directory for a repository associated with your working tree, or
`<project>.git` directory for a public 'bare' repository. It is
also possible to have a working tree where `.git` is a plain
-
ascii file containing `gitdir: <path>`, i.e. the path to the
+
ASCII file containing `gitdir: <path>`, i.e. the path to the
real git repository).
objects::
Object store associated with this repository. Usually
an object store is self sufficient (i.e. all the objects
that are referred to by an object found in it are also
- found in it), but there are couple of ways to violate
- it.
+ found in it), but there are a few ways to violate it.
+
-. You could populate the repository by running a commit walker
-without `-a` option. Depending on which options are given, you
-could have only commit objects without associated blobs and
-trees this way, for example. A repository with this kind of
-incomplete object store is not suitable to be published to the
-outside world but sometimes useful for private repository.
-. You also could have an incomplete but locally usable repository
-by cloning shallowly. See linkgit:git-clone[1].
-. You can be using `objects/info/alternates` mechanism, or
-`$GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES` mechanism to 'borrow'
+. You could have an incomplete but locally usable repository
+by creating a shallow clone. See linkgit:git-clone[1].
+. You could be using the `objects/info/alternates` or
+`$GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES` mechanisms to 'borrow'
objects from other object stores. A repository with this kind
of incomplete object store is not suitable to be published for
use with dumb transports but otherwise is OK as long as
-`objects/info/alternates` points at the right object stores
-it borrows from.
+`objects/info/alternates` points at the object stores it
+borrows from.
objects/[0-9a-f][0-9a-f]::
- Traditionally, each object is stored in its own file.
- They are split into 256 subdirectories using the first
- two letters from its object name to keep the number of
- directory entries `objects` directory itself needs to
- hold. Objects found here are often called 'unpacked'
- (or 'loose') objects.
+ A newly created object is stored in its own file.
+ The objects are splayed over 256 subdirectories using
+ the first two characters of the sha1 object name to
+ keep the number of directory entries in `objects`
+ itself to a manageable number. Objects found
+ here are often called 'unpacked' (or 'loose') objects.
objects/pack::
Packs (files that store many object in compressed form,
are available in this object store. Whenever a pack is
added or removed, `git update-server-info` should be run
to keep this file up-to-date if the repository is
- published for dumb transports. 'git-repack' does this
+ published for dumb transports. 'git repack' does this
by default.
objects/info/alternates::
refs::
References are stored in subdirectories of this
- directory. The 'git-prune' command knows to keep
+ directory. The 'git prune' command knows to preserve
objects reachable from refs found in this directory and
its subdirectories.
+
HEAD can also record a specific commit directly, instead of
being a symref to point at the current branch. Such a state
-is often called 'detached HEAD', and almost all commands work
-identically as normal. See linkgit:git-checkout[1] for
-details.
+is often called 'detached HEAD.' See linkgit:git-checkout[1]
+for details.
branches::
A slightly deprecated way to store shorthands to be used
- to specify URL to 'git-fetch', 'git-pull' and 'git-push'
- commands is to store a file in `branches/<name>` and
- give 'name' to these commands in place of 'repository'
- argument.
+ to specify a URL to 'git fetch', 'git pull' and 'git push'.
+ A file can be stored as `branches/<name>` and then
+ 'name' can be given to these commands in place of
+ 'repository' argument. See the REMOTES section in
+ linkgit:git-fetch[1] for details. This mechanism is legacy
+ and not likely to be found in modern repositories.
hooks::
Hooks are customization scripts used by various git
commands. A handful of sample hooks are installed when
- 'git-init' is run, but all of them are disabled by
- default. To enable, they need to be made executable.
+ 'git init' is run, but all of them are disabled by
+ default. To enable, the `.sample` suffix has to be
+ removed from the filename by renaming.
Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about
each hook.
This file helps dumb transports discover what refs are
available in this repository. If the repository is
published for dumb transports, this file should be
- regenerated by 'git-update-server-info' every time a tag
+ regenerated by 'git update-server-info' every time a tag
or branch is created or modified. This is normally done
from the `hooks/update` hook, which is run by the
- 'git-receive-pack' command when you 'git-push' into the
+ 'git-receive-pack' command when you 'git push' into the
repository.
info/grafts::
info/exclude::
This file, by convention among Porcelains, stores the
exclude pattern list. `.gitignore` is the per-directory
- ignore file. 'git-status', 'git-add', 'git-rm' and
- 'git-clean' look at it but the core git commands do not look
+ ignore file. 'git status', 'git add', 'git rm' and
+ 'git clean' look at it but the core git commands do not look
at it. See also: linkgit:gitignore[5].
remotes::
- Stores shorthands to be used to give URL and default
- refnames to interact with remote repository to
- 'git-fetch', 'git-pull' and 'git-push' commands.
+ Stores shorthands for URL and default refnames for use
+ when interacting with remote repositories via 'git fetch',
+ 'git pull' and 'git push' commands. See the REMOTES section
+ in linkgit:git-fetch[1] for details. This mechanism is legacy
+ and not likely to be found in modern repositories.
logs::
Records of changes made to refs are stored in this