From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2019 20:21:55 GMT
Subject: Re: [GIT BUG] show-ref doesn't work with Symbolic Refs other than HEAD
Message-ID: <xmqqo8w2928s.fsf@gitster-ct.c.googlers.com>
In-Reply-To: <BF8A29F0-0572-49EA-9E3F-AC6964C6D8B0@strongestfamilies.com>

Casey Meijer <cmeijer@strongestfamilies.com> writes:

> `git version 2.21.0`
>  
> Example
> ------------
>  
> `git symbolic-ref DEV refs/heads/dev`
> `git symbolic-ref DEV`
> `>> refs/heads/dev
> `git show-ref DEV`
> `>> [NO OUTPUT]`
>  
> Expected output
> ---------------------
>  
> `FULL_COMMIT_HASH refs/heads/dev`

What made you expect such an output?  That may be caused by a
documentation bug or two, which may well be worth fixing.

The show-ref command never resolves a symbolic ref to its pointee,
and it only shows things under refs/ hierarchy.

And DEV is not special.

	git show-ref HEAD

would not show HEAD (i.e. the commit that is at the tip of the
current branch), and it would show refs/remotes/origin/HEAD in a
repository cloned from elsewhere but it does not say what other ref
is pointed at (in other words, what the remote repository considered
the primarily interesting branch).

Thanks.