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git-symbolic-ref(1)
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===================
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NAME
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----
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git-symbolic-ref - Read, modify and delete symbolic refs
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SYNOPSIS
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--------
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[verse]
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'git symbolic-ref' [-m <reason>] <name> <ref>
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'git symbolic-ref' [-q] [--short] <name>
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'git symbolic-ref' --delete [-q] <name>
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DESCRIPTION
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-----------
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Given one argument, reads which branch head the given symbolic
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ref refers to and outputs its path, relative to the `.git/`
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directory. Typically you would give `HEAD` as the <name>
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argument to see which branch your working tree is on.
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Given two arguments, creates or updates a symbolic ref <name> to
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point at the given branch <ref>.
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Given `--delete` and an additional argument, deletes the given
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symbolic ref.
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A symbolic ref is a regular file that stores a string that
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begins with `ref: refs/`. For example, your `.git/HEAD` is
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a regular file whose contents is `ref: refs/heads/master`.
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OPTIONS
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-------
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-d::
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--delete::
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Delete the symbolic ref <name>.
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-q::
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--quiet::
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Do not issue an error message if the <name> is not a
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symbolic ref but a detached HEAD; instead exit with
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non-zero status silently.
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--short::
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When showing the value of <name> as a symbolic ref, try to shorten the
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value, e.g. from `refs/heads/master` to `master`.
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-m::
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Update the reflog for <name> with <reason>. This is valid only
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when creating or updating a symbolic ref.
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NOTES
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-----
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In the past, `.git/HEAD` was a symbolic link pointing at
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`refs/heads/master`. When we wanted to switch to another branch,
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we did `ln -sf refs/heads/newbranch .git/HEAD`, and when we wanted
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to find out which branch we are on, we did `readlink .git/HEAD`.
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But symbolic links are not entirely portable, so they are now
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deprecated and symbolic refs (as described above) are used by
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default.
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'git symbolic-ref' will exit with status 0 if the contents of the
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symbolic ref were printed correctly, with status 1 if the requested
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name is not a symbolic ref, or 128 if another error occurs.
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GIT
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---
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Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
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