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| author | Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> | 2012-08-06 13:36:47 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> | 2012-08-06 14:04:16 -0700 |
| commit | 831e61f80fab2d3f9ba1773e657803dcf8b16432 (patch) | |
| tree | 6ced3d26ab664b5ab3885eaef205e8e0d229c5bf /Documentation/git-pack-refs.txt | |
| parent | d0f1ea6003d97e63110fa7d50bb07f546a909b6e (diff) | |
| download | git-831e61f80fab2d3f9ba1773e657803dcf8b16432.tar.gz | |
Documentation: do not mention .git/refs/* directories
It is an implementation detail that a new tag is created by adding a
file in the .git/refs/tags directory. The only thing the user needs
to know is that a "git tag" creates a ref in the refs/tags namespace,
and without "-f", it does not overwrite an existing tag.
Inspired by a report from 乙酸鋰 <ch3cooli@gmail.com>; I think I
caught all the existing mention in Documentation/ directory in the
tip of 1.7.9.X maintenance track, but we may have added new ones
since then.
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/git-pack-refs.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/git-pack-refs.txt | 19 |
1 files changed, 15 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-pack-refs.txt b/Documentation/git-pack-refs.txt index a3c6677bfa..7664bd1741 100644 --- a/Documentation/git-pack-refs.txt +++ b/Documentation/git-pack-refs.txt @@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ DESCRIPTION ----------- Traditionally, tips of branches and tags (collectively known as -'refs') were stored one file per ref under `$GIT_DIR/refs` +'refs') were stored one file per ref in a (sub)directory +under `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory. While many branch tips tend to be updated often, most tags and some branch tips are never updated. When a repository has hundreds or thousands of tags, this @@ -22,13 +23,14 @@ one-file-per-ref format both wastes storage and hurts performance. This command is used to solve the storage and performance -problem by stashing the refs in a single file, +problem by storing the refs in a single file, `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs`. When a ref is missing from the -traditional `$GIT_DIR/refs` hierarchy, it is looked up in this +traditional `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory hierarchy, it is looked +up in this file and used if found. Subsequent updates to branches always create new files under -`$GIT_DIR/refs` hierarchy. +`$GIT_DIR/refs` directory hierarchy. A recommended practice to deal with a repository with too many refs is to pack its refs with `--all --prune` once, and @@ -57,6 +59,15 @@ a repository with many branches of historical interests. The command usually removes loose refs under `$GIT_DIR/refs` hierarchy after packing them. This option tells it not to. + +BUGS +---- + +Older documentation written before the packed-refs mechanism was +introduced may still say things like ".git/refs/heads/<branch> file +exists" when it means "branch <branch> exists". + + GIT --- Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |