From: J. Bruce Fields Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:20:46 +0000 (-0400) Subject: user-manual: more discussion of detached heads, fix typos X-Git-Tag: v1.5.1.4~12 X-Git-Url: http://git.tremily.us/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=953f3d6ff939b3c51d6c733a3d0e3f54e7477034;p=git.git user-manual: more discussion of detached heads, fix typos Nicolas Pitre pointed out a couple typos and some room for improvement in the discussion of detached heads. Signed-off-by: "J. Bruce Fields" Cc: Nicolas Pitre --- diff --git a/Documentation/user-manual.txt b/Documentation/user-manual.txt index dff438f76..54fd41384 100644 --- a/Documentation/user-manual.txt +++ b/Documentation/user-manual.txt @@ -527,17 +527,16 @@ and git branch shows that you are no longer on a branch: ------------------------------------------------ $ cat .git/HEAD 427abfa28afedffadfca9dd8b067eb6d36bac53f -git branch +$ git branch * (no branch) master ------------------------------------------------ In this case we say that the HEAD is "detached". -This can be an easy way to check out a particular version without having -to make up a name for a new branch. However, keep in mind that when you -switch away from the (for example, by checking out something else), you -can lose track of what the HEAD used to point to. +This is an easy way to check out a particular version without having to +make up a name for the new branch. You can still create a new branch +(or tag) for this version later if you decide to. Examining branches from a remote repository ------------------------------------------- @@ -1560,8 +1559,19 @@ $ git show master@{2} # See where the branch pointed 2, $ git show master@{3} # 3, ... changes ago. $ gitk master@{yesterday} # See where it pointed yesterday, $ gitk master@{"1 week ago"} # ... or last week +$ git log --walk-reflogs master # show reflog entries for master +------------------------------------------------- + +A separate reflog is kept for the HEAD, so + +------------------------------------------------- +$ git show HEAD@{"1 week ago"} ------------------------------------------------- +will show what HEAD pointed to one week ago, not what the current branch +pointed to one week ago. This allows you to see the history of what +you've checked out. + The reflogs are kept by default for 30 days, after which they may be pruned. See gitlink:git-reflog[1] and gitlink:git-gc[1] to learn how to control this pruning, and see the "SPECIFYING REVISIONS"