| git-check-ref-format(1) |
| ======================= |
| |
| NAME |
| ---- |
| git-check-ref-format - Ensures that a reference name is well formed |
| |
| SYNOPSIS |
| -------- |
| [verse] |
| 'git check-ref-format' [--normalize] |
| [--[no-]allow-onelevel] [--refspec-pattern] |
| <refname> |
| 'git check-ref-format' --branch <branchname-shorthand> |
| |
| DESCRIPTION |
| ----------- |
| Checks if a given 'refname' is acceptable, and exits with a non-zero |
| status if it is not. |
| |
| A reference is used in Git to specify branches and tags. A |
| branch head is stored in the `refs/heads` hierarchy, while |
| a tag is stored in the `refs/tags` hierarchy of the ref namespace |
| (typically in `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads` and `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags` |
| directories or, as entries in file `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` |
| if refs are packed by `git gc`). |
| |
| Git imposes the following rules on how references are named: |
| |
| . They can include slash `/` for hierarchical (directory) |
| grouping, but no slash-separated component can begin with a |
| dot `.` or end with the sequence `.lock`. |
| |
| . They must contain at least one `/`. This enforces the presence of a |
| category like `heads/`, `tags/` etc. but the actual names are not |
| restricted. If the `--allow-onelevel` option is used, this rule |
| is waived. |
| |
| . They cannot have two consecutive dots `..` anywhere. |
| |
| . They cannot have ASCII control characters (i.e. bytes whose |
| values are lower than \040, or \177 `DEL`), space, tilde `~`, |
| caret `^`, or colon `:` anywhere. |
| |
| . They cannot have question-mark `?`, asterisk `*`, or open |
| bracket `[` anywhere. See the `--refspec-pattern` option below for |
| an exception to this rule. |
| |
| . They cannot begin or end with a slash `/` or contain multiple |
| consecutive slashes (see the `--normalize` option below for an |
| exception to this rule) |
| |
| . They cannot end with a dot `.`. |
| |
| . They cannot contain a sequence `@{`. |
| |
| . They cannot be the single character `@`. |
| |
| . They cannot contain a `\`. |
| |
| These rules make it easy for shell script based tools to parse |
| reference names, pathname expansion by the shell when a reference name is used |
| unquoted (by mistake), and also avoid ambiguities in certain |
| reference name expressions (see linkgit:gitrevisions[7]): |
| |
| . A double-dot `..` is often used as in `ref1..ref2`, and in some |
| contexts this notation means `^ref1 ref2` (i.e. not in |
| `ref1` and in `ref2`). |
| |
| . A tilde `~` and caret `^` are used to introduce the postfix |
| 'nth parent' and 'peel onion' operation. |
| |
| . A colon `:` is used as in `srcref:dstref` to mean "use srcref\'s |
| value and store it in dstref" in fetch and push operations. |
| It may also be used to select a specific object such as with |
| 'git cat-file': "git cat-file blob v1.3.3:refs.c". |
| |
| . at-open-brace `@{` is used as a notation to access a reflog entry. |
| |
| With the `--branch` option, the command takes a name and checks if |
| it can be used as a valid branch name (e.g. when creating a new |
| branch). But be cautious when using the |
| previous checkout syntax that may refer to a detached HEAD state. |
| The rule `git check-ref-format --branch $name` implements |
| may be stricter than what `git check-ref-format refs/heads/$name` |
| says (e.g. a dash may appear at the beginning of a ref component, |
| but it is explicitly forbidden at the beginning of a branch name). |
| When run with `--branch` option in a repository, the input is first |
| expanded for the ``previous checkout syntax'' |
| `@{-n}`. For example, `@{-1}` is a way to refer the last thing that |
| was checked out using "git checkout" operation. This option should be |
| used by porcelains to accept this syntax anywhere a branch name is |
| expected, so they can act as if you typed the branch name. As an |
| exception note that, the ``previous checkout operation'' might result |
| in a commit object name when the N-th last thing checked out was not |
| a branch. |
| |
| OPTIONS |
| ------- |
| --[no-]allow-onelevel:: |
| Controls whether one-level refnames are accepted (i.e., |
| refnames that do not contain multiple `/`-separated |
| components). The default is `--no-allow-onelevel`. |
| |
| --refspec-pattern:: |
| Interpret <refname> as a reference name pattern for a refspec |
| (as used with remote repositories). If this option is |
| enabled, <refname> is allowed to contain a single `*` |
| in the refspec (e.g., `foo/bar*/baz` or `foo/bar*baz/` |
| but not `foo/bar*/baz*`). |
| |
| --normalize:: |
| Normalize 'refname' by removing any leading slash (`/`) |
| characters and collapsing runs of adjacent slashes between |
| name components into a single slash. If the normalized |
| refname is valid then print it to standard output and exit |
| with a status of 0, otherwise exit with a non-zero status. |
| (`--print` is a deprecated way to spell `--normalize`.) |
| |
| |
| EXAMPLES |
| -------- |
| |
| * Print the name of the previous thing checked out: |
| + |
| ------------ |
| $ git check-ref-format --branch @{-1} |
| ------------ |
| |
| * Determine the reference name to use for a new branch: |
| + |
| ------------ |
| $ ref=$(git check-ref-format --normalize "refs/heads/$newbranch")|| |
| { echo "we do not like '$newbranch' as a branch name." >&2 ; exit 1 ; } |
| ------------ |
| |
| GIT |
| --- |
| Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |