SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
-'git check-ref-format' [--print]
- [--[no-]allow-onelevel] [--refspec-pattern] <refname>
+'git check-ref-format' [--normalize]
+ [--[no-]allow-onelevel] [--refspec-pattern]
+ <refname>
'git check-ref-format' --branch <branchname-shorthand>
DESCRIPTION
. They can include slash `/` for hierarchical (directory)
grouping, but no slash-separated component can begin with a
- dot `.`.
+ dot `.` or end with the sequence `.lock`.
. They must contain at least one `/`. This enforces the presence of a
category like `heads/`, `tags/` etc. but the actual names are not
. They cannot have ASCII control characters (i.e. bytes whose
values are lower than \040, or \177 `DEL`), space, tilde `~`,
- caret `{caret}`, or colon `:` anywhere.
+ caret `^`, or colon `:` anywhere.
-. They cannot have question-mark `?`, asterisk `{asterisk}`, or open
+. They cannot have question-mark `?`, asterisk `*`, or open
bracket `[` anywhere. See the `--refspec-pattern` option below for
an exception to this rule.
-. They cannot end with a slash `/` nor a dot `.`.
+. They cannot begin or end with a slash `/` or contain multiple
+ consecutive slashes (see the `--normalize` option below for an
+ exception to this rule)
-. They cannot end with the sequence `.lock`.
+. They cannot end with a dot `.`.
. They cannot contain a sequence `@{`.
reference name expressions (see linkgit:gitrevisions[7]):
. A double-dot `..` is often used as in `ref1..ref2`, and in some
- contexts this notation means `{caret}ref1 ref2` (i.e. not in
+ contexts this notation means `^ref1 ref2` (i.e. not in
`ref1` and in `ref2`).
-. A tilde `~` and caret `{caret}` are used to introduce the postfix
+. A tilde `~` and caret `^` are used to introduce the postfix
'nth parent' and 'peel onion' operation.
. A colon `:` is used as in `srcref:dstref` to mean "use srcref\'s
. at-open-brace `@{` is used as a notation to access a reflog entry.
-With the `--print` option, if 'refname' is acceptable, it prints the
-canonicalized name of a hypothetical reference with that name. That is,
-it prints 'refname' with any extra `/` characters removed.
-
With the `--branch` option, it expands the ``previous branch syntax''
`@{-n}`. For example, `@{-1}` is a way to refer the last branch you
were on. This option should be used by porcelains to accept this
--refspec-pattern::
Interpret <refname> as a reference name pattern for a refspec
(as used with remote repositories). If this option is
- enabled, <refname> is allowed to contain a single `{asterisk}`
+ enabled, <refname> is allowed to contain a single `*`
in place of a one full pathname component (e.g.,
- `foo/{asterisk}/bar` but not `foo/bar{asterisk}`).
+ `foo/*/bar` but not `foo/bar*`).
+
+--normalize::
+ Normalize 'refname' by removing any leading slash (`/`)
+ characters and collapsing runs of adjacent slashes between
+ name components into a single slash. Iff the normalized
+ refname is valid then print it to standard output and exit
+ with a status of 0. (`--print` is a deprecated way to spell
+ `--normalize`.)
+
EXAMPLES
--------
* Determine the reference name to use for a new branch:
+
------------
-$ ref=$(git check-ref-format --print "refs/heads/$newbranch") ||
+$ ref=$(git check-ref-format --normalize "refs/heads/$newbranch") ||
die "we do not like '$newbranch' as a branch name."
------------