Re: git-push: creating branch on remote, refspec format

[Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>]

Lasse Kliemann venit, vidit, dixit 26.02.2009 13:00:
> http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-push.html reads:
> 
> | git push origin master:refs/heads/experimental
> | 
> |   Create the branch experimental in the origin repository by copying the 
> |   current master branch. This form is only needed to create a new branch or 
> |   tag in the remote repository when the local name and the remote name are 
> |   different; otherwise, the ref name on its own will work.
> 
> It appears to me that the ref name on its own will also work to create a new 
> branch, at least with local repositories:
> 
> $ (mkdir a && cd a && git init)
> Initialized empty Git repository in /tmp/a/.git/
> $ mkdir b && cd b && git init
> Initialized empty Git repository in /tmp/b/.git/
> $ pwd
> /tmp/b
> $ touch x && git add x && git commit 
> [master (root-commit)]: created 87a90f5: "NA"
>  0 files changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
>  create mode 100644 x
> 
> Now the push from '/tmp/b' to '/tmp/a':
> 
> $ git push /tmp/a master:foo
> Counting objects: 3, done.
> Writing objects: 100% (3/3), 209 bytes, done.
> Total 3 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0)
> Unpacking objects: 100% (3/3), done.
> To /tmp/a
>  * [new branch]      master -> foo
> 
> Am I missing something?
> 

You're using the very same form as the doc. "This form" in the doc
refers to "repo refspec", i.e. something like "a b:c", which is what you
use. The "refs/heads/" part is just there to disambiguate between
possible different matches on the remote side (refs/heads/foo,
refs/tags/foo, refs/remotes/bar/foo, ...).

Michael