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a5af0e2c | 1 | gitcli(7) |
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2 | ========= |
3 | ||
4 | NAME | |
5 | ---- | |
2de9b711 | 6 | gitcli - Git command line interface and conventions |
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7 | |
8 | SYNOPSIS | |
9 | -------- | |
10 | gitcli | |
11 | ||
12 | ||
13 | DESCRIPTION | |
14 | ----------- | |
15 | ||
2de9b711 | 16 | This manual describes the convention used throughout Git CLI. |
d0658ec6 JH |
17 | |
18 | Many commands take revisions (most often "commits", but sometimes | |
19 | "tree-ish", depending on the context and command) and paths as their | |
20 | arguments. Here are the rules: | |
21 | ||
22 | * Revisions come first and then paths. | |
23 | E.g. in `git diff v1.0 v2.0 arch/x86 include/asm-x86`, | |
24 | `v1.0` and `v2.0` are revisions and `arch/x86` and `include/asm-x86` | |
25 | are paths. | |
26 | ||
27 | * When an argument can be misunderstood as either a revision or a path, | |
6cf378f0 JK |
28 | they can be disambiguated by placing `--` between them. |
29 | E.g. `git diff -- HEAD` is, "I have a file called HEAD in my work | |
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30 | tree. Please show changes between the version I staged in the index |
31 | and what I have in the work tree for that file". not "show difference | |
32 | between the HEAD commit and the work tree as a whole". You can say | |
6cf378f0 | 33 | `git diff HEAD --` to ask for the latter. |
d0658ec6 | 34 | |
2de9b711 | 35 | * Without disambiguating `--`, Git makes a reasonable guess, but errors |
d0658ec6 JH |
36 | out and asking you to disambiguate when ambiguous. E.g. if you have a |
37 | file called HEAD in your work tree, `git diff HEAD` is ambiguous, and | |
6cf378f0 | 38 | you have to say either `git diff HEAD --` or `git diff -- HEAD` to |
d0658ec6 | 39 | disambiguate. |
008566e0 | 40 | + |
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41 | When writing a script that is expected to handle random user-input, it is |
42 | a good practice to make it explicit which arguments are which by placing | |
6cf378f0 | 43 | disambiguating `--` at appropriate places. |
d0658ec6 | 44 | |
8300016e JH |
45 | * Many commands allow wildcards in paths, but you need to protect |
46 | them from getting globbed by the shell. These two mean different | |
47 | things: | |
48 | + | |
49 | -------------------------------- | |
50 | $ git checkout -- *.c | |
51 | $ git checkout -- \*.c | |
52 | -------------------------------- | |
53 | + | |
54 | The former lets your shell expand the fileglob, and you are asking | |
55 | the dot-C files in your working tree to be overwritten with the version | |
56 | in the index. The latter passes the `*.c` to Git, and you are asking | |
57 | the paths in the index that match the pattern to be checked out to your | |
58 | working tree. After running `git add hello.c; rm hello.c`, you will _not_ | |
59 | see `hello.c` in your working tree with the former, but with the latter | |
60 | you will. | |
61 | ||
d0658ec6 | 62 | Here are the rules regarding the "flags" that you should follow when you are |
2de9b711 | 63 | scripting Git: |
2f7ee089 | 64 | |
2de9b711 | 65 | * it's preferred to use the non dashed form of Git commands, which means that |
dcb11263 | 66 | you should prefer `git foo` to `git-foo`. |
2f7ee089 | 67 | |
dcb11263 CJ |
68 | * splitting short options to separate words (prefer `git foo -a -b` |
69 | to `git foo -ab`, the latter may not even work). | |
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70 | |
71 | * when a command line option takes an argument, use the 'sticked' form. In | |
dcb11263 CJ |
72 | other words, write `git foo -oArg` instead of `git foo -o Arg` for short |
73 | options, and `git foo --long-opt=Arg` instead of `git foo --long-opt Arg` | |
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74 | for long options. An option that takes optional option-argument must be |
75 | written in the 'sticked' form. | |
76 | ||
77 | * when you give a revision parameter to a command, make sure the parameter is | |
78 | not ambiguous with a name of a file in the work tree. E.g. do not write | |
dcb11263 | 79 | `git log -1 HEAD` but write `git log -1 HEAD --`; the former will not work |
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80 | if you happen to have a file called `HEAD` in the work tree. |
81 | ||
9c81990b JH |
82 | * many commands allow a long option "--option" to be abbreviated |
83 | only to their unique prefix (e.g. if there is no other option | |
84 | whose name begins with "opt", you may be able to spell "--opt" to | |
85 | invoke the "--option" flag), but you should fully spell them out | |
86 | when writing your scripts; later versions of Git may introduce a | |
87 | new option whose name shares the same prefix, e.g. "--optimize", | |
88 | to make a short prefix that used to be unique no longer unique. | |
89 | ||
2f7ee089 | 90 | |
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91 | ENHANCED OPTION PARSER |
92 | ---------------------- | |
2de9b711 | 93 | From the Git 1.5.4 series and further, many Git commands (not all of them at the |
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94 | time of the writing though) come with an enhanced option parser. |
95 | ||
30462a74 | 96 | Here is a list of the facilities provided by this option parser. |
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97 | |
98 | ||
99 | Magic Options | |
100 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
101 | Commands which have the enhanced option parser activated all understand a | |
102 | couple of magic command line options: | |
103 | ||
104 | -h:: | |
105 | gives a pretty printed usage of the command. | |
106 | + | |
107 | --------------------------------------------- | |
108 | $ git describe -h | |
3ddcb198 | 109 | usage: git describe [options] <committish>* |
48dfe969 | 110 | or: git describe [options] --dirty |
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111 | |
112 | --contains find the tag that comes after the commit | |
113 | --debug debug search strategy on stderr | |
48dfe969 GP |
114 | --all use any ref |
115 | --tags use any tag, even unannotated | |
116 | --long always use long format | |
117 | --abbrev[=<n>] use <n> digits to display SHA-1s | |
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118 | --------------------------------------------- |
119 | ||
120 | --help-all:: | |
2de9b711 | 121 | Some Git commands take options that are only used for plumbing or that |
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122 | are deprecated, and such options are hidden from the default usage. This |
123 | option gives the full list of options. | |
124 | ||
125 | ||
126 | Negating options | |
127 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
dcb11263 CJ |
128 | Options with long option names can be negated by prefixing `--no-`. For |
129 | example, `git branch` has the option `--track` which is 'on' by default. You | |
130 | can use `--no-track` to override that behaviour. The same goes for `--color` | |
131 | and `--no-color`. | |
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132 | |
133 | ||
134 | Aggregating short options | |
135 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
136 | Commands that support the enhanced option parser allow you to aggregate short | |
dcb11263 CJ |
137 | options. This means that you can for example use `git rm -rf` or |
138 | `git clean -fdx`. | |
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139 | |
140 | ||
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141 | Abbreviating long options |
142 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
143 | Commands that support the enhanced option parser accepts unique | |
144 | prefix of a long option as if it is fully spelled out, but use this | |
145 | with a caution. For example, `git commit --amen` behaves as if you | |
146 | typed `git commit --amend`, but that is true only until a later version | |
147 | of Git introduces another option that shares the same prefix, | |
148 | e.g `git commit --amenity" option. | |
149 | ||
150 | ||
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151 | Separating argument from the option |
152 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
153 | You can write the mandatory option parameter to an option as a separate | |
154 | word on the command line. That means that all the following uses work: | |
155 | ||
156 | ---------------------------- | |
157 | $ git foo --long-opt=Arg | |
158 | $ git foo --long-opt Arg | |
159 | $ git foo -oArg | |
160 | $ git foo -o Arg | |
161 | ---------------------------- | |
162 | ||
f1cdcc70 | 163 | However, this is *NOT* allowed for switches with an optional value, where the |
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164 | 'sticked' form must be used: |
165 | ---------------------------- | |
166 | $ git describe --abbrev HEAD # correct | |
167 | $ git describe --abbrev=10 HEAD # correct | |
168 | $ git describe --abbrev 10 HEAD # NOT WHAT YOU MEANT | |
169 | ---------------------------- | |
170 | ||
171 | ||
aa0c1f20 NS |
172 | NOTES ON FREQUENTLY CONFUSED OPTIONS |
173 | ------------------------------------ | |
174 | ||
175 | Many commands that can work on files in the working tree | |
176 | and/or in the index can take `--cached` and/or `--index` | |
177 | options. Sometimes people incorrectly think that, because | |
178 | the index was originally called cache, these two are | |
179 | synonyms. They are *not* -- these two options mean very | |
180 | different things. | |
181 | ||
182 | * The `--cached` option is used to ask a command that | |
183 | usually works on files in the working tree to *only* work | |
184 | with the index. For example, `git grep`, when used | |
185 | without a commit to specify from which commit to look for | |
186 | strings in, usually works on files in the working tree, | |
187 | but with the `--cached` option, it looks for strings in | |
188 | the index. | |
189 | ||
190 | * The `--index` option is used to ask a command that | |
191 | usually works on files in the working tree to *also* | |
192 | affect the index. For example, `git stash apply` usually | |
193 | merges changes recorded in a stash to the working tree, | |
194 | but with the `--index` option, it also merges changes to | |
195 | the index as well. | |
196 | ||
197 | `git apply` command can be used with `--cached` and | |
198 | `--index` (but not at the same time). Usually the command | |
199 | only affects the files in the working tree, but with | |
200 | `--index`, it patches both the files and their index | |
201 | entries, and with `--cached`, it modifies only the index | |
202 | entries. | |
203 | ||
204 | See also http://marc.info/?l=git&m=116563135620359 and | |
205 | http://marc.info/?l=git&m=119150393620273 for further | |
206 | information. | |
207 | ||
2f7ee089 PH |
208 | GIT |
209 | --- | |
9e1f0a85 | 210 | Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |