New context command for Local Branch : Fast-forward to HEAD #1318
Description
Sometimes (especially when doing modifications in a submodule, inside a super-repo) I end up (accidentally) committing something at a "detached HEAD".
(It's also easy to cause a detached HEAD by using the Checkout Commit context-command in the History graph, and then forget to checkout a branch before committing.)
Having done such a "detached" commit, there is a risk of losing the commit (and being forced to rescue it from reflog) if then checking out a branch.
Most likely, at least in the submodule case, HEAD was already coinciding with a branch-tip before my commit. What I'd like to do in this situation is simply to "move" that branch-pointer forward to point at my new commit. (A more cumbersome alternative would be to: create a temporary branch/tag to point at the new commit, checkout the original branch and reset it to the new commit, then delete the temporary branch/tag.)
However, there is no command in SourceGit to (forcefully) "move" a specified local branch-pointer so it points at another commit. There is the 'Reset <branch> to Here' command, but that only works for a checked-out branch. On the Git command-line, on the other hand, it's easy to accomplish what I describe (using the --force flag) :
git branch -f <branch> HEAD
Suggestion: add a context-command for Local Branches, similar to the 'Fast-forward to <remote tracking branch>' command, allowing us to "move" (or "fast-forward") any local branch so it points at the current (detached) HEAD.
The Git command for this would be git branch -f <branch> HEAD, but the context action could be implemented in one of two variants (depending on how much "sanity-checking" we want to apply) :
Fast-forward to HEAD- Needs additional check (
git merge-base --is-ancestor <branch> HEAD; echo $?) to determine if<branch>can be fast-forwarded.
- Needs additional check (
Move to HEAD- Needs no additional checks - is more general (and thus useful in more cases) but also a bit more "risky" (since we could lose track of the previous branch-tip, if the branch is "moved" to point at an earlier or unrelated/unreachable commit). This variant may need user confirmation before actually performing the action.
This command could be hidden or disabled (grayed-out) when HEAD is NOT detached. Alternatively, it could be always active, allowing us to re-point any local branch to the current commit (regardless of HEAD detached status).
NOTE: The 1st (safer) variant of this context-command could be incorporated into the 2nd (more general) variant, by implementing the ancestor-check as an option CheckBox 'Only allow fast-forward' (or similar) in a option/confirmation dialog for the command.