From: "Julia Evans via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail•com>
To: git@vger•kernel.org
Cc: "D. Ben Knoble" <ben.knoble@gmail•com>,
Julia Evans <julia@jvns•ca>, Julia Evans <julia@jvns•ca>
Subject: [PATCH v3 6/6] doc: git-checkout: clarify restoring files section
Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2025 16:50:02 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <90fe48cfe37852b9e245aa0f7b45383f9b879199.1756918202.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <pull.1962.v3.git.1756918202.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
From: Julia Evans <julia@jvns•ca>
- Reword to avoid jargon ("tree-ish", "index") where possible.
Use "commit or tree" and "stage" (as a verb) instead where appropriate
- Add examples
- Use a simpler sentence structure to describe options for handling
unmerged entries: "use -f to.., use --ours to..., or use -m to.."
Signed-off-by: Julia Evans <julia@jvns•ca>
---
Documentation/git-checkout.adoc | 28 ++++++++++++++++------------
1 file changed, 16 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc b/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc
index b361ff011a..ae19565f4f 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc
@@ -74,23 +74,27 @@ Omitting _<branch>_ detaches `HEAD` at the tip of the current branch.
`git checkout <tree-ish> [--] <pathspec>...`::
`git checkout <tree-ish> --pathspec-from-file=<file> [--pathspec-file-nul]`::
- Overwrite both the index and the working tree with the
- contents at the _<tree-ish>_ for the files that match the pathspec.
+ Replace the specified files and/or directories with the version from
+ the given commit or tree and stage the files' contents.
++
+For example, `git checkout main file.txt` will replace `file.txt`
+with the version from `main`.
`git checkout [-f|--ours|--theirs|-m|--conflict=<style>] [--] <pathspec>...`::
`git checkout [-f|--ours|--theirs|-m|--conflict=<style>] --pathspec-from-file=<file> [--pathspec-file-nul]`::
- Overwrite working tree with the contents in the index for the files
- that match the pathspec.
+ Discard any unstaged changes to the specified files and/or directories.
+ This works by copying the file from the index to your working directory.
+ For example, `git checkout file.txt` will replace `file.txt` with either
+ the staged version of `file.txt` (if there is one) or the version from the
+ current commit.
+
-The index may contain unmerged entries because of a previous failed merge.
-By default, if you try to check out such an entry from the index, the
-checkout operation will fail and nothing will be checked out.
-Using `-f` will ignore these unmerged entries. The contents from a
-specific side of the merge can be checked out of the index by
-using `--ours` or `--theirs`. With `-m`, changes made to the working tree
-file can be discarded to re-create the original conflicted merge result.
-
+This will fail if the file has a merge conflict and you haven't yet run
+`git add file.txt` (or something equivalent) to mark it as resolved.
+You can use `-f` to ignore the unmerged files instead of failing, use
+`--ours` or `--theirs` to replace them with the version from a specific
+side of the merge, or use `-m` to replace them with the original
+conflicted merge result.
`git checkout (-p|--patch) [<tree-ish>] [--] [<pathspec>...]`::
This is similar to the previous two modes, but lets you use the
interactive interface to show the "diff" output and choose which
--
gitgitgadget
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2025-09-03 16:50 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 68+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2025-08-25 19:08 [PATCH 0/5] doc: git-checkout: clarify DESCRIPTION section Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-25 19:08 ` [PATCH 1/5] doc: git-checkout: clarify intro Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-26 18:46 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-26 18:51 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-26 20:56 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-28 14:00 ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-28 22:34 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-28 23:44 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-29 13:39 ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-29 21:00 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-03 23:48 ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-25 19:08 ` [PATCH 2/5] doc: git-checkout: clarify `git checkout <branch>` Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-26 21:38 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-28 12:11 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-28 15:45 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-28 18:24 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-25 19:08 ` [PATCH 3/5] doc: git-checkout: don't use "reset" Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-25 19:08 ` [PATCH 4/5] doc: git-checkout: deduplicate --detach explanation Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-25 19:08 ` [PATCH 5/5] doc: git-checkout: clarify restoring files section Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-26 22:43 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-28 13:26 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-28 19:08 ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-28 19:59 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-28 20:38 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-29 13:48 ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-29 11:45 ` [PATCH v2 0/5] doc: git-checkout: clarify DESCRIPTION section Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-29 11:45 ` [PATCH v2 1/5] doc: git-checkout: clarify intro Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-29 15:58 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-02 17:14 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-29 11:45 ` [PATCH v2 2/5] doc: git-checkout: clarify `git checkout <branch>` Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-29 16:03 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-02 17:16 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-29 11:45 ` [PATCH v2 3/5] doc: git-checkout: don't use "reset" Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-29 16:22 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-01 14:28 ` Julia Evans
2025-09-02 16:10 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-29 11:45 ` [PATCH v2 4/5] doc: git-checkout: deduplicate --detach explanation Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-29 11:45 ` [PATCH v2 5/5] doc: git-checkout: clarify restoring files section Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-03 16:49 ` [PATCH v3 0/6] doc: git-checkout: clarify DESCRIPTION section Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-03 16:49 ` [PATCH v3 1/6] doc: git-checkout: clarify intro Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-03 16:49 ` [PATCH v3 2/6] doc: git-checkout: clarify `git checkout <branch>` Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-03 16:49 ` [PATCH v3 3/6] doc: git-checkout: clarify `-b` and `-B` Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-03 16:50 ` [PATCH v3 4/6] doc: git-checkout: deduplicate --detach explanation Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-03 16:50 ` [PATCH v3 5/6] doc: git-checkout: split up restoring files section Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-03 16:50 ` Julia Evans via GitGitGadget [this message]
2025-09-03 21:29 ` [PATCH v3 6/6] doc: git-checkout: clarify " Junio C Hamano
2025-09-03 21:09 ` [PATCH v3 0/6] doc: git-checkout: clarify DESCRIPTION section Junio C Hamano
2025-09-03 21:28 ` Julia Evans
2025-09-10 19:14 ` [PATCH v4 0/7] " Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-10 19:14 ` [PATCH v4 1/7] doc: git-checkout: clarify intro sentence Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-10 19:14 ` [PATCH v4 2/7] doc: git-checkout: clarify ARGUMENT DISAMBIGUATION Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-10 19:14 ` [PATCH v4 3/7] doc: git-checkout: clarify `git checkout <branch>` Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-10 19:14 ` [PATCH v4 4/7] doc: git-checkout: clarify `-b` and `-B` Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-29 18:07 ` Kristoffer Haugsbakk
2025-10-02 18:37 ` [PATCH] doc: git-checkout: fix placeholder markup kristofferhaugsbakk
2025-10-16 22:11 ` [PATCH resend] " kristofferhaugsbakk
2025-10-17 13:56 ` Julia Evans
2025-10-17 15:50 ` [PATCH v2] " kristofferhaugsbakk
2025-09-10 19:14 ` [PATCH v4 5/7] doc: git-checkout: deduplicate --detach explanation Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-10 19:14 ` [PATCH v4 6/7] doc: git-checkout: split up restoring files section Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-10 19:14 ` [PATCH v4 7/7] doc: git-checkout: clarify " Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-11 13:01 ` [PATCH v4 0/7] doc: git-checkout: clarify DESCRIPTION section Ben Knoble
2025-09-12 14:05 ` Julia Evans
2025-09-12 14:26 ` Kristoffer Haugsbakk
2025-09-15 23:22 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-16 6:41 ` Kristoffer Haugsbakk
2025-09-12 16:23 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-17 18:38 ` Junio C Hamano
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