* git branch command is incompatible with bash
@ 2015-07-27 12:12 Anatol Rudolph
2015-07-27 21:11 ` Johannes Sixt
0 siblings, 1 reply; 9+ messages in thread
From: Anatol Rudolph @ 2015-07-27 12:12 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: git
Hello!
I hope posting this to this mailing list is okay, this is the first ever
mail that I submit to a technical mailing list.
When using the git branch command, git uses a '*' to denote the current
branch. Therefore, in bash this:
$ branchName=$(git branch -q)
$ echo $branchName
produces a directory listing, because the '*' is interpreded by the
shell.
While an (unwieldly) workaround exists:
$ branchName=$(git symbolic-ref -q HEAD)
$ branchName=${branch##refs/heads/}
it would still be nice, if there were a --current flag, that returned
only the current branch name, omitting the star:
$ branchName=$(git branch --current -q)
$ echo $branchName
master
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 9+ messages in thread
* Re: git branch command is incompatible with bash
2015-07-27 12:12 git branch command is incompatible with bash Anatol Rudolph
@ 2015-07-27 21:11 ` Johannes Sixt
2015-07-27 21:49 ` Junio C Hamano
0 siblings, 1 reply; 9+ messages in thread
From: Johannes Sixt @ 2015-07-27 21:11 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Anatol Rudolph; +Cc: git
Am 27.07.2015 um 14:12 schrieb Anatol Rudolph:
> When using the git branch command, git uses a '*' to denote the current
> branch. Therefore, in bash this:
>
> $ branchName=$(git branch -q)
> $ echo $branchName
>
> produces a directory listing, because the '*' is interpreded by the
> shell.
Of course. You would write the last line as
echo "$branchName"
These are shell fundamentals.
> While an (unwieldly) workaround exists:
>
> $ branchName=$(git symbolic-ref -q HEAD)
> $ branchName=${branch##refs/heads/}
If you want to do that in a script, this is not a work-around, but it is
how you should do it. But you may want to use option --short to save the
second line.
> it would still be nice, if there were a --current flag, that returned
> only the current branch name, omitting the star:
>
> $ branchName=$(git branch --current -q)
> $ echo $branchName
> master
Try
branchName=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
-- Hannes
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 9+ messages in thread
* Re: git branch command is incompatible with bash
2015-07-27 21:11 ` Johannes Sixt
@ 2015-07-27 21:49 ` Junio C Hamano
2015-07-28 7:28 ` Johannes Sixt
0 siblings, 1 reply; 9+ messages in thread
From: Junio C Hamano @ 2015-07-27 21:49 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Johannes Sixt; +Cc: Anatol Rudolph, git
Johannes Sixt <j6t@kdbg.org> writes:
> Try
>
> branchName=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
Hmm, interesting.
$ git checkout --orphan notyet
$ git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD
$ git symbolic-ref --short HEAD
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 9+ messages in thread
* Re: git branch command is incompatible with bash
2015-07-27 21:49 ` Junio C Hamano
@ 2015-07-28 7:28 ` Johannes Sixt
2015-07-28 10:01 ` Jakub Narębski
2015-07-28 15:23 ` Junio C Hamano
0 siblings, 2 replies; 9+ messages in thread
From: Johannes Sixt @ 2015-07-28 7:28 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Junio C Hamano; +Cc: Anatol Rudolph, git
Am 27.07.2015 um 23:49 schrieb Junio C Hamano:
> Johannes Sixt <j6t@kdbg.org> writes:
>
>> Try
>>
>> branchName=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
>
> Hmm, interesting.
>
> $ git checkout --orphan notyet
> $ git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD
> $ git symbolic-ref --short HEAD
>
Please don't scare newcomers with these corner cases ;-)
I see this:
$ git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD
HEAD
fatal: ambiguous argument 'HEAD': unknown revision or path not in the
working tree.
Use '--' to separate paths from revisions, like this:
'git <command> [<revision>...] -- [<file>...]'
$ git symbolic-ref --short HEAD
notyet
Are you trying to say that the result of 'rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD'
is suboptimal and that of 'symbolic-ref --short HEAD' is OK?
-- Hannes
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 9+ messages in thread
* Re: git branch command is incompatible with bash
2015-07-28 7:28 ` Johannes Sixt
@ 2015-07-28 10:01 ` Jakub Narębski
2015-07-28 15:23 ` Junio C Hamano
1 sibling, 0 replies; 9+ messages in thread
From: Jakub Narębski @ 2015-07-28 10:01 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Johannes Sixt, Junio C Hamano; +Cc: Anatol Rudolph, git
W dniu 2015-07-28 o 09:28, Johannes Sixt pisze:
> Am 27.07.2015 um 23:49 schrieb Junio C Hamano:
>> Johannes Sixt <j6t@kdbg.org> writes:
>>
>>> Try
>>>
>>> branchName=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
>>
>> Hmm, interesting.
>>
>> $ git checkout --orphan notyet
>> $ git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD
>> $ git symbolic-ref --short HEAD
>>
>
> Please don't scare newcomers with these corner cases ;-)
:-P
Yet another corner case:
$ git checkout origin/master # or v1.0.0
$ git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD
$ git symbolic-ref --short HEAD
> I see this:
>
> $ git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD
> HEAD
> fatal: ambiguous argument 'HEAD': unknown revision or path not in the
> working tree.
> Use '--' to separate paths from revisions, like this:
> 'git <command> [<revision>...] -- [<file>...]'
Errr... this error message is errorneous (well, at least somewhat
misleading). Git should know that HEAD is not a path, and that
--abbrev-ref doe not need no revision.
> $ git symbolic-ref --short HEAD
> notyet
>
> Are you trying to say that the result of 'rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD'
> is suboptimal and that of 'symbolic-ref --short HEAD' is OK?
--
Jakub Narębski
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 9+ messages in thread
* Re: git branch command is incompatible with bash
2015-07-28 7:28 ` Johannes Sixt
2015-07-28 10:01 ` Jakub Narębski
@ 2015-07-28 15:23 ` Junio C Hamano
2015-07-28 16:25 ` Jeff King
` (2 more replies)
1 sibling, 3 replies; 9+ messages in thread
From: Junio C Hamano @ 2015-07-28 15:23 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Johannes Sixt; +Cc: Anatol Rudolph, git
Johannes Sixt <j6t@kdbg.org> writes:
> Are you trying to say that the result of 'rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD'
> is suboptimal and that of 'symbolic-ref --short HEAD' is OK?
My "Interesting" was primarily about that I wasn't aware of the
"--abbrev-ref" option.
Yes, I am sure some time ago I accepted a patch to add it, but I
simply do not see the point, especially because the "--short" option
to symbolic-ref feels much more superiour. "What branch am I on?"
is about symbolic refs, rev-parse is about revisions.
I can see that "symbolic-ref --short" is much newer than the other
one, so addition of "--abbrev-ref" to "rev-parse" may have been a
mistake made while being desperate (i.e. not having a way to do so
with plumbing, we wanted "some" way to do so and chose poorly).
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 9+ messages in thread
* Re: git branch command is incompatible with bash
2015-07-28 15:23 ` Junio C Hamano
@ 2015-07-28 16:25 ` Jeff King
2015-07-28 17:27 ` Johannes Sixt
2015-07-29 0:23 ` Scott Schmit
2 siblings, 0 replies; 9+ messages in thread
From: Jeff King @ 2015-07-28 16:25 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Junio C Hamano; +Cc: Johannes Sixt, Anatol Rudolph, git
On Tue, Jul 28, 2015 at 08:23:40AM -0700, Junio C Hamano wrote:
> I can see that "symbolic-ref --short" is much newer than the other
> one, so addition of "--abbrev-ref" to "rev-parse" may have been a
> mistake made while being desperate (i.e. not having a way to do so
> with plumbing, we wanted "some" way to do so and chose poorly).
I think --abbrev-ref can handle much more than just shortening symrefs,
though:
E.g. resolving other symbolic names:
$ git rev-parse --abbrev-ref @{u}
origin/master
Or resolving any arbitrary name you happen to have:
$ git rev-parse --abbrev-ref refs/heads/master
master
Even ones that aren't fully qualified (which would be tough to do with
simple pattern substitution):
$ git rev-parse --abbrev-ref remotes/origin/master
origin/master
Or handling ambiguities during abbreviation:
$ git tag master
$ git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD
heads/master
-Peff
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 9+ messages in thread
* Re: git branch command is incompatible with bash
2015-07-28 15:23 ` Junio C Hamano
2015-07-28 16:25 ` Jeff King
@ 2015-07-28 17:27 ` Johannes Sixt
2015-07-29 0:23 ` Scott Schmit
2 siblings, 0 replies; 9+ messages in thread
From: Johannes Sixt @ 2015-07-28 17:27 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Junio C Hamano; +Cc: Anatol Rudolph, git
Am 28.07.2015 um 17:23 schrieb Junio C Hamano:
> Johannes Sixt <j6t@kdbg.org> writes:
>
>> Are you trying to say that the result of 'rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD'
>> is suboptimal and that of 'symbolic-ref --short HEAD' is OK?
>
> My "Interesting" was primarily about that I wasn't aware of the
> "--abbrev-ref" option.
>
> Yes, I am sure some time ago I accepted a patch to add it, but I
> simply do not see the point, especially because the "--short" option
> to symbolic-ref feels much more superiour. "What branch am I on?"
> is about symbolic refs, rev-parse is about revisions.
>
> I can see that "symbolic-ref --short" is much newer than the other
> one, so addition of "--abbrev-ref" to "rev-parse" may have been a
> mistake made while being desperate (i.e. not having a way to do so
> with plumbing, we wanted "some" way to do so and chose poorly).
Heh. Originially, I was about to suggest
git symbolic-ref -q --short HEAD || git rev-parse --abbrev HEAD
in order to handle the detached HEAD case by printing the abbreviated
commit name, only to learn that this doesn't do what I expected. Looking
at the man page of rev-parse, I discovered --abbrev-ref. And learned
that I actually should have used --short instead of --abbrev in the
above rev-parse command.
Confusing...
-- Hannes
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 9+ messages in thread
* Re: git branch command is incompatible with bash
2015-07-28 15:23 ` Junio C Hamano
2015-07-28 16:25 ` Jeff King
2015-07-28 17:27 ` Johannes Sixt
@ 2015-07-29 0:23 ` Scott Schmit
2 siblings, 0 replies; 9+ messages in thread
From: Scott Schmit @ 2015-07-29 0:23 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Junio C Hamano; +Cc: Johannes Sixt, Anatol Rudolph, git
On Tue, Jul 28, 2015 at 08:23:40AM -0700, Junio C Hamano wrote:
> Johannes Sixt <j6t@kdbg.org> writes:
> > Are you trying to say that the result of 'rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD'
> > is suboptimal and that of 'symbolic-ref --short HEAD' is OK?
>
> My "Interesting" was primarily about that I wasn't aware of the
> "--abbrev-ref" option.
>
> Yes, I am sure some time ago I accepted a patch to add it, but I
> simply do not see the point, especially because the "--short" option
> to symbolic-ref feels much more superiour. "What branch am I on?"
> is about symbolic refs, rev-parse is about revisions.
Sometimes my question is "what branch am I on?" -- in which case
symbolic-ref is adequate.
Other times, my question is "where am I/what did I check out?" which is
usually a branch, sometimes a tag, and sometimes a commit hash. We
don't have a one-stop-shop command to answer that question in all cases,
which is unfortunate.
git status answers, but that's not plumbing. git-prompt manages to do a
fairly good job, but the logic is by no means straightforward.
--
Scott Schmit
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 9+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~2015-07-29 0:23 UTC | newest]
Thread overview: 9+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2015-07-27 12:12 git branch command is incompatible with bash Anatol Rudolph
2015-07-27 21:11 ` Johannes Sixt
2015-07-27 21:49 ` Junio C Hamano
2015-07-28 7:28 ` Johannes Sixt
2015-07-28 10:01 ` Jakub Narębski
2015-07-28 15:23 ` Junio C Hamano
2015-07-28 16:25 ` Jeff King
2015-07-28 17:27 ` Johannes Sixt
2015-07-29 0:23 ` Scott Schmit
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