while the HEAD is detached. They update the HEAD to point at the tip
of the updated history without affecting any branch. Commands that
update or inquire information _about_ the current branch (e.g. `git
-branch --set-upstream-to` that sets what remote tracking branch the
+branch --set-upstream-to` that sets what remote-tracking branch the
current branch integrates with) obviously do not work, as there is no
(real) current branch to ask about in this state.
The default upstream <<def_repository,repository>>. Most projects have
at least one upstream project which they track. By default
'origin' is used for that purpose. New upstream updates
- will be fetched into remote <<def_remote_tracking_branch,remote-tracking branches>> named
+ will be fetched into <<def_remote_tracking_branch,remote-tracking branches>> named
origin/name-of-upstream-branch, which you can see using
`git branch -r`.
against the path.
+
The "magic signature" consists of an ASCII symbol that is not
-alphanumeric. Currently only the slash `/` is recognized as a
-"magic signature": it makes the pattern match from the root of
-the working tree, even when you are running the command from
-inside a subdirectory.
+alphanumeric.
++
+--
+top `/`;;
+ The magic word `top` (mnemonic: `/`) makes the pattern match
+ from the root of the working tree, even when you are running
+ the command from inside a subdirectory.
+
+literal;;
+ Wildcards in the pattern such as `*` or `?` are treated
+ as literal characters.
+--
++
+Currently only the slash `/` is recognized as the "magic signature",
+but it is envisioned that we will support more types of magic in later
+versions of Git.
+
A pathspec with only a colon means "there is no pathspec". This form
should not be combined with other pathspec.
<<def_ref,ref>> and local ref.
[[def_remote_tracking_branch]]remote-tracking branch::
- A regular Git <<def_branch,branch>> that is used to follow changes from
- another <<def_repository,repository>>. A remote-tracking
- branch should not contain direct modifications or have local commits
- made to it. A remote-tracking branch can usually be
- identified as the right-hand-side <<def_ref,ref>> in a Pull:
- <<def_refspec,refspec>>.
+ A <<def_ref,ref>> that is used to follow changes from another
+ <<def_repository,repository>>. It typically looks like
+ 'refs/remotes/foo/bar' (indicating that it tracks a branch named
+ 'bar' in a remote named 'foo'), and matches the right-hand-side of
+ a configured fetch <<def_refspec,refspec>>. A remote-tracking
+ branch should not contain direct modifications or have local
+ commits made to it.
[[def_repository]]repository::
A collection of <<def_ref,refs>> together with an