Re: checkout extra files

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Sep 8, 2012, 18:54 UTC
Message-ID: <7va9x0uyz9.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>
In-Reply-To: <CAB9Jk9BtZzgi32kxVTbGC7eAjFG41bdae=MaK==sKq=9ohf8_w@mail.gmail.com>

Angelo Borsotti <angelo.borsotti@gmail.com> writes:

Show 10 quoted lines

> It makes quite clear that the command accepts wildcards
> (not expanded by the shell), which was is not clear in the current
> man page (although one could imagine that <path> could also be a
> wildcard).
>
> P.S. In the man page there is also a <pathspec>
>
>     "*git checkout* [-p|--patch] [<tree-ish>] [--] <pathspec>...
>
> that should perhaps be a <path>

That's backwards. Saying <path> as if it means a plain vanilla pathname is a cause of confusion. The command takes pathspec, which is a pattern (see "git help glossary"). The places in the text that say <path> may need to be fixed.

It just happens that you do not realize that you are using pathspec when you say "git checkout hello.c", as the pattern "hello.c" only matches the one pathname "hello.c".