Re: Running 'git pull' from an unnamed branch

2009/4/6 Björn Steinbrink [off-list ref]:

On 2009.04.06 08:42:16 +0100, Reece Dunn wrote:

quoted

2009/4/6 Junio C Hamano [off-list ref]:

quoted

Reece Dunn [off-list ref] writes:

quoted

diff --git a/git-pull.sh b/git-pull.sh
index 8a26763..00a72dd 100755
--- a/git-pull.sh
+++ b/git-pull.sh

@@ -97,6 +97,10 @@ error_on_no_merge_candidates () {

      echo "try again (e.g. 'git pull <repository> <refspec>')."
      echo "See git-pull(1) for details on the refspec."
      echo
+     echo "You may not be on a branch. In this case, you need to move"
+     echo "onto the branch you want to pull to (usually master):"
+     echo "    git checkout <branch>"
+     echo

I do not think that is necessarily what the user wanted to hear.  Often I
create trial merges on a detached HEAD when I hear a pull-request from
others (I have a few work trees that share the repository with my primary
working area, made with contrib/workdir/git-new-workdir script, and their
HEAD are typically detached at the tip of the master), and in such a use
case, the first line of the instruction in the context in your patch is
the right thing to give.  I do not want to have the resulting trial merge
anywhere on my real branches, and do not want to be told to switch to any
of them.

We really should teach people, especially the new ones early on, that "git
push" and "git pull" are meant to be told where-to/from and what, and how
to drive these commands with explicit arguments, before letting them rely
on the default configuration blindly without understanding the underlying
concepts.

Ok, so how about something like:

"You may not be on a branch. Because of this, you need to specify

This should not say "may", either you are or you are not on a detached
HEAD, and git can tell that, so it should not let the user have to
guess.

quoted

where you are pulling from and to. See git-pull(1) for how to do this.
Alternatively, you can move to a named branch using:
    git checkout <branch>"

Checking out a named branch won't solve the "problem" on its own.
Consider this:

git checkout origin/foo
  *do stuff*

git pull
  *Oh! I need a named branch*

git checkout -b foo
git pull
  *Still fails*

Maybe:
You asked me to pull without telling me which branch you want to merge
with and as you have no branch checked out, I cannot look for any
defaults to use. Please name which branch you want to merge on the
command line and try again (e.g. 'git pull <repository> <refspec>'). See
git-pull(1) for details on the refspec.

Sounds reasonable. I'll update the patch and resubmit later on today.

That just adjusts the "you can set some defaults" part, replacing it
with a message telling that a detached HEAD cannot have any defaults.
Without implying anything about how the user might want to work, but
giving a hint that a branch can have defaults for "git pull".

Björn

- Reece