SYNOPSIS
--------
-'git-pull' <repository> <refspec>...
+'git-pull' <options> <repository> <refspec>...
DESCRIPTION
-----------
-Runs 'git-fetch' with the given parameters.
-
-When only one ref is downloaded, runs 'git resolve' to merge it
-into the local HEAD. Otherwise uses 'git octopus' to merge them
-into the local HEAD.
+Runs `git-fetch` with the given parameters, and calls `git-merge`
+to merge the retrieved head(s) into the current branch.
+Note that you can use `.` (current directory) as the
+<repository> to pull from the local repository -- this is useful
+when merging local branches into the current branch.
OPTIONS
-------
include::pull-fetch-param.txt[]
+-a, \--append::
+ Append ref names and object names of fetched refs to the
+ existing contents of `$GIT_DIR/FETCH_HEAD`. Without this
+ option old data in `$GIT_DIR/FETCH_HEAD` will be overwritten.
+
+include::merge-pull-opts.txt[]
+
+
+MERGE STRATEGIES
+----------------
+
+resolve::
+ This can only resolve two heads (i.e. the current branch
+ and another branch you pulled from) using 3-way merge
+ algorithm. It tries to carefully detect criss-cross
+ merge ambiguities and is considered generally safe and
+ fast. This is the default merge strategy when pulling
+ one branch.
+
+recursive::
+ This can only resolve two heads using 3-way merge
+ algorithm. When there are more than one common
+ ancestors that can be used for 3-way merge, it creates a
+ merged tree of the common ancestores and uses that as
+ the reference tree for the 3-way merge. This has been
+ reported to result in fewer merge conflicts without
+ causing mis-merges by tests done on actual merge commits
+ taken from Linux 2.6 kernel development history.
+ Additionally this can detect and handle merges involving
+ renames.
+
+octopus::
+ This resolves more than two-head case, but refuses to do
+ complex merge that needs manual resolution. It is
+ primarily meant to be used for bundling topic branch
+ heads together. This is the default merge strategy when
+ pulling more than one branch.
+
+ours::
+ This resolves any number of heads, but the result of the
+ merge is always the current branch head. It is meant to
+ be used to supersede old development history of side
+ branches.
+
+
+EXAMPLES
+--------
+
+git pull, git pull origin::
+ Fetch the default head from the repository you cloned
+ from and merge it into your current branch.
+
+git pull -s ours . obsolete::
+ Merge local branch `obsolete` into the current branch,
+ using `ours` merge strategy.
+
+git pull . fixes enhancements::
+ Bundle local branch `fixes` and `enhancements` on top of
+ the current branch, making an Octopus merge.
+
+git pull --no-commit . maint::
+ Merge local branch `maint` into the current branch, but
+ do not make a commit automatically. This can be used
+ when you want to include further changes to the merge,
+ or want to write your own merge commit message.
++
+You should refrain from abusing this option to sneak substantial
+changes into a merge commit. Small fixups like bumping
+release/version name would be acceptable.
+
+Command line pull of multiple branches from one repository::
++
+------------------------------------------------
+$ cat .git/remotes/origin
+URL: git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/git/git.git
+Pull: master:origin
+
+$ git checkout master
+$ git fetch origin master:origin +pu:pu maint:maint
+$ git pull . origin
+------------------------------------------------
++
+Here, a typical `$GIT_DIR/remotes/origin` file from a
+`git-clone` operation is used in combination with
+command line options to `git-fetch` to first update
+multiple branches of the local repository and then
+to merge the remote `origin` branch into the local
+`master` branch. The local `pu` branch is updated
+even if it does not result in a fast forward update.
+Here, the pull can obtain its objects from the local
+repository using `.`, as the previous `git-fetch` is
+known to have already obtained and made available
+all the necessary objects.
+
+
+Pull of multiple branches from one repository using `$GIT_DIR/remotes` file::
++
+------------------------------------------------
+$ cat .git/remotes/origin
+URL: git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/git/git.git
+Pull: master:origin
+Pull: +pu:pu
+Pull: maint:maint
+
+$ git checkout master
+$ git pull origin
+------------------------------------------------
++
+Here, a typical `$GIT_DIR/remotes/origin` file from a
+`git-clone` operation has been hand-modified to include
+the branch-mapping of additional remote and local
+heads directly. A single `git-pull` operation while
+in the `master` branch will fetch multiple heads and
+merge the remote `origin` head into the current,
+local `master` branch.
+
+
+SEE ALSO
+--------
+gitlink:git-fetch[1], gitlink:git-merge[1]
+
Author
------
Documentation
--------------
-Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
+Documentation by Jon Loeliger,
+David Greaves,
+Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
GIT
---