Skip to content

Commit

Permalink
Documentation: Define symref and update HEAD description
Browse files Browse the repository at this point in the history
HEAD was still described as a symlink instead of a symref.

Signed-off-by: Petr Baudis <pasky@suse.cz>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
  • Loading branch information
Petr Baudis authored and Junio C Hamano committed Nov 18, 2006
1 parent fd93141 commit e3d457f
Show file tree
Hide file tree
Showing 2 changed files with 16 additions and 5 deletions.
7 changes: 7 additions & 0 deletions Documentation/glossary.txt
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -282,6 +282,13 @@ SCM::
SHA1::
Synonym for object name.

symref::
Symbolic reference: instead of containing the SHA1 id itself, it
is of the format 'ref: refs/some/thing' and when referenced, it
recursively dereferences to this reference. 'HEAD' is a prime
example of a symref. Symbolic references are manipulated with
the gitlink:git-symbolic-ref[1] command.

topic branch::
A regular git branch that is used by a developer to
identify a conceptual line of development. Since branches
Expand Down
14 changes: 9 additions & 5 deletions Documentation/repository-layout.txt
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -70,12 +70,16 @@ refs/tags/`name`::
object, or a tag object that points at a commit object).

HEAD::
A symlink of the form `refs/heads/'name'` to point at
the current branch, if exists. It does not mean much if
the repository is not associated with any working tree
A symref (see glossary) to the `refs/heads/` namespace
describing the currently active branch. It does not mean
much if the repository is not associated with any working tree
(i.e. a 'bare' repository), but a valid git repository
*must* have such a symlink here. It is legal if the
named branch 'name' does not (yet) exist.
*must* have the HEAD file; some porcelains may use it to
guess the designated "default" branch of the repository
(usually 'master'). It is legal if the named branch
'name' does not (yet) exist. In some legacy setups, it is
a symbolic link instead of a symref that points at the current
branch.

branches::
A slightly deprecated way to store shorthands to be used
Expand Down

0 comments on commit e3d457f

Please sign in to comment.