Re: More help with "pull" please

From: Tomas Carnecky <tom@dbservice.com>
Date: Apr 1, 2009, 23:14 UTC
Message-ID: <F364AB31-EC5B-4719-834E-58613BDBC433@dbservice.com>
In-Reply-To: <450196A1AAAE4B42A00A8B27A59278E70A7D4E71@EXCHANGE.trad.tradestation.com>

On Apr 2, 2009, at 12:53 AM, John Dlugosz wrote:

Show 21 quoted lines

>> When you create a branch, you can tell git which remote branch it
>> tracks, like this:
>>
>> $ git branch --track mynext origin/next
>>
>> So whenever you are on brach 'mynext' and do a git-pull, it will  
>> fetch
>> and merge origin/next.
>>
>> You can do the same with the git-checkout command:
>>
>> $ git checkout --track origin/next
>>
>> This will create a local branch 'next' which tracks 'origin/next'
>>
>
> OK, that works by adding something to the config file, right?  The  
> docs
> don't say, but does mention "having Pull: <refspec> lines for a
> <repository>".  Does tracking add Pull: lines, or is that another
> feature?

I think Pull: lines are not used anymore in newer repositories. Tracking is done through the 'branch.<name>.remote' and 'branch.<name>.merge' config options (which are automatically set by git-branch/git-checkout when you use --track).

Show 31 quoted lines

>>
>> $ git clone $url XXX
>> $ cd XXX
>> $ git checkout --track origin/ReleaseCandidate
>> ...
>> $ git pull # will automatically fetch and merge
> origin/ReleaseCandidate
>
> According to the manpage on pull, "While git-pull run without any
> explicit <refspec> parameter takes default <refspec>s from Pull:  
> lines,
> it merges only the first <refspec> found into the current branch,  
> after
> fetching all the remote refs."
>
> Also, "When no refspec was given on the command line ... If
> branch.<name>.merge configuration for the current branch <name>  
> exists,
> that is the name of the branch at the remote site that is merged."  So
> is that yet again different from having Pull: lines?  If so, I'm  
> fine if
> no "Pull:" lines exist, or it would merge the first refspec found  
> there.
>
> Also, "Normally the branch merged in is the HEAD of the remote
> repository, but the choice is determined by the branch.<name>.remote  
> and
> branch.<name>.merge options; see git-config(1) for details."  That
> agrees with the previous.  If branch.<name>.merge configuration  
> exists,
> I don't need to worry about the remote HEAD.

I'd say forget about Pull: because you won't see any of that in newer repositories. Instead, just use --track when checking out a branch you intend to follow. And, more as an implementation detail than anything else, remember that the tracking is done through the above mentioned config options (which you can set/change using git-config or directly by editing the .git/config file).

Show 15 quoted lines

>
>> $ git checkout --track origin/ReleaseCandidate
>
> That command does not work.  It compains that --track can only be used
> with -b, etc.
>
> I think
> 	git checkout -b origin/ReleaseCandidate
>
> is the correct shortcut?
>
> 	git checkout -b ReleaseCandidate origin/ReleaseCandidate
>
> did work.  I know that --track is automatic if the second argument is
> remote.

Maybe it's because I'm using a fairly recent version (1.6.2.1.307.g91408).

tom