Documentation / git-update-index.txton commit [PATCH] Random documentation fixes (df8baa4)
   1git-update-index(1)
   2===================
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-update-index - Modifies the index or directory cache
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11'git-update-index'
  12             [--add] [--remove] [--refresh] [--replace]
  13             [--ignore-missing]
  14             [--force-remove]
  15             [--cacheinfo <mode> <object> <file>]\*
  16             [--info-only]
  17             [-z] [--stdin]
  18             [--] [<file>]\*
  19
  20DESCRIPTION
  21-----------
  22Modifies the index or directory cache. Each file mentioned is updated
  23into the cache and any 'unmerged' or 'needs updating' state is
  24cleared.
  25
  26The way "git-update-index" handles files it is told about can be modified
  27using the various options:
  28
  29OPTIONS
  30-------
  31--add::
  32        If a specified file isn't in the cache already then it's
  33        added.
  34        Default behaviour is to ignore new files.
  35
  36--remove::
  37        If a specified file is in the cache but is missing then it's
  38        removed.
  39        Default behaviour is to ignore removed file.
  40
  41--refresh::
  42        Looks at the current cache and checks to see if merges or
  43        updates are needed by checking stat() information.
  44
  45--ignore-missing::
  46        Ignores missing files during a --refresh
  47
  48--cacheinfo <mode> <object> <path>::
  49        Directly insert the specified info into the cache.
  50        
  51--info-only::
  52        Do not create objects in the object database for all
  53        <file> arguments that follow this flag; just insert
  54        their object IDs into the cache.
  55
  56--force-remove::
  57        Remove the file from the index even when the working directory
  58        still has such a file. (Implies --remove.)
  59
  60--replace::
  61        By default, when a file `path` exists in the index,
  62        git-update-index refuses an attempt to add `path/file`.
  63        Similarly if a file `path/file` exists, a file `path`
  64        cannot be added.  With --replace flag, existing entries
  65        that conflicts with the entry being added are
  66        automatically removed with warning messages.
  67
  68--stdin::
  69        Instead of taking list of paths from the command line,
  70        read list of paths from the standard input.  Paths are
  71        separated by LF (i.e. one path per line) by default.
  72
  73-z::
  74        Only meaningful with `--stdin`; paths are separated with
  75        NUL character instead of LF.
  76
  77--::
  78        Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
  79
  80<file>::
  81        Files to act on.
  82        Note that files begining with '.' are discarded. This includes
  83        `./file` and `dir/./file`. If you don't want this, then use     
  84        cleaner names.
  85        The same applies to directories ending '/' and paths with '//'
  86
  87Using --refresh
  88---------------
  89'--refresh' does not calculate a new sha1 file or bring the cache
  90up-to-date for mode/content changes. But what it *does* do is to
  91"re-match" the stat information of a file with the cache, so that you
  92can refresh the cache for a file that hasn't been changed but where
  93the stat entry is out of date.
  94
  95For example, you'd want to do this after doing a "git-read-tree", to link
  96up the stat cache details with the proper files.
  97
  98Using --cacheinfo or --info-only
  99--------------------------------
 100'--cacheinfo' is used to register a file that is not in the
 101current working directory.  This is useful for minimum-checkout
 102merging.
 103
 104To pretend you have a file with mode and sha1 at path, say:
 105
 106   $ git-update-index --cacheinfo mode sha1 path
 107
 108'--info-only' is used to register files without placing them in the object
 109database.  This is useful for status-only repositories.
 110
 111Both '--cacheinfo' and '--info-only' behave similarly: the index is updated
 112but the object database isn't.  '--cacheinfo' is useful when the object is
 113in the database but the file isn't available locally.  '--info-only' is
 114useful when the file is available, but you do not wish to update the
 115object database.
 116
 117Examples
 118--------
 119To update and refresh only the files already checked out:
 120
 121   git-checkout-index -n -f -a && git-update-index --ignore-missing --refresh
 122
 123
 124Author
 125------
 126Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
 127
 128Documentation
 129--------------
 130Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 131
 132GIT
 133---
 134Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
 135