Subject: Re: Adding a new file as if it had existed

From: Jakub Narebski <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 13:36:16 +0100

Bahadir Balban wrote:

> When I initialise a git repository, I use a subset of files in the
> project and leave out irrelevant files for performance reasons. Then
> when I need to make changes to a file not yet in the repository, the
> file is treated as new, and if I reset the change or change branches
> the file is gone.
> 
> Is there a good way of adding new files to git as if they had existed
> from the initial commit (or even better, since a particular commit)?
> This way I would only track the new changes I made to an existing
> file.

Generally, it is not possible without rewriting history. In git (in any
sane SCM) commits are atomic; there is no CVS-like bunch of per-file
histories. You can use cg-admin-rewritehist from Cogito (alternate UI
for git)... but as it was said somewhere else git is fast. And the rule
of thumb: check first, then optimize.

-- 
Jakub Narebski
Warsaw, Poland
ShadeHawk on #git