This program is usually not what the end user wants to run directly.
Most end users want to use one of the existing frontend programs,
which parses a specific type of foreign source and feeds the contents
-stored there to git-fast-import.
+stored there to 'git-fast-import'.
fast-import reads a mixed command/data stream from standard input and
writes one or more packfiles directly into the current repository.
with the newly imported data.
The fast-import backend itself can import into an empty repository (one that
-has already been initialized by linkgit:git-init[1]) or incrementally
+has already been initialized by 'git-init') or incrementally
update an existing populated repository. Whether or not incremental
imports are supported from a particular foreign source depends on
the frontend program in use.
This information may be useful after importing projects
whose total object set exceeds the 4 GiB packfile limit,
as these commits can be used as edge points during calls
- to linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].
+ to 'git-pack-objects'.
--quiet::
Disable all non-fatal output, making fast-import silent when it
- is successful. This option disables the output shown by
+ is successful. This option disables the output shown by
\--stats.
--stats::
Parallel Operation
------------------
-Like `git-push` or `git-fetch`, imports handled by fast-import are safe to
+Like 'git-push' or 'git-fetch', imports handled by fast-import are safe to
run alongside parallel `git repack -a -d` or `git gc` invocations,
-or any other Git operation (including `git-prune`, as loose objects
+or any other Git operation (including 'git-prune', as loose objects
are never used by fast-import).
fast-import does not lock the branch or tag refs it is actively importing.
+
An example value is ``Tue Feb 6 11:22:18 2007 -0500''. The Git
parser is accurate, but a little on the lenient side. It is the
-same parser used by linkgit:git-am[1] when applying patches
+same parser used by 'git-am' when applying patches
received from email.
+
Some malformed strings may be accepted as valid dates. In some of
This particular format is supplied as its short to implement and
may be useful to a process that wants to create a new commit
right now, without needing to use a working directory or
-linkgit:git-update-index[1].
+'git-update-index'.
+
If separate `author` and `committer` commands are used in a `commit`
the timestamps may not match, as the system clock will be polled
what you want.
* `100755` or `755`: A normal, but executable, file.
* `120000`: A symlink, the content of the file will be the link target.
+* `160000`: A gitlink, SHA-1 of the object refers to a commit in
+ another repository. Git links can only be specified by SHA or through
+ a commit mark. They are used to implement submodules.
In both formats `<path>` is the complete path of the file to be added
(if not already existing) or modified (if already existing).
complete set of bytes which normally goes into such a signature.
If signing is required, create lightweight tags from within fast-import with
`reset`, then create the annotated versions of those tags offline
-with the standard linkgit:git-tag[1] process.
+with the standard 'git-tag' process.
`reset`
~~~~~~~
When committing fixups, consider using `merge` to connect the
commit(s) which are supplying file revisions to the fixup branch.
-Doing so will allow tools such as linkgit:git-blame[1] to track
+Doing so will allow tools such as 'git-blame' to track
through the real commit history and properly annotate the source
files.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are repacking very old imported data (e.g. older than the
last year), consider expending some extra CPU time and supplying
-\--window=50 (or higher) when you run linkgit:git-repack[1].
+\--window=50 (or higher) when you run 'git-repack'.
This will take longer, but will also produce a smaller packfile.
You only need to expend the effort once, and everyone using your
project will benefit from the smaller repository.