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1git-update-index(1)
2===================
3
4NAME
5----
6git-update-index - Modifies the index or directory cache
7
8
9SYNOPSIS
10--------
11[verse]
12'git-update-index'
13 [--add] [--remove | --force-remove] [--replace]
14 [--refresh] [-q] [--unmerged] [--ignore-missing]
15 [--cacheinfo <mode> <object> <file>]\*
16 [--chmod=(+|-)x]
17 [--assume-unchanged | --no-assume-unchanged]
18 [--really-refresh] [--unresolve]
19 [--info-only] [--index-info]
20 [-z] [--stdin]
21 [--verbose]
22 [--] [<file>]\*
23
24DESCRIPTION
25-----------
26Modifies the index or directory cache. Each file mentioned is updated
27into the index and any 'unmerged' or 'needs updating' state is
28cleared.
29
30The way "git-update-index" handles files it is told about can be modified
31using the various options:
32
33OPTIONS
34-------
35--add::
36 If a specified file isn't in the index already then it's
37 added.
38 Default behaviour is to ignore new files.
39
40--remove::
41 If a specified file is in the index but is missing then it's
42 removed.
43 Default behaviour is to ignore removed file.
44
45--refresh::
46 Looks at the current index and checks to see if merges or
47 updates are needed by checking stat() information.
48
49-q::
50 Quiet. If --refresh finds that the index needs an update, the
51 default behavior is to error out. This option makes
52 git-update-index continue anyway.
53
54--unmerged::
55 If --refresh finds unmerged changes in the index, the default
56 behavior is to error out. This option makes git-update-index
57 continue anyway.
58
59--ignore-missing::
60 Ignores missing files during a --refresh
61
62--cacheinfo <mode> <object> <path>::
63 Directly insert the specified info into the index.
64
65--index-info::
66 Read index information from stdin.
67
68--chmod=(+|-)x::
69 Set the execute permissions on the updated files.
70
71--assume-unchanged, --no-assume-unchanged::
72 When these flags are specified, the object name recorded
73 for the paths are not updated. Instead, these options
74 sets and unsets the "assume unchanged" bit for the
75 paths. When the "assume unchanged" bit is on, git stops
76 checking the working tree files for possible
77 modifications, so you need to manually unset the bit to
78 tell git when you change the working tree file. This is
79 sometimes helpful when working with a big project on a
80 filesystem that has very slow lstat(2) system call
81 (e.g. cifs).
82
83--unresolve::
84 Restores the 'unmerged' or 'needs updating' state of a
85 file during a merge if it was cleared by accident.
86
87--info-only::
88 Do not create objects in the object database for all
89 <file> arguments that follow this flag; just insert
90 their object IDs into the index.
91
92--force-remove::
93 Remove the file from the index even when the working directory
94 still has such a file. (Implies --remove.)
95
96--replace::
97 By default, when a file `path` exists in the index,
98 git-update-index refuses an attempt to add `path/file`.
99 Similarly if a file `path/file` exists, a file `path`
100 cannot be added. With --replace flag, existing entries
101 that conflicts with the entry being added are
102 automatically removed with warning messages.
103
104--stdin::
105 Instead of taking list of paths from the command line,
106 read list of paths from the standard input. Paths are
107 separated by LF (i.e. one path per line) by default.
108
109--verbose::
110 Report what is being added and removed from index.
111
112-z::
113 Only meaningful with `--stdin`; paths are separated with
114 NUL character instead of LF.
115
116\--::
117 Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
118
119<file>::
120 Files to act on.
121 Note that files beginning with '.' are discarded. This includes
122 `./file` and `dir/./file`. If you don't want this, then use
123 cleaner names.
124 The same applies to directories ending '/' and paths with '//'
125
126Using --refresh
127---------------
128'--refresh' does not calculate a new sha1 file or bring the index
129up-to-date for mode/content changes. But what it *does* do is to
130"re-match" the stat information of a file with the index, so that you
131can refresh the index for a file that hasn't been changed but where
132the stat entry is out of date.
133
134For example, you'd want to do this after doing a "git-read-tree", to link
135up the stat index details with the proper files.
136
137Using --cacheinfo or --info-only
138--------------------------------
139'--cacheinfo' is used to register a file that is not in the
140current working directory. This is useful for minimum-checkout
141merging.
142
143To pretend you have a file with mode and sha1 at path, say:
144
145----------------
146$ git-update-index --cacheinfo mode sha1 path
147----------------
148
149'--info-only' is used to register files without placing them in the object
150database. This is useful for status-only repositories.
151
152Both '--cacheinfo' and '--info-only' behave similarly: the index is updated
153but the object database isn't. '--cacheinfo' is useful when the object is
154in the database but the file isn't available locally. '--info-only' is
155useful when the file is available, but you do not wish to update the
156object database.
157
158
159Using --index-info
160------------------
161
162`--index-info` is a more powerful mechanism that lets you feed
163multiple entry definitions from the standard input, and designed
164specifically for scripts. It can take inputs of three formats:
165
166 . mode SP sha1 TAB path
167+
168The first format is what "git-apply --index-info"
169reports, and used to reconstruct a partial tree
170that is used for phony merge base tree when falling
171back on 3-way merge.
172
173 . mode SP type SP sha1 TAB path
174+
175The second format is to stuff git-ls-tree output
176into the index file.
177
178 . mode SP sha1 SP stage TAB path
179+
180This format is to put higher order stages into the
181index file and matches git-ls-files --stage output.
182
183To place a higher stage entry to the index, the path should
184first be removed by feeding a mode=0 entry for the path, and
185then feeding necessary input lines in the third format.
186
187For example, starting with this index:
188
189------------
190$ git ls-files -s
191100644 8a1218a1024a212bb3db30becd860315f9f3ac52 0 frotz
192------------
193
194you can feed the following input to `--index-info`:
195
196------------
197$ git update-index --index-info
1980 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 frotz
199100644 8a1218a1024a212bb3db30becd860315f9f3ac52 1 frotz
200100755 8a1218a1024a212bb3db30becd860315f9f3ac52 2 frotz
201------------
202
203The first line of the input feeds 0 as the mode to remove the
204path; the SHA1 does not matter as long as it is well formatted.
205Then the second and third line feeds stage 1 and stage 2 entries
206for that path. After the above, we would end up with this:
207
208------------
209$ git ls-files -s
210100644 8a1218a1024a212bb3db30becd860315f9f3ac52 1 frotz
211100755 8a1218a1024a212bb3db30becd860315f9f3ac52 2 frotz
212------------
213
214
215Using "assume unchanged" bit
216----------------------------
217
218Many operations in git depend on your filesystem to have an
219efficient `lstat(2)` implementation, so that `st_mtime`
220information for working tree files can be cheaply checked to see
221if the file contents have changed from the version recorded in
222the index file. Unfortunately, some filesystems have
223inefficient `lstat(2)`. If your filesystem is one of them, you
224can set "assume unchanged" bit to paths you have not changed to
225cause git not to do this check. Note that setting this bit on a
226path does not mean git will check the contents of the file to
227see if it has changed -- it makes git to omit any checking and
228assume it has *not* changed. When you make changes to working
229tree files, you have to explicitly tell git about it by dropping
230"assume unchanged" bit, either before or after you modify them.
231
232In order to set "assume unchanged" bit, use `--assume-unchanged`
233option. To unset, use `--no-assume-unchanged`.
234
235The command looks at `core.ignorestat` configuration variable. When
236this is true, paths updated with `git-update-index paths...` and
237paths updated with other git commands that update both index and
238working tree (e.g. `git-apply --index`, `git-checkout-index -u`,
239and `git-read-tree -u`) are automatically marked as "assume
240unchanged". Note that "assume unchanged" bit is *not* set if
241`git-update-index --refresh` finds the working tree file matches
242the index (use `git-update-index --really-refresh` if you want
243to mark them as "assume unchanged").
244
245
246Examples
247--------
248To update and refresh only the files already checked out:
249
250----------------
251$ git-checkout-index -n -f -a && git-update-index --ignore-missing --refresh
252----------------
253
254On an inefficient filesystem with `core.ignorestat` set::
255+
256------------
257$ git update-index --really-refresh <1>
258$ git update-index --no-assume-unchanged foo.c <2>
259$ git diff --name-only <3>
260$ edit foo.c
261$ git diff --name-only <4>
262M foo.c
263$ git update-index foo.c <5>
264$ git diff --name-only <6>
265$ edit foo.c
266$ git diff --name-only <7>
267$ git update-index --no-assume-unchanged foo.c <8>
268$ git diff --name-only <9>
269M foo.c
270------------
271+
272<1> forces lstat(2) to set "assume unchanged" bits for paths that match index.
273<2> mark the path to be edited.
274<3> this does lstat(2) and finds index matches the path.
275<4> this does lstat(2) and finds index does *not* match the path.
276<5> registering the new version to index sets "assume unchanged" bit.
277<6> and it is assumed unchanged.
278<7> even after you edit it.
279<8> you can tell about the change after the fact.
280<9> now it checks with lstat(2) and finds it has been changed.
281
282
283Configuration
284-------------
285
286The command honors `core.filemode` configuration variable. If
287your repository is on an filesystem whose executable bits are
288unreliable, this should be set to 'false' (see gitlink:git-repo-config[1]).
289This causes the command to ignore differences in file modes recorded
290in the index and the file mode on the filesystem if they differ only on
291executable bit. On such an unfortunate filesystem, you may
292need to use `git-update-index --chmod=`.
293
294The command looks at `core.ignorestat` configuration variable. See
295'Using "assume unchanged" bit' section above.
296
297
298See Also
299--------
300gitlink:git-repo-config[1]
301
302
303Author
304------
305Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
306
307Documentation
308--------------
309Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
310
311GIT
312---
313Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
314