| 1 | git-check-ref-format(1) |
| 2 | ======================= |
| 3 | |
| 4 | NAME |
| 5 | ---- |
| 6 | git-check-ref-format - Ensures that a reference name is well formed |
| 7 | |
| 8 | SYNOPSIS |
| 9 | -------- |
| 10 | [verse] |
| 11 | 'git check-ref-format' [--normalize] |
| 12 | [--[no-]allow-onelevel] [--refspec-pattern] |
| 13 | <refname> |
| 14 | 'git check-ref-format' --branch <branchname-shorthand> |
| 15 | |
| 16 | DESCRIPTION |
| 17 | ----------- |
| 18 | Checks if a given 'refname' is acceptable, and exits with a non-zero |
| 19 | status if it is not. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | A reference is used in Git to specify branches and tags. A |
| 22 | branch head is stored in the `refs/heads` hierarchy, while |
| 23 | a tag is stored in the `refs/tags` hierarchy of the ref namespace |
| 24 | (typically in `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads` and `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags` |
| 25 | directories or, as entries in file `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` |
| 26 | if refs are packed by `git gc`). |
| 27 | |
| 28 | Git imposes the following rules on how references are named: |
| 29 | |
| 30 | . They can include slash `/` for hierarchical (directory) |
| 31 | grouping, but no slash-separated component can begin with a |
| 32 | dot `.` or end with the sequence `.lock`. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | . They must contain at least one `/`. This enforces the presence of a |
| 35 | category like `heads/`, `tags/` etc. but the actual names are not |
| 36 | restricted. If the `--allow-onelevel` option is used, this rule |
| 37 | is waived. |
| 38 | |
| 39 | . They cannot have two consecutive dots `..` anywhere. |
| 40 | |
| 41 | . They cannot have ASCII control characters (i.e. bytes whose |
| 42 | values are lower than \040, or \177 `DEL`), space, tilde `~`, |
| 43 | caret `^`, or colon `:` anywhere. |
| 44 | |
| 45 | . They cannot have question-mark `?`, asterisk `*`, or open |
| 46 | bracket `[` anywhere. See the `--refspec-pattern` option below for |
| 47 | an exception to this rule. |
| 48 | |
| 49 | . They cannot begin or end with a slash `/` or contain multiple |
| 50 | consecutive slashes (see the `--normalize` option below for an |
| 51 | exception to this rule). |
| 52 | |
| 53 | . They cannot end with a dot `.`. |
| 54 | |
| 55 | . They cannot contain a sequence `@{`. |
| 56 | |
| 57 | . They cannot be the single character `@`. |
| 58 | |
| 59 | . They cannot contain a `\`. |
| 60 | |
| 61 | These rules make it easy for shell script based tools to parse |
| 62 | reference names, pathname expansion by the shell when a reference name is used |
| 63 | unquoted (by mistake), and also avoid ambiguities in certain |
| 64 | reference name expressions (see linkgit:gitrevisions[7]): |
| 65 | |
| 66 | . A double-dot `..` is often used as in `ref1..ref2`, and in some |
| 67 | contexts this notation means `^ref1 ref2` (i.e. not in |
| 68 | `ref1` and in `ref2`). |
| 69 | |
| 70 | . A tilde `~` and caret `^` are used to introduce the postfix |
| 71 | 'nth parent' and 'peel onion' operation. |
| 72 | |
| 73 | . A colon `:` is used as in `srcref:dstref` to mean "use srcref\'s |
| 74 | value and store it in dstref" in fetch and push operations. |
| 75 | It may also be used to select a specific object such as with |
| 76 | 'git cat-file': "git cat-file blob v1.3.3:refs.c". |
| 77 | |
| 78 | . at-open-brace `@{` is used as a notation to access a reflog entry. |
| 79 | |
| 80 | With the `--branch` option, the command takes a name and checks if |
| 81 | it can be used as a valid branch name (e.g. when creating a new |
| 82 | branch). But be cautious when using the |
| 83 | previous checkout syntax that may refer to a detached HEAD state. |
| 84 | The rule `git check-ref-format --branch $name` implements |
| 85 | may be stricter than what `git check-ref-format refs/heads/$name` |
| 86 | says (e.g. a dash may appear at the beginning of a ref component, |
| 87 | but it is explicitly forbidden at the beginning of a branch name). |
| 88 | When run with the `--branch` option in a repository, the input is first |
| 89 | expanded for the ``previous checkout syntax'' |
| 90 | `@{-n}`. For example, `@{-1}` is a way to refer the last thing that |
| 91 | was checked out using "git switch" or "git checkout" operation. |
| 92 | This option should be |
| 93 | used by porcelains to accept this syntax anywhere a branch name is |
| 94 | expected, so they can act as if you typed the branch name. As an |
| 95 | exception note that, the ``previous checkout operation'' might result |
| 96 | in a commit object name when the N-th last thing checked out was not |
| 97 | a branch. |
| 98 | |
| 99 | OPTIONS |
| 100 | ------- |
| 101 | --allow-onelevel:: |
| 102 | --no-allow-onelevel:: |
| 103 | Controls whether one-level refnames are accepted (i.e., |
| 104 | refnames that do not contain multiple `/`-separated |
| 105 | components). The default is `--no-allow-onelevel`. |
| 106 | |
| 107 | --refspec-pattern:: |
| 108 | Interpret <refname> as a reference name pattern for a refspec |
| 109 | (as used with remote repositories). If this option is |
| 110 | enabled, <refname> is allowed to contain a single `*` |
| 111 | in the refspec (e.g., `foo/bar*/baz` or `foo/bar*baz/` |
| 112 | but not `foo/bar*/baz*`). |
| 113 | |
| 114 | --normalize:: |
| 115 | Normalize 'refname' by removing any leading slash (`/`) |
| 116 | characters and collapsing runs of adjacent slashes between |
| 117 | name components into a single slash. If the normalized |
| 118 | refname is valid then print it to standard output and exit |
| 119 | with a status of 0, otherwise exit with a non-zero status. |
| 120 | (`--print` is a deprecated way to spell `--normalize`.) |
| 121 | |
| 122 | |
| 123 | EXAMPLES |
| 124 | -------- |
| 125 | |
| 126 | * Print the name of the previous thing checked out: |
| 127 | + |
| 128 | ------------ |
| 129 | $ git check-ref-format --branch @{-1} |
| 130 | ------------ |
| 131 | |
| 132 | * Determine the reference name to use for a new branch: |
| 133 | + |
| 134 | ------------ |
| 135 | $ ref=$(git check-ref-format --normalize "refs/heads/$newbranch")|| |
| 136 | { echo "we do not like '$newbranch' as a branch name." >&2 ; exit 1 ; } |
| 137 | ------------ |
| 138 | |
| 139 | GIT |
| 140 | --- |
| 141 | Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |