From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:29:36 GMT
Subject: Re: (beginner) git rm
Message-ID: <7vab9bm85b.fsf@gitster.siamese.dyndns.org>
In-Reply-To: <1233175322729-2234796.post@n2.nabble.com>

Zabre <427@free.fr> writes:

> Björn Steinbrink wrote:
>> 
>> The "git checkout -- d.txt" is also a valid command, but that restores
>> the file from the index.
>> 
>> git checkout -- paths
>> 	==> Copy "paths" from the index to the working tree
>> 
>> git checkout <tree-ish> -- paths
>> 	==> Copy "paths" from the tree-ish to the index and working tree
>> 
>> So, for "rm d.txt", a plain "git checkout -- d.txt" would also do the
>> trick, as d.txt is still in the index. But your "git rm d.txt" also
>> removed the file from the index, and thus that checkout does nothing.
>> But "git checkout HEAD -- d.txt" works, as it gets the file from HEAD
>> and puts it into the index and working tree.
>
> This is enlightening, thank you very much!
> (I knew I would love git more and more)
>
> Oh just one (probably stupid) thing : <tree-ish> does represent a directory
> being the root of a tree of folders (which has been added to the index),
> does it?

Yeah, it typically is a commit object.

Björn said "Copy", but the operation really is like checking out a book
from a library and "checkout" is a good word for it.  "I do not like what
I have in my work tree, and I'd like to replace it with a fresh one taken
out of the index (or, out of that commit)".