+
+/*
+ * Resolve a reference, recursively following symbolic refererences.
+ *
+ * Store the referred-to object's name in sha1 and return the name of
+ * the non-symbolic reference that ultimately pointed at it. The
+ * return value, if not NULL, is a pointer into either a static buffer
+ * or the input ref.
+ *
+ * If the reference cannot be resolved to an object, the behavior
+ * depends on the "reading" argument:
+ *
+ * - If reading is set, return NULL.
+ *
+ * - If reading is not set, clear sha1 and return the name of the last
+ * reference name in the chain, which will either be a non-symbolic
+ * reference or an undefined reference. If this is a prelude to
+ * "writing" to the ref, the return value is the name of the ref
+ * that will actually be created or changed.
+ *
+ * If flag is non-NULL, set the value that it points to the
+ * combination of REF_ISPACKED (if the reference was found among the
+ * packed references) and REF_ISSYMREF (if the initial reference was a
+ * symbolic reference).
+ *
+ * If ref is not a properly-formatted, normalized reference, return
+ * NULL. If more than MAXDEPTH recursive symbolic lookups are needed,
+ * give up and return NULL.
+ *
+ * errno is sometimes set on errors, but not always.
+ */
+extern const char *resolve_ref(const char *ref, unsigned char *sha1, int reading, int *flag);
+