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STDIN(1)		    Git Submodule Alternative			STDIN(1)

Name
     git-subrepo - Git Submodule Alternative

Synopsis
	 git subrepo -h    # Help Overview

	 git subrepo clone <remote-url> [<subdir>]
	 git subrepo init <subdir>
	 git subrepo pull <subdir>
	 git subrepo push <subdir>

	 git subrepo fetch <subdir>
	 git subrepo branch <subdir>
	 git subrepo commit <subdir>
	 git subrepo config <subdir>

	 git subrepo status [<subdir>]
	 git subrepo clean <subdir>

	 git subrepo help [<command> | --all]
	 git subrepo version
	 git subrepo upgrade

Description
     This  git command "clones" an external git repo into a subdirectory of your
     repo. Later on, upstream changes can be pulled in, and local changes can be
     pushed back. Simple.

Benefits
     This command is an improvement from "git-submodule" and "git-subtree";  two
     other git commands with similar goals, but various problems.

     It  assumes  there  are 3 main roles of people interacting with a repo, and
     attempts to serve them all well:

     *	 owner - The person who authors/owns/maintains a repo.

     *	 users - People who are just using/installing the repo.

     *	 collaborators - People who commit code to the repo and subrepos.

     The "git-subrepo" command benefits these roles in the following ways:

     *	 Simple and intuitive commandline usage (with tab completion).

     *	 Users get your repo and all your subrepos just by cloning your repo.

     *	 Users do not need to install "git-subrepo", ever.

     *	 Collaborators do not need to install unless they want to push/pull.

     *	 Collaborators know when a subdir is a	subrepo  (it  has  a  ".gitrepo"
	 file).

     *	 The ".gitrepo" file never gets pushed back to the subrepo upstream.

     *	 Well named branches and remotes are generated for manual operations.

     *	 Owners  do  not  deal	with  the complications of keeping submodules in
	 sync.

     *	 Subrepo repositories can contain subrepos themselves.

     *	 Branching with subrepos JustWorksac.

     *	 Different branches can have different	subrepos  in  different  states,
	 etc.

     *	 Moving/renaming/deleting a subrepo subdir JustWorksac.

     *	 You can "init" an existing subdirectory into a subrepo.

     *	 Your git history is kept squeaky clean.

     *	 Upstream history (clone/pull) is condensed into a single commit.

     *	 Pulls can use a "merge", "rebase" or "force" strategies.

     *	 You can see the subrepo history with "git log subrepo/<subdir>/fetch".

     *	 Commits pushed back upstream are not condensed (by default).

     *	 Trivial to try any subrepo operations and then reset back.

     *	 No configuration required.

     *	 Does not introduce history that messes up other git commands.

     *	 Fixes known rebase failures with "git-subtree".

Installation
     The best short answer is:

	 git clone https://github.com/ingydotnet/git-subrepo /path/to/git-subrepo
	 echo 'source /path/to/git-subrepo/.rc' >> ~/.bashrc

     The complete "Installation Instructions" can be found below.

     Note: git-subrepo needs a git version (> 2.7) that supports worktree:s.

Commands
     All the subrepo commands use names of actual Git commands and try to do op-
     erations  that  are similar to their Git counterparts. They also attempt to
     give similar output in an attempt to make the subrepo  usage  intuitive  to
     experienced Git users.

     Please  note  that  the commands are not exact equivalents, and do not take
     all the same arguments. Keep readinga|

     "git subrepo clone <repository> [<subdir>] [-b <branch>] [-f] [-m <msg>]
     [--file=<msg file>] [-e] [--method <merge|rebase>]"
	 Add a repository as a subrepo in a subdir of your repository.

	 This is similar in feel to "git clone". You  just  specify  the  remote
	 repo  url,  and optionally a sub-directory and/or branch name. The repo
	 will be fetched and merged into the subdir.

	 The subrepo history is squashed into a single commit that contains  the
	 reference  information.  This	information  is also stored in a special
	 file called "<subdir>/.gitrepo". The presence of  this  file  indicates
	 that the directory is a subrepo.

	 All subsequent commands refer to the subrepo by the name of the subdir.
	 From  the  subdir, all the current information about the subrepo can be
	 obtained.

	 The "--force" option will "reclone" (completely  replace)  an	existing
	 subdir.

	 The "--method" option will decide how the join process between branches
	 are performed. The default option is merge.

	 The   "clone"	command  accepts  the  "--branch="  "--edit",  "--file",
	 "--force" and "--message=" options.

     "git subrepo init <subdir> [-r <remote>] [-b <branch>] [--method <merge|re-
     base>]"
	 Turn an existing subdirectory into a subrepo.

	 If you want to expose a subdirectory of your  project	as  a  published
	 subrepo,  this command will do that. It will split out the content of a
	 normal subdirectory into a branch and start tracking it as  a	subrepo.
	 Afterwards  your  original  repo will look exactly the same except that
	 there will be a "<<subdir"/.gitrepo >> file.

	 If you specify the "--remote" (and optionally the  "--branch")  option,
	 the  values  will  be added to the "<subdir>/.gitrepo" file. The "--re-
	 mote" option is the upstream URL, and the "--branch" option is the  up-
	 stream branch to push to. These values will be needed to do a "git sub-
	 repo  push"  command, but they can be provided later on the "push" com-
	 mand (and saved to "<<subdir"/.gitrepo  >>  if  you  also  specify  the
	 "--update" option).

	 Note: You will need to create the empty upstream repo and push to it on
	 your
	       own, using "git subrepo push <subdir>".

	 The "--method" option will decide how the join process between branches
	 are performed. The default option is merge.

	 The "init" command accepts the "--branch=" and "--remote=" options.

     "git subrepo pull <subdir>|--all [-M|-R|-f] [-m <msg>] [--file=<msg file>]
     [-e] [-b <branch>] [-r <remote>] [-u]"
	 Update the subrepo subdir with the latest upstream changes.

	 The  "pull"  command  fetches the latest content from the remote branch
	 pointed to by the subrepo's ".gitrepo" file, and then	tries  to  merge
	 the  changes  into  the  corresponding subdir. It does this by making a
	 branch of the local commits to the subdir and then merging or	rebasing
	 (see  below) it with the fetched upstream content. After the merge, the
	 content of the new branch replaces your subdir, the ".gitrepo" file  is
	 updated and a single 'pull' commit is added to your mainline history.

	 The "pull" command will attempt to do the following commands in one go:

	     git subrepo fetch <subdir>
	     git subrepo branch <subdir>
	     git merge/rebase subrepo/<subdir>/fetch subrepo/<subdir>
	     git subrepo commit <subdir>
	     # Only needed for a consequential push:
	     git update-ref refs/subrepo/<subdir>/pull subrepo/<subdir>

	 In  other  words, you could do all the above commands yourself, for the
	 same effect. If any of the commands fail, subrepo will  stop  and  tell
	 you  to  finish this by hand. Generally a failure would be in the merge
	 or rebase part, where conflicts can happen. Since Git has lots of  ways
	 to  resolve  conflicts to your personal tastes, the subrepo command de-
	 fers to letting you do this by hand.

	 When pulling new data, the method selected in clone/init is used.  This
	 has  no effect on the final result of the pull, since it becomes a sin-
	 gle commit. But it does affect the resulting "subrepo/<subdir>" branch,
	 which is often used for a subrepo "push" command. See 'push' below  for
	 more  information.  If  you  want  to change the method you can use the
	 "config" command for this.

	 When you pull you can assume a fast-forward strategy (default)  or  you
	 can  specify  a "--rebase", "--merge" or "--force" strategy. The latter
	 is the same as a "clone --force" operation, using  the  current  remote
	 and branch.

	 Like the "clone" command, "pull" will squash all the changes (since the
	 last  pull  or clone) into one commit. This keeps your mainline history
	 nice and clean. You can easily see the subrepo's history with the  "git
	 log" command:

	     git log refs/subrepo/<subdir>/fetch

	 The set of commands used above are described in detail below.

	 The   "pull"	command  accepts  the  "--all",  "--branch=",  "--edit",
	 "--file", "--force", "--message=", "--remote=" and "--update" options.

     "git subrepo push <subdir>|--all [<branch>] [-m msg] [--file=<msg file>]
     [-r <remote>] [-b <branch>] [-M|-R] [-u] [-f] [-s] [-N]"
	 Push a properly merged subrepo branch back upstream.

	 This command takes the subrepo branch from a  successful  pull  command
	 and  pushes  the  history back to its designated remote and branch. You
	 can also use the "branch" command  and  merge	things	yourself  before
	 pushing if you want to (although that is probably a rare use case).

	 The  "push" command requires a branch that has been properly merged/re-
	 based with the upstream HEAD (unless the upstream HEAD is empty,  which
	 is  common  when  doing a first "push" after an "init"). That means the
	 upstream HEAD is one of the commits in the branch.

	 By default the branch ref "refs/subrepo/<subdir>/pull" will be  pushed,
	 but you can specify a (properly merged) branch to push.

	 After that, the "push" command just checks that the branch contains the
	 upstream HEAD and then pushes it upstream.

	 The  "--force"  option will do a force push. Force pushes are typically
	 discouraged. Only use this option if  you  fully  understand  it.  (The
	 "--force"  option will NOT check for a proper merge. ANY branch will be
	 force pushed!)

	 The "push"  command  accepts  the  "--all",  "--branch=",  "--dry-run",
	 "--file",  "--force",	"--merge", "--message", "--rebase", "--remote=",
	 "--squash" and "--update" options.

     "git subrepo fetch <subdir>|--all [-r <remote>] [-b <branch>]"
	 Fetch the remote/upstream content for a subrepo.

	 It will create a Git  reference  called  "subrepo/<subdir>/fetch"  that
	 points at the same commit as "FETCH_HEAD". It will also create a remote
	 called  "subrepo/<subdir>".  These are temporary and you can easily re-
	 move them with the subrepo "clean" command.

	 The "fetch" command accepts the "--all",  "--branch="	and  "--remote="
	 options.

     "git subrepo branch <subdir>|--all [-f] [-F]"
	 Create a branch with local subrepo commits.

	 Scan  the  history  of the mainline for all the commits that affect the
	 "subdir" and create a new branch from them called "subrepo/<subdir>".

	 This is useful for doing "pull" and "push" commands by hand.

	 Use the "--force" option to write over an  existing  "subrepo/<subdir>"
	 branch.

	 The  "branch"	command accepts the "--all", "--fetch" and "--force" op-
	 tions.

     "git subrepo commit <subdir> [<subrepo-ref>] [-m <msg>] [--file=<msg file>]
     [-e] [-f] [-F]"
	 Add subrepo branch to current history as a single commit.

	 This command is generally used after a  hand-merge.  You  have  done  a
	 "subrepobranch" and merged (rebased) it with the upstream. This command
	 takes the HEAD of that branch, puts its content into the subrepo subdir
	 and adds a new commit for it to the top of your mainline history.

	 This  command	requires that the upstream HEAD be in the "subrepo/<sub-
	 dir>" branch history. That way the same branch can push  upstream.  Use
	 the "--force" option to commit anyway.

	 The   "commit"  command  accepts  the	"--edit",  "--fetch",  "--file",
	 "--force" and "--message=" options.

     "git subrepo status [<subdir>|--all|--ALL] [-F] [-q|-v]"
	 Get the status of a subrepo. Uses the "--all" option by default. If the
	 "--quiet" flag is used, just print the subrepo names, one per line.

	 The "--verbose" option will show all the recent local and upstream com-
	 mits.

	 Use "--ALL" to show the subrepos of the  subrepos  (ie  the  "subsubre-
	 pos"), if any.

	 The "status" command accepts the "--all", "--ALL", "--fetch", "--quiet"
	 and "--verbose" options.

     "git subrepo clean <subdir>|--all|--ALL [-f]"
	 Remove artifacts created by "fetch" and "branch" commands.

	 The "fetch" and "branch" operations (and other commands that call them)
	 create  temporary  things like refs, branches and remotes. This command
	 removes all those things.

	 Use "--force" to remove refs. Refs are not removed by	default  because
	 they are sometimes needed between commands.

	 Use  "--all"  to clean up after all the current subrepos. Sometimes you
	 might change to a branch  where  a  subrepo  doesn't  exist,  and  then
	 "--all"  won't  find  it. Use "--ALL" to remove any artifacts that were
	 ever created by subrepo.

	 To remove ALL subrepo artifacts:

	     git subrepo clean --ALL --force

	 The "clean" command accepts the "--all",  "--ALL",  and  "--force"  op-
	 tions.

     "git subrepo config <subdir> <option> [<value>] [-f]"
	 Read or update configuration values in the subdir/.gitrepo file.

	 Because  most	of  the values stored in the .gitrepo file are generated
	 you will need to use "--force" if you want to change anything else then
	 the "method" option.

	 Example to update the "method" option for a subrepo:

	     git subrepo config foo method rebase

     "git subrepo help [<command>|--all]"
	 Same as "git help subrepo". Will launch the manpage.  For  the  shorter
	 usage, use "git subrepo -h".

	 Use  "git  subrepo  help <command>" to get help for a specific command.
	 Use "--all" to get a summary of all commands.

	 The "help" command accepts the "--all" option.

     "git subrepo version [-q|-v]"
	 This command will display version information about git-subrepo and its
	 environment. For just the version number, use "git subrepo  --version".
	 Use "--verbose" for more version info, and "--quiet" for less.

	 The "version" command accepts the "--quiet" and "--verbose" options.

     "git subrepo upgrade"
	 Upgrade  the  "git-subrepo"  software	itself.  This simply does a "git
	 pull" on the git repository that the code  is	running  from.	It  only
	 works if you are on the "master" branch. It won't work if you installed
	 "git-subrepo"	using  "make install"; in that case you'll need to "make
	 install" from the latest code.

Command Options
     "-h"Show a brief view of the commands and options.

     "--help"
	 Gives an overview of the help options available for  the  subrepo  com-
	 mand.

     "--version"
	 Print	the  git-subrepo version. Just the version number. Try the "ver-
	 sion" command for more version info.

     "--all" ("-a")
	 If you have multiple subrepos, issue the command to all of them (if ap-
	 plicable).

     "--ALL" ("-A")
	 If you have subrepos that also have subrepos themselves, issue the com-
	 mand to ALL of them. Note that the "--ALL" option only works for a sub-
	 set of the commands that "--all" works for.

     "--branch=<branch-name>" ("-b <branch-name>")
	 Use a different upstream branch-name than the remote HEAD  or	the  one
	 saved in ".gitrepo" locally.

     "--dry-run" ("-N")
	 For  the  push  command, do everything up until the push and then print
	 out the actual "git push" command needed to finish the operation.

     "--edit" ("-e")
	 Edit the commit message before committing.

     "--fetch" ("-F")
	 Use this option to fetch the upstream commits, before running the  com-
	 mand.

     "--file=<commit msg file>"
	 Supply your own commit message from a file

     "--force" ("-f")
	 Use  this  option  to	force  certain commands that fail in the general
	 case.

	 NOTE: The "--force" option means different things  for  different  com-
	 mands.
	       Read the command specific doc for the exact meaning.

     "--merge" ("-M")
	 Use  a  "merge"  strategy to include upstream subrepo commits on a pull
	 (or setup for push).

     "--message=<message>" ("-m <message>")
	 Specify your own commit message on the command line.

     "--rebase" ("-R")
	 Use a "rebase" strategy to include upstream subrepo commits on  a  pull
	 (or setup for push).

     "--remote=<remote-url>" ("-r <remote-url>")
	 Use a different remote-url than the one saved in ".gitrepo" locally.

     "--squash" ("-s")
	 Squash all commits on a push into one new commit.

     "--update" ("-u")
	 If  "--branch"  or  "--remote"  are  used,  and the command updates the
	 ".gitrepo" file, include these values to the update.

Output Options
     "--quiet" ("-q")
	 Print as little info as possible. Applicable to most commands.

     "--verbose" ("-v")
	 Print more information about the command execution and results. Applic-
	 able to most commands.

     "--debug" ("-d")
	 Show the actual git (and other) commands being executed under the hood.
	 Applicable to most commands.

     "--DEBUG" ("-x")
	 Use the Bash "set -x" option which prints every command  before  it  is
	 run.  VERY noisy, but extremely useful in deep debugging. Applicable to
	 all commands.

Environment Variables
     The "git-subrepo" command exports and honors some environment variables:

     "GIT_SUBREPO_ROOT"
	 This is set by the ".rc" file, if you use that method to install /  en-
	 able  "git-subrepo".  It contains the path of the "git-subrepo" reposi-
	 tory.

     "GIT_SUBREPO_RUNNING"
	 This variable is exported when "git-subrepo" is running. It is  set  to
	 the  pid of the "git-subrepo" process that is running. Other processes,
	 like git hooks for instance, can use this information to adjust accord-
	 ingly.

     "GIT_SUBREPO_COMMAND"
	 This variable is exported when "git-subrepo" is running. It is  set  to
	 the name of the "git-subrepo" subcommand that is running.

     "GIT_SUBREPO_PAGER"
	 Use this to specify the pager to use for long output commands. Defaults
	 to $PAGER or "less".

     "GIT_SUBREPO_QUIET"
	 Set this for quiet ("-q") output.

     "GIT_SUBREPO_VERBOSE"
	 Set this for verbose ("-v") output.

     "GIT_SUBREPO_DEBUG"
	 Set this for debugging ("-d") output.

Installation Instructions
     There  are  currently  3 ways to install "git-subrepo". For all of them you
     need to get the source code from GitHub:

	 git clone https://github.com/ingydotnet/git-subrepo /path/to/git-subrepo

     The first installation method is preferred: "source" the ".rc"  file.  Just
     add a line like this one to your shell startup script:

	 source /path/to/git-subrepo/.rc

     That will modify your "PATH" and "MANPATH", and also enable command comple-
     tion.

     The second method is to do these things by hand. This might afford you more
     control  of your shell environment. Simply add the "lib" and "man" directo-
     ries to your "PATH" and "MANPATH":

	 export GIT_SUBREPO_ROOT="/path/to/git-subrepo"
	 export PATH="/path/to/git-subrepo/lib:$PATH"
	 export MANPATH="/path/to/git-subrepo/man:$MANPATH"

     See below for info on how to turn on Command Completion.

     The third method is a standard system  install,  which  puts  "git-subrepo"
     next to your other git commands:

	 make install	     # Possibly with 'sudo'

     This method does not account for upgrading and command completion yet.

   Windows
     This command is known to work in these Windows environments:

     *	 Git for Windows -- <https://git-for-windows.github.io/>

     *	 Babun -- <http://babun.github.io/>

     *	 Cygwin -- <https://www.cygwin.com/>

     Let us know if there are others that it works (or doesn't work) in.

Testing
     The "git-subrepo" repository comes with a extensive test suite. You can run
     it with:

	 make test

     or if you don't have "make" on your system:

	 prove -v test

Upgrading
     If  you  used  the ".rc" or "PATH" method of installation, just run this to
     upgrade "git-subrepo":

	 git subrepo upgrade

     Or (same thing):

	 cd /path/to/git-subrepo
	 git pull

     If you used "make install" method, then run this again (after "git pull"):

	 make install	     # Possibly with 'sudo'

Command Completion
     The "git subrepo" command supports "<TAB>"-based command completion. If you
     don't use the ".rc" script (see Installation, above), you'll need to enable
     this manually to use it.

   In Bash
     If your Bash setup does not already provide  command  completion  for  Git,
     you'll need to enable that first:

	 source <Git completion script>

     On your system, the Git completion script might be found at any of the fol-
     lowing locations (or somewhere else that we don't know about):

     *	 "/etc/bash_completion.d/git"

     *	 "/usr/share/bash-completion/git"

     *	 "/usr/share/bash-completion/completions/git"

     *	 "/opt/local/share/bash-completion/completions/git"

     *	 "/usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d/git"

     *	 "~/.homebrew/etc/bash_completion.d/git"

     In case you can't find any of these, this repository contains a copy of the
     Git completion script:

	 source /path/to/git-subrepo/share/git-completion.bash

     Once  Git	completion is enabled (whether you needed to do that manually or
     not), you can turn on "git-subrepo" completion with a command like this:

	 source /path/to/git-subrepo/share/completion.bash

   In zsh
     In the Z shell (zsh), you can manually enable "git-subrepo"  completion  by
     adding  the  following line to your "~/.zshrc", before the "compinit" func-
     tion is called:

	 fpath=('/path/to/git-subrepo/share/zsh-completion' $fpath)

Status
     The git-subrepo command has been in use for well over a year and  seems  to
     get  the  job done. Development is still ongoing but mostly just for fixing
     bugs.

     Trying subrepo out is simple and painless (this is  not  "git  submodule").
     Nothing is permanent (if you do not push to shared remotes). ie You can al-
     ways play around and reset back to the beginning without pain.

     This  command has a test suite (run "make test"), but surely has many bugs.
     If you have expertise with Git and subcommands, please review the code, and
     file issues on anything that seems wrong.

     If you want to chat about the "git-subrepo" command, join "#gitcommands" on
     "irc.freenode.net".

Notes
     *	 Works on POSIX systems: Linux, BSD, OSX, etc.

     *	 Works on various Windows environments. See "Windows" section above.

     *	 The "git-subrepo" repo itself has 2 subrepos under the "ext/" subdirec-
	 tory.

     *	 Written in (very modern) Bash, with full test suite. Take a look.

     *	 A ".gitrepo" file never is in the top level  dir  (next  to  a  ".git/"
	 dir).

Authors
     *	 Ingy dA<paragraph>t Net <ingy@ingy.net>

     *	 Magnus Carlsson <grimmymail@gmail.com>

     *	 Austin Morgan <admorgan@morgancomputers.net>

License and Copyright
     The MIT License (MIT)

     Copyright (c) 2013-2020 Ingy dA<paragraph>t Net

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