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GIT-BRANCH(1)			  Git Manual			 GIT-BRANCH(1)

NAME
       git-branch - List, create, or delete branches

SYNOPSIS
       git branch [--color | --no-color] [-r | -a]
	       [-v [--abbrev=<length> | --no-abbrev]]
	       [(--merged | --no-merged | --contains) [<commit>]]
       git branch [--set-upstream | --track | --no-track] [-l] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>]
       git branch (-m | -M) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch>
       git branch (-d | -D) [-r] <branchname>...

DESCRIPTION
       With no arguments, existing branches are listed and the current branch
       will be highlighted with an asterisk. Option -r causes the
       remote-tracking branches to be listed, and option -a shows both.

       With --contains, shows only the branches that contain the named commit
       (in other words, the branches whose tip commits are descendants of the
       named commit). With --merged, only branches merged into the named
       commit (i.e. the branches whose tip commits are reachable from the
       named commit) will be listed. With --no-merged only branches not merged
       into the named commit will be listed. If the <commit> argument is
       missing it defaults to HEAD (i.e. the tip of the current branch).

       The command’s second form creates a new branch head named <branchname>
       which points to the current HEAD, or <start-point> if given.

       Note that this will create the new branch, but it will not switch the
       working tree to it; use "git checkout <newbranch>" to switch to the new
       branch.

       When a local branch is started off a remote branch, git sets up the
       branch so that git pull will appropriately merge from the remote
       branch. This behavior may be changed via the global
       branch.autosetupmerge configuration flag. That setting can be
       overridden by using the --track and --no-track options.

       With a -m or -M option, <oldbranch> will be renamed to <newbranch>. If
       <oldbranch> had a corresponding reflog, it is renamed to match
       <newbranch>, and a reflog entry is created to remember the branch
       renaming. If <newbranch> exists, -M must be used to force the rename to
       happen.

       With a -d or -D option, <branchname> will be deleted. You may specify
       more than one branch for deletion. If the branch currently has a reflog
       then the reflog will also be deleted.

       Use -r together with -d to delete remote-tracking branches. Note, that
       it only makes sense to delete remote-tracking branches if they no
       longer exist in the remote repository or if git fetch was configured
       not to fetch them again. See also the prune subcommand of git-remote(1)
       for a way to clean up all obsolete remote-tracking branches.

OPTIONS
       -d
	   Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in HEAD.

       -D
	   Delete a branch irrespective of its merged status.

       -l
	   Create the branch’s reflog. This activates recording of all changes
	   made to the branch ref, enabling use of date based sha1 expressions
	   such as "<branchname>@{yesterday}".

       -f, --force
	   Reset <branchname> to <startpoint> if <branchname> exists already.
	   Without -f git branch refuses to change an existing branch.

       -m
	   Move/rename a branch and the corresponding reflog.

       -M
	   Move/rename a branch even if the new branch name already exists.

       --color
	   Color branches to highlight current, local, and remote branches.

       --no-color
	   Turn off branch colors, even when the configuration file gives the
	   default to color output.

       -r
	   List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches.

       -a
	   List both remote-tracking branches and local branches.

       -v, --verbose
	   Show sha1 and commit subject line for each head, along with
	   relationship to upstream branch (if any). If given twice, print the
	   name of the upstream branch, as well.

       --abbrev=<length>
	   Alter the sha1’s minimum display length in the output listing. The
	   default value is 7.

       --no-abbrev
	   Display the full sha1s in the output listing rather than
	   abbreviating them.

       -t, --track
	   When creating a new branch, set up configuration to mark the
	   start-point branch as "upstream" from the new branch. This
	   configuration will tell git to show the relationship between the
	   two branches in git status and git branch -v. Furthermore, it
	   directs git pull without arguments to pull from the upstream when
	   the new branch is checked out.

	   This behavior is the default when the start point is a remote
	   branch. Set the branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable to
	   false if you want git checkout and git branch to always behave as
	   if --no-track were given. Set it to always if you want this
	   behavior when the start-point is either a local or remote branch.

       --no-track
	   Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the
	   branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable is true.

       --set-upstream
	   If specified branch does not exist yet or if --force has been
	   given, acts exactly like --track. Otherwise sets up configuration
	   like --track would when creating the branch, except that where
	   branch points to is not changed.

       --contains <commit>
	   Only list branches which contain the specified commit.

       --merged [<commit>]
	   Only list branches whose tips are reachable from the specified
	   commit (HEAD if not specified).

       --no-merged [<commit>]
	   Only list branches whose tips are not reachable from the specified
	   commit (HEAD if not specified).

       <branchname>
	   The name of the branch to create or delete. The new branch name
	   must pass all checks defined by git-check-ref-format(1). Some of
	   these checks may restrict the characters allowed in a branch name.

       <start-point>
	   The new branch head will point to this commit. It may be given as a
	   branch name, a commit-id, or a tag. If this option is omitted, the
	   current HEAD will be used instead.

       <oldbranch>
	   The name of an existing branch to rename.

       <newbranch>
	   The new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for
	   <branchname> apply.

EXAMPLES
       Start development from a known tag

	       $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6
	       $ cd my2.6
	       $ git branch my2.6.14 v2.6.14   (1)
	       $ git checkout my2.6.14

	   1. This step and the next one could be combined into a single step
	   with "checkout -b my2.6.14 v2.6.14".

       Delete an unneeded branch

	       $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/.../git.git my.git
	       $ cd my.git
	       $ git branch -d -r origin/todo origin/html origin/man   (1)
	       $ git branch -D test				       (2)

	   1. Delete the remote-tracking branches "todo", "html" and "man".
	   The next fetch or pull will create them again unless you configure
	   them not to. See git-fetch(1).
	   2. Delete the "test" branch even if the "master" branch (or
	   whichever branch is currently checked out) does not have all
	   commits from the test branch.

NOTES
       If you are creating a branch that you want to checkout immediately, it
       is easier to use the git checkout command with its -b option to create
       a branch and check it out with a single command.

       The options --contains, --merged and --no-merged serve three related
       but different purposes:

       ·    --contains <commit> is used to find all branches which will need
	   special attention if <commit> were to be rebased or amended, since
	   those branches contain the specified <commit>.

       ·    --merged is used to find all branches which can be safely deleted,
	   since those branches are fully contained by HEAD.

       ·    --no-merged is used to find branches which are candidates for
	   merging into HEAD, since those branches are not fully contained by
	   HEAD.

SEE ALSO
       git-check-ref-format(1), git-fetch(1), git-remote(1), “Understanding
       history: What is a branch?”[1] in the Git User’s Manual.

AUTHOR
       Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org[2]> and Junio C Hamano
       <gitster@pobox.com[3]>

DOCUMENTATION
       Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list
       <git@vger.kernel.org[4]>.

GIT
       Part of the git(1) suite

NOTES
	1. “Understanding history: What is a branch?”
	   file:///usr/share/doc/git-doc/user-manual.html#what-is-a-branch

	2. torvalds@osdl.org
	   mailto:torvalds@osdl.org

	3. gitster@pobox.com
	   mailto:gitster@pobox.com

	4. git@vger.kernel.org
	   mailto:git@vger.kernel.org

Git 1.7.0.4			  12/18/2010			 GIT-BRANCH(1)
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