Documentation / git-replace.txton commit Merge branch 'maint-1.8.5' into maint-1.9 (9181365)
   1git-replace(1)
   2==============
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-replace - Create, list, delete refs to replace objects
   7
   8SYNOPSIS
   9--------
  10[verse]
  11'git replace' [-f] <object> <replacement>
  12'git replace' -d <object>...
  13'git replace' [--format=<format>] [-l [<pattern>]]
  14
  15DESCRIPTION
  16-----------
  17Adds a 'replace' reference in `refs/replace/` namespace.
  18
  19The name of the 'replace' reference is the SHA-1 of the object that is
  20replaced. The content of the 'replace' reference is the SHA-1 of the
  21replacement object.
  22
  23The replaced object and the replacement object must be of the same type.
  24This restriction can be bypassed using `-f`.
  25
  26Unless `-f` is given, the 'replace' reference must not yet exist.
  27
  28There is no other restriction on the replaced and replacement objects.
  29Merge commits can be replaced by non-merge commits and vice versa.
  30
  31Replacement references will be used by default by all Git commands
  32except those doing reachability traversal (prune, pack transfer and
  33fsck).
  34
  35It is possible to disable use of replacement references for any
  36command using the `--no-replace-objects` option just after 'git'.
  37
  38For example if commit 'foo' has been replaced by commit 'bar':
  39
  40------------------------------------------------
  41$ git --no-replace-objects cat-file commit foo
  42------------------------------------------------
  43
  44shows information about commit 'foo', while:
  45
  46------------------------------------------------
  47$ git cat-file commit foo
  48------------------------------------------------
  49
  50shows information about commit 'bar'.
  51
  52The 'GIT_NO_REPLACE_OBJECTS' environment variable can be set to
  53achieve the same effect as the `--no-replace-objects` option.
  54
  55OPTIONS
  56-------
  57-f::
  58--force::
  59        If an existing replace ref for the same object exists, it will
  60        be overwritten (instead of failing).
  61
  62-d::
  63--delete::
  64        Delete existing replace refs for the given objects.
  65
  66-l <pattern>::
  67--list <pattern>::
  68        List replace refs for objects that match the given pattern (or
  69        all if no pattern is given).
  70        Typing "git replace" without arguments, also lists all replace
  71        refs.
  72
  73--format=<format>::
  74        When listing, use the specified <format>, which can be one of
  75        'short', 'medium' and 'long'. When omitted, the format
  76        defaults to 'short'.
  77
  78FORMATS
  79-------
  80
  81The following format are available:
  82
  83* 'short':
  84        <replaced sha1>
  85* 'medium':
  86        <replaced sha1> -> <replacement sha1>
  87* 'long':
  88        <replaced sha1> (<replaced type>) -> <replacement sha1> (<replacement type>)
  89
  90CREATING REPLACEMENT OBJECTS
  91----------------------------
  92
  93linkgit:git-filter-branch[1], linkgit:git-hash-object[1] and
  94linkgit:git-rebase[1], among other git commands, can be used to create
  95replacement objects from existing objects.
  96
  97If you want to replace many blobs, trees or commits that are part of a
  98string of commits, you may just want to create a replacement string of
  99commits and then only replace the commit at the tip of the target
 100string of commits with the commit at the tip of the replacement string
 101of commits.
 102
 103BUGS
 104----
 105Comparing blobs or trees that have been replaced with those that
 106replace them will not work properly. And using `git reset --hard` to
 107go back to a replaced commit will move the branch to the replacement
 108commit instead of the replaced commit.
 109
 110There may be other problems when using 'git rev-list' related to
 111pending objects.
 112
 113SEE ALSO
 114--------
 115linkgit:git-hash-object[1]
 116linkgit:git-filter-branch[1]
 117linkgit:git-rebase[1]
 118linkgit:git-tag[1]
 119linkgit:git-branch[1]
 120linkgit:git[1]
 121
 122GIT
 123---
 124Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite