking copy is the
    only way for you to view it ever again.  Do not run 'remote prune
    origin' blindly otherwise you will lose it.

But that is already possible with "git remote show origin", isn't it?