FIX/COMMENT: git remote manual page

FIX/COMMENT: git remote manual page

[Michel Briand]

Hello,

I tried the example given at the bottom if the manual page of git
remote.

·   Imitate git clone but track only selected branches

$ mkdir project.git
$ cd project.git
$ git init
$ git remote add -f -t master -m master origin git://example.com/git.git/
$ git merge origin

It works like it is written.

But it seems this does not work with my special setup:
- I use GIT_DIR and GIT_WORK_TREE to specify another location for my
  repository, and to work from another directory,
- I name my remote with a custom name (not origin).

It fails at the last command :

    fatal: <my name> - not something we can merge

But if I try the command :

    git merge <my name>/master

the error message is different :

    fatal: This operation must be run in a work tree
    fatal: read-tree failed

I cd to the work tree and issue the same last command.
Then it works.

I suspect the first error message is related to the remote name. And
the second to the work tree not being the current directory.

Cheers,
Michel

Re: FIX/COMMENT: git remote manual page

[Nguyen Thai Ngoc Duy]

On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 8:15 AM, Michel Briand <michelbriand@free.fr> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I tried the example given at the bottom if the manual page of git
> remote.
>
> ·   Imitate git clone but track only selected branches
>
> $ mkdir project.git
> $ cd project.git
> $ git init
> $ git remote add -f -t master -m master origin git://example.com/git.git/
> $ git merge origin
>
> It works like it is written.
>
> But it seems this does not work with my special setup:
> - I use GIT_DIR and GIT_WORK_TREE to specify another location for my
>  repository, and to work from another directory,
> - I name my remote with a custom name (not origin).

So you set GIT_DIR and GIT_WORK_TREE before running "git remote add"?

> It fails at the last command :
>
>    fatal: <my name> - not something we can merge

It fails to see "<my name>" points to a commit. Maybe it fails to read
remote information from config..

> But if I try the command :
>
>    git merge <my name>/master
>
> the error message is different :
>
>    fatal: This operation must be run in a work tree
>    fatal: read-tree failed
>
> I cd to the work tree and issue the same last command.
> Then it works.

What git version are use using? I did

GIT_DIR=git/.git GIT_WORK_TREE=git git/git merge origin # or a specific branch

and it worked fine here (recent master). That message means work-tree
settings are not propagated to git-read-tree (run by git-merge).
-- 
Duy

Re: FIX/COMMENT: git remote manual page

[Michel Briand]

Nguyen Thai Ngoc Duy <pclouds@gmail.com> - Sat, 25 Dec 2010 17:48:58
+0700

>On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 8:15 AM, Michel Briand <michelbriand@free.fr> wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I tried the example given at the bottom if the manual page of git
>> remote.
>>
>> ·   Imitate git clone but track only selected branches
>>
>> $ mkdir project.git
>> $ cd project.git
>> $ git init
>> $ git remote add -f -t master -m master origin git://example.com/git.git/
>> $ git merge origin
>>
>> It works like it is written.
>>
>> But it seems this does not work with my special setup:
>> - I use GIT_DIR and GIT_WORK_TREE to specify another location for my
>>  repository, and to work from another directory,
>> - I name my remote with a custom name (not origin).
>
>So you set GIT_DIR and GIT_WORK_TREE before running "git remote add"?
>

Yes.

>> It fails at the last command :
>>
>>    fatal: <my name> - not something we can merge
>
>It fails to see "<my name>" points to a commit. Maybe it fails to read
>remote information from config..
>

Huh, I don't know.

>> But if I try the command :
>>
>>    git merge <my name>/master
>>
>> the error message is different :
>>
>>    fatal: This operation must be run in a work tree
>>    fatal: read-tree failed
>>
>> I cd to the work tree and issue the same last command.
>> Then it works.
>
>What git version are use using? I did
>
>GIT_DIR=git/.git GIT_WORK_TREE=git git/git merge origin # or a specific branch
>
>and it worked fine here (recent master). That message means work-tree
>settings are not propagated to git-read-tree (run by git-merge).

Hi,

I'm running Debian squeeze. Git is version 1.7.2.3.

Here is the complete command sequence I used:

~/tmp/git $ mkdir toto toto_wk
~/tmp/git $ GIT_DIR=toto GIT_WORK_TREE=toto_wk git init
Initialized empty Git repository in xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/tmp/git/toto/
~/tmp/git $ GIT_DIR=toto GIT_WORK_TREE=toto_wk git remote add -f -t master -m master TOTO xxxxxx/shlib 
Updating TOTO
remote: Counting objects: 36, done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (32/32), done.
remote: Total 36 (delta 9), reused 0 (delta 0)
Unpacking objects: 100% (36/36), done.
From xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/shlib
 * [new branch]      master     -> TOTO/master
From xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/shlib
 * [new tag]         1.0        -> 1.0
 * [new tag]         1.0.1      -> 1.0.1
~/tmp/git $ GIT_DIR=toto GIT_WORK_TREE=toto_wk git merge TOTO
fatal: This operation must be run in a work tree
fatal: read-tree failed
~/tmp/git $ ls toto_wk/
<NOTHING>

I re-issue the latest command :

~/tmp/git $ GIT_DIR=toto GIT_WORK_TREE=toto_wk git merge TOTO
Already up-to-date.

Strange isn't it ?

But directory is still empty
~/tmp/git $ ls toto_wk/
<NOTHING>

Trying to recover :

~/tmp/git $ GIT_DIR=toto GIT_WORK_TREE=toto_wk git reset --hard

The directory is correct (in sync with my master branch).

If I do :

...git init
...git remote add...
cd toto_wk
GIT_DIR=../toto GIT_WORK_TREE=. git merge TOTO

It works !

Adding /master after remote name doesn't make any difference. Please
forget this idea.

The problem seems to reside in the work tree parameter (. or not).

Cheers,
Michel

Re: FIX/COMMENT: git remote manual page

[Nguyen Thai Ngoc Duy]

On Sat, Dec 25, 2010 at 6:41 PM, Michel Briand <michelbriand@free.fr> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm running Debian squeeze. Git is version 1.7.2.3.
>
> Here is the complete command sequence I used:
>
> ~/tmp/git $ mkdir toto toto_wk
> ~/tmp/git $ GIT_DIR=toto GIT_WORK_TREE=toto_wk git init

Note that this also sets core.worktree=`cwd`/toto_wk so you only need
to set GIT_DIR in the following commands. But I wouldn't recommend it,
just set GIT_WORK_TREE the way you are doing, until maybe 1.7.4.
core.worktree is buggy.

> ~/tmp/git $ GIT_DIR=toto GIT_WORK_TREE=toto_wk git merge TOTO
> fatal: This operation must be run in a work tree
> fatal: read-tree failed

Thanks for the instructions. We've got a problem with $GIT_WORK_TREE
vs cwd here. I'll send a patch later.

> ~/tmp/git $ ls toto_wk/
> <NOTHING>
>
> I re-issue the latest command :
>
> ~/tmp/git $ GIT_DIR=toto GIT_WORK_TREE=toto_wk git merge TOTO
> Already up-to-date.
>
> Strange isn't it ?

Actually no. 'git-merge' is successful and its last step is to call
'git read-tree --reset -u SHA-1' to update worktree. Unfortunately,
git's internal cwd has been moved to ~/tmp/git/toto_wk while
$GIT_WORK_TREE is still "toto_wk". When git-read-tree is run, it tries
to find a worktree at ~/tmp/git/toto_wk/toto_wk.

> But directory is still empty
> ~/tmp/git $ ls toto_wk/
> <NOTHING>

Because git-read-tree fails to run.

> Trying to recover :
>
> ~/tmp/git $ GIT_DIR=toto GIT_WORK_TREE=toto_wk git reset --hard

Or you can try this until new git release:

GIT_DIR=toto GIT_WORK_TREE=$HOME/tmp/toto_wk git merge TOTO

or

GIT_DIR=toto git merge TOTO

In other words, making worktree absolute should work (core.worktree is
always set absolute by git-init).
-- 
Duy