My Git experiment while working on commits

While I was working with my code, I noticed that something about git wasn’t the way I understood it should. Here are my experiments.

git commit w/o filename

    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git add broadway  
    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git status  

    # On branch master
    # Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 2 commits.
    #
    # Changes to be committed:
    #   (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
    #
    #   new file:   broadway
    #
    # Changes not staged for commit:
    #   (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
    #   (use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
    #
    #   modified:   folsom
    #

“Changes to be commited:” means that if you do a git commit w/o filenames, it will commit these files. Why? it’s because those files are in index tree (i.e. stagging tree) and ready to be committed.

    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git commit -m "add broadway" 
    [master 4c9bd0d] add broadway
     0 files changed
     create mode 100644 boulder/broadway

    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git status
    # On branch master
    # Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 3 commits.
    #
    # Changes not staged for commit:
    #   (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
    #   (use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
    #
    #   modified:   folsom
    #
    no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

“Changes not staged for commit:” means that if you do a git commit w/o filename, it won’t commit these files.
It’s because these files are in working tree (not yet in stagging tree)

    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git help commit
    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git add folsom
    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git status
    # On branch master
    # Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 3 commits.
    #
    # Changes to be committed:
    #   (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
    #
    #   modified:   folsom
    #

Doing git add filename on a “modified” file will just add this not-staged file to a stagging tree

Warning: removing “modified” file (not a newly added one) in “Changes to be committed” using $ git rm --cache will just “completely” remove the file’s content from the index tree (i.e. stagging tree)

    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git status
    # On branch develop
    # Changes to be committed:
    #   (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
    #
    #   modified:   folsom

    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git rm --cache folsom
    rm 'folsom'

    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git status
    # On branch develop
    # Changes to be committed:
    #   (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
    #
    #   deleted:    folsom                            <<<< watch out for this, it's gonna delete your file

To undo the above, just git add it again

    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git add folsom

    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git status
    # On branch develop
    # Changes to be committed:
    #   (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
    #
    #   modified:   folsom                           <<<< it's back!!!

If you really want to remove “modified” file, use git reset -- <filename> instead

    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git reset -- folsom

    Unstaged changes after reset:
    M   folsom
    M   Gemfile.lock
    M   features/application/group/folsom.feature
    M   features/application/folsom/folsom_security.feature
    M   features/applicationfolsom/step_definitions/folsom_security_steps.rb

    songserm@songserm-ubt:~/Dropbox/projects/git-dummy/boulder$ git status
    # On branch develop
    # Changes to be committed:
    #   (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
    #
    #
    # Changes not staged for commit:
    #   (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
    #   (use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
    #
    #   modified:   folsom                          <<<< it's back down to unstagged area
    #   modified:   Gemfile.lock
    #   modified:   features/application/group/folsom.feature
    #   modified:   features/application/folsom/folsom_security.feature
    #   modified:   features/application/folsom/step_definitions/folsom_security_steps.rb
    #

Chawarong's Blog on Stuff for Hacker

My Git Experiment While Working on Commits

git commit w/o filename