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| author | Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca> | 2025-09-10 19:14:26 +0000 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> | 2025-09-10 14:32:04 -0700 |
| commit | 042d6f3402126d01a0484e83da0a4f0d3ac037ab (patch) | |
| tree | 57b2ff85ca34d5d88e35b075565ec9b7d4f087aa | |
| parent | ab215e4a8d14624c274319883c4b74956b24b0f0 (diff) | |
| download | git-042d6f3402126d01a0484e83da0a4f0d3ac037ab.tar.gz | |
doc: git-checkout: clarify `-b` and `-B`
From user feedback: several users reported having trouble understanding
the difference between `-b` and `-B` ("I think it's because my brain
expects it to contrast with `-b`, but instead it starts off explaining
how they're the same").
Also, in `-B`, 2 users can't tell what the branch is reset *to*.
Simplify the sentence structure in the explanations of `-b` and `-B` and
add a little extra information (what `<start-point>` is, what the branch
is reset to).
Splitting up `-b` and `-B` into separate items helps simplify the
sentence structure since there's less "In this case...".
Replace the long "the branch is not reset/created unless "git checkout"
is successful..." with just "will fail", since we should generally
assume that Git will fail operations in a clean way and not leave
operations half-finished, and that cases where it does not fail cleanly
are the exceptions that the documentation should flag.
Signed-off-by: Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/git-checkout.adoc | 44 |
1 files changed, 18 insertions, 26 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc b/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc index 7d7505ad40..aaff488929 100644 --- a/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc +++ b/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc @@ -47,27 +47,21 @@ $ git checkout -b <branch> --track <remote>/<branch> Running `git checkout` without specifying a branch has no effect except to print out the tracking information for the current branch. -`git checkout (-b|-B) <new-branch> [<start-point>]`:: - - Specifying `-b` causes a new branch to be created as if - linkgit:git-branch[1] were called and then checked out. In - this case you can use the `--track` or `--no-track` options, - which will be passed to `git branch`. As a convenience, - `--track` without `-b` implies branch creation; see the - description of `--track` below. -+ -If `-B` is given, _<new-branch>_ is created if it doesn't exist; otherwise, it -is reset. This is the transactional equivalent of -+ ------------- -$ git branch -f <branch> [<start-point>] -$ git checkout <branch> ------------- +`git checkout -b <new-branch> [<start-point>]`:: + + Create a new branch named _<new-branch>_, start it at _<start-point>_ + (defaults to the current commit), and check out the new branch. + You can use the `--track` or `--no-track` options to set the branch's + upstream tracking information. + -that is to say, the branch is not reset/created unless "git checkout" is -successful (e.g., when the branch is in use in another worktree, not -just the current branch stays the same, but the branch is not reset to -the start-point, either). +This will fail if there's an error checking out _<new-branch>_, for +example if checking out the `<start-point>` commit would overwrite your +uncommitted changes. + +`git checkout -B <branch> [<start-point>]`:: + + The same as `-b`, except that if the branch already exists it + resets `_<branch>_` to the start point instead of failing. `git checkout --detach [<branch>]`:: `git checkout [--detach] <commit>`:: @@ -157,16 +151,14 @@ of it"). see linkgit:git-branch[1] for details. `-B <new-branch>`:: - Creates the branch _<new-branch>_, start it at _<start-point>_; - if it already exists, then reset it to _<start-point>_. And then - check the resulting branch out. This is equivalent to running - `git branch` with `-f` followed by `git checkout` of that branch; - see linkgit:git-branch[1] for details. + The same as `-b`, except that if the branch already exists it + resets `_<branch>_` to the start point instead of failing. `-t`:: `--track[=(direct|inherit)]`:: When creating a new branch, set up "upstream" configuration. See - `--track` in linkgit:git-branch[1] for details. + `--track` in linkgit:git-branch[1] for details. As a convenience, + --track without -b implies branch creation. + If no `-b` option is given, the name of the new branch will be derived from the remote-tracking branch, by looking at the local part of |