git locommit (.commit folder)

( Japanese )

Overview

The locommit command is the equivalent of git status and git diff that can be used outside the Git working directory (the folder containing the .git folder) or in subfolders of the Git working directory.

graph LR;
    s[ A commit in a reposiroty ] -- git status or git diff --> d[ A folder outside of Git working directory ];

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or

graph LR;
    s[ A folder in a repository ] -- git status or git diff --> d[ Another folder in the same reposiroty ];

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Behavior

First, locommit command copies the files in the current folder and its subfolders to the .commit folder directly under the current folder. At this time, files specified in .gitignore are not copied. This .commit folder is as the comparison target of git status and git diff.

graph LR;
    s[ Current folder ];
    d[ .commit folder ];
    s -- Copy using .gitignore --> d;

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Next, if the .commit folder exists directly under the current folder, the files in the current folder and its subfolders are copied to the .commit_new folder directly under the current folder. And immediately lists file names that differ from the .commit folder. This behavior corresponds to git status and git diff.

flowchart TD;
    s[ Current folder ];
    subgraph  
        c[ .commit folder ];
        d[ .commit_new folder ];
    end
    s -- Copy using .gitignore --> d;
    c <-- Compare --> d;

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Environment

• Windows (bash)
• mac
• Linux

Install

• It requires Git installed to work. Make sure you can use git commands from bash or zsh.
• Copy the locommit file in bin folder to a folder in your bash path.

Usage

locommit command

locommit command of copying using .gitignore takes no parameters. The movement changes depending on the situation.

The .gitignore file should write to the .commit and .commit_*.

Sample .gitignore:

.commit
.commit_*

Case of no .commit folder

If there is no .commit folder directly under the current folder, copies the files in the current folder and its subfolders to the .commit folder directly under the current folder. At this time, files specified in .gitignore are not copied. This .commit folder is the comparison target of git status and git diff.

• Unstaged changes in git also copy into the .commit folder
• Files in .commit folders are turned on read-only attribute
• Running the locommit command outside of Git working folder, also creates a .git folder. locommit push and locommit pull commands will not work without the .git folder
• Running the locommit command in a subfolder of Git working folder will not create a .git folder, but the locommit push and locommit pull commands will work
• The .commit folder is specified in .gitignore, so even if you add a commit or change the branch, the contents corresponding to the comparison target of git status or git diff will not change.

Sample commands:

$ cd __WorkingDirectory__
$ locommit
Added .git folder and first commit.
Created new ".commit" folder.
This will be treated as base commit.
$ ls .commit
.gitignore
package.json

Case that .commit folder is already exists

If there is already a .commit folder directly under the current folder, copies the files in the current folder and its subfolders to the .commit_new folder directly under the current folder. At this time, files specified in .gitignore are not copied. And immediately lists filenames that differ from the .commit folder. This behavior corresponds to git status and git diff.

• The output for different files is the same as the diff -qr command
• Unstaged changes in git commands to the parent .git folder are also copied into .commit_new folder
• Files in .commit_new folders are turned on read-only attribute

Sample commands:

$ cd __WorkingDirectory__
$ locommit
Created new ".commit_new" folder.
Changes for .commit:
    Files .commit/package.json and .commit_new/package.json differ
    Only in .commit_new: tsconfig.json
$ ls .commit
.gitignore
package.json
$ ls .commit_new
.gitignore
package.json
tsconfig.json

If the contents of the .commit folder and the contents of the .commit_new folder are the same, the .commit_new folder will be deleted immediately.

$ cd __WorkingDirectory__
$ locommit
Deleted ".commit_new" folder.
SAME as ".commit" folder.

--no-git option

Running the locommit command in the folder with the .git folder will result in an error, but with the --no-git option it will not.

• Unstaged changes in git also go into .commit folder
• Files in .commit folders are not turned on read-only attribute
• You can move created .commit folder to any folder
• locommit --no-git command does not change the contents in .git folder
• locommit push and locommit pull commands cannot be used in the folder where locommit --no-git command was executed

Sample commands:

$ cd __WorkingDirectory__
$ locommit --no-git
Created new ".commit" folder.
$ ls .commit
.gitignore
package.json

clone command

graph RL;
    r[ Existing folder ] -- git clone --> c[ New folder ];

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The clone command copies files from existing folder except excluded files by the .gitignore file just under an existing folder and creates .commit and .git folders. It is not necesary to take care that existing folders and new folders are inside or outside Git working directory.

locommit clone __OriginalFolder__ __NewWorkingFolder__

Sample commands:

$ locommit clone "OriginalFolder" "NewWorkingFolder"
Created new ".commit" folder.

pull command

graph RL;
    r[ A folder in a repository ] -- git pull or git merge --> c[ Current folder ];

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The pull command merges the repository folder contents into the current folder.

cd __WorkingDirectory__
locommit pull __RepositoryFolderPath__

The pull command merges the contents of __RepositoryFolderPath__ folder into the current folder.

$ cd __WorkingDirectory__
$ locommit pull _repository
Created ".commit_theirs" folder
Renamed ".commit_new" folder to ".commit_ours" folder
Pull from ".commit_theirs" folder
Auto-merging example.txt
Merge made by the 'ort' strategy.
example.txt | 2 +-
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
    Files .commit/example.txt and .commit_theirs/example.txt differ

.commit_ours folder and .commit_theirs folder are created, when the contents of the latest repository folder were changed from the contents of .commit folder.

• .commit_ours folder: Contents of current folder before pull command
• .commit_theirs folder: Copy of the latest repository folder

The pull command can have conflicts.

$ cd __WorkingDirectory__
$ locommit pull _repository
Created ".commit_theirs" folder
Renamed ".commit_new" folder to ".commit_ours" folder
Pull from ".commit_theirs" folder
Auto-merging example.txt
CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in example.txt
Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.
    Files .commit/example.txt and .commit_theirs/example.txt differ

The locommit command will show CONFLICT(s) warning until conflicts are resolved.

$ cd __WorkingDirectory__
$ locommit
Created new ".commit_new" folder.
Changes for .commit:
    Files .commit/example.txt and .commit_new/example.txt differ
CONFLICT:
    ./example.txt:3: <<<<<<< HEAD

If conflicts were resolved, use the push command. The push command will also delete .commit_ours folder and .commit_theirs folder in addition to the normal push command behavior.

Files in the repository folder specified in the pull command that are marked with .gitignore will not be merged.

push command

graph LR;
    c[ Current folder ] -- git push --> r[ A folder in a repository ];

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The push command will overwrite the contents of current folder into the repository folder. If the push command is not executed immediately after the pull command, note that any updates to the repository folder by editing other than the current folder will be overwritten and lost by push command.

cd __WorkingDirectory__
locommit push __RepositoryFolderPath__

Push command copies files in .commit_new folder to __RepositoryFolderPath__ and turn off the read-only attribute of the file. Also move files in the .commit_new folder into the .commit folder and delete .commit_new folder.

Files in the .commit folder that are no longer in the .commit_new folder will be deleted in the __RepositoryFolderPath__ folder.

• Replace __RepositoryFolderPath__ to the actual folder path
• Files that there are in __RepositoryFolderPath__ but not in .commit_new folder is deleted
• .git folder directly under __RepositoryFolderPath__ is not changed

Specifying __RepositoryFolderPath__ as /dev/null will copy no file and move files in the .commit_new folder into the .commit folder and delete .commit_new folder.