| git-symbolic-ref(1) |
| =================== |
| |
| NAME |
| ---- |
| git-symbolic-ref - read and modify symbolic refs |
| |
| SYNOPSIS |
| -------- |
| 'git-symbolic-ref' <name> [<ref>] |
| |
| DESCRIPTION |
| ----------- |
| Given one argument, reads which branch head the given symbolic |
| ref refers to and outputs its path, relative to the `.git/` |
| directory. Typically you would give `HEAD` as the <name> |
| argument to see on which branch your working tree is on. |
| |
| Give two arguments, create or update a symbolic ref <name> to |
| point at the given branch <ref>. |
| |
| Traditionally, `.git/HEAD` is a symlink pointing at |
| `refs/heads/master`. When we want to switch to another branch, |
| we did `ln -sf refs/heads/newbranch .git/HEAD`, and when we want |
| to find out which branch we are on, we did `readlink .git/HEAD`. |
| This was fine, and internally that is what still happens by |
| default, but on platforms that do not have working symlinks, |
| or that do not have the `readlink(1)` command, this was a bit |
| cumbersome. On some platforms, `ln -sf` does not even work as |
| advertised (horrors). |
| |
| A symbolic ref can be a regular file that stores a string that |
| begins with `ref: refs/`. For example, your `.git/HEAD` *can* |
| be a regular file whose contents is `ref: refs/heads/master`. |
| This can be used on a filesystem that does not support symbolic |
| links. Instead of doing `readlink .git/HEAD`, `git-symbolic-ref |
| HEAD` can be used to find out which branch we are on. To point |
| the HEAD to `newbranch`, instead of `ln -sf refs/heads/newbranch |
| .git/HEAD`, `git-symbolic-ref HEAD refs/heads/newbranch` can be |
| used. |
| |
| Currently, .git/HEAD uses a regular file symbolic ref on Cygwin, |
| and everywhere else it is implemented as a symlink. This can be |
| changed at compilation time. |
| |
| Author |
| ------ |
| Written by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net> |
| |
| GIT |
| --- |
| Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite |
