# Deleted files can't be checked back out? 4 messages from 2008-05-23 to 2008-05-25. Participants: fREW, Chris Frey, Jakub Narebski. Thread: https://gitlist.dev/t/13629 ## fREW, 2008-05-23 04:28 Subject: Deleted files can't be checked back out? Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/fb3648c60805222128v1a425c60kc8e44f3a2fb41d54%40mail.gmail.com ``` Hello all, I recently deleted a bunch of files and checked the change into git, and then changed my mind and wanted the files back. I did a git-checkout and got each file back individually. Then I did some work and did a git-push to upload to github. Then I did more work and tried to do a git push and it gave me an error that apparently meant I had to pull before I pushed. Anyway, I pulled, it redeleted the files and now when I do git-checkout to get them back it says: error: pathspec 'foo' did not match any file(s) known to git. I'd really appreciate some help on this issue. I tried messing with qgit to look at it, but I didn't have much luck... -fREW ``` ## Chris Frey, 2008-05-23 06:28 Subject: Re: Deleted files can't be checked back out? Message-ID: <20080523062821.GA24411@foursquare.net> URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/20080523062821.GA24411%40foursquare.net In-Reply-To: ``` On Thu, May 22, 2008 at 11:28:57PM -0500, fREW wrote: > I recently deleted a bunch of files and checked the change into git, > and then changed my mind and wanted the files back. I did a > git-checkout and got each file back individually. Then I did I believe you want to undo the change you made (deleting files), not just view an old version of the file, which is what checkout does. You can either add it back yourself, or you can undo the last commit, using git-reset. Here's an example of what you could have done before making further changes that you wanted to push: git rm file git commit git log # view your change git reset --hard HEAD^ # go back to the HEAD before your change Think of the chain of commits as a long linked list of changes. A branch head is just a pointer to the top of that linked list. git-reset allows you to point that HEAD to anywhere in the list, even after going back in history. The commits are still there, even if HEAD doesn't explicitly point to them. For example, say git log shows commit 1a2b3c4 as HEAD, with commit 7abc983 as its parent. You can move the HEAD back and forth, like this: git reset --hard 7abc983 git log # commit 1a2b3c4 is gone! git reset --hard 1a2b3c4 git log # now it's back! But in your case, you now have a list of commits that is missing files: A -> B -> C | | | (made changes here) | (deleted files here) So in this case you likely want to revert commit B, while keeping commit C. git log # get the commit SHA1, let's say it's 04bcb93 git revert 04bcb93 Take a look at "Git from the bottom up" http://www.newartisans.com/blog_files/git.from.bottom.up.php - Chris ``` ## Jakub Narebski, 2008-05-24 00:43 Subject: Re: Deleted files can't be checked back out? Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/m38wy04jo1.fsf%40localhost.localdomain In-Reply-To: ``` fREW writes: > I recently deleted a bunch of files and checked the change into git, > and then changed my mind and wanted the files back. I did a > git-checkout and got each file back individually. Then I did > some work and did a git-push to upload to github. Then I did more work > and tried to do a git push and it gave me an error that apparently > meant I had to pull before I pushed. You didn't change history, did you (e.g. using rebase)? > Anyway, I pulled, it redeleted the files and now when I do > git-checkout to get them back it says: > > error: pathspec 'foo' did not match any file(s) known to git. Use "git checkout -- " (or "git checkout HEAD -- ") to do a checkout of a file which is not present in the working area. -- Jakub Narebski Poland ShadeHawk on #git ``` ## fREW, 2008-05-25 23:37 Subject: Re: Deleted files can't be checked back out? Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/fb3648c60805251637p70bc76fdm1947da6b9bf34ca1%40mail.gmail.com In-Reply-To: <20080523062821.GA24411@foursquare.net> ``` Just FYI, git revert was exactly what I needed. If you want to undo any commit at all git revert is your friend. Thanks! -fREW On 5/23/08, Chris Frey wrote: > On Thu, May 22, 2008 at 11:28:57PM -0500, fREW wrote: >> I recently deleted a bunch of files and checked the change into git, >> and then changed my mind and wanted the files back. I did a >> git-checkout and got each file back individually. Then I did > > I believe you want to undo the change you made (deleting files), not > just view an old version of the file, which is what checkout does. > > You can either add it back yourself, or you can undo the last commit, using > git-reset. > > Here's an example of what you could have done before making further > changes that you wanted to push: > > git rm file > git commit > git log # view your change > git reset --hard HEAD^ # go back to the HEAD before your change > > Think of the chain of commits as a long linked list of changes. A branch > head is just a pointer to the top of that linked list. git-reset allows > you to point that HEAD to anywhere in the list, even after going back > in history. The commits are still there, even if HEAD doesn't explicitly > point to them. > > For example, say git log shows commit 1a2b3c4 as HEAD, with commit 7abc983 > as its parent. You can move the HEAD back and forth, like this: > > git reset --hard 7abc983 > git log # commit 1a2b3c4 is gone! > git reset --hard 1a2b3c4 > git log # now it's back! > > But in your case, you now have a list of commits that is missing files: > > A -> B -> C > | | > | (made changes here) > | > (deleted files here) > > So in this case you likely want to revert commit B, while keeping commit C. > > git log # get the commit SHA1, let's say it's 04bcb93 > git revert 04bcb93 > > > Take a look at "Git from the bottom up" > http://www.newartisans.com/blog_files/git.from.bottom.up.php > > - Chris > > ```