Menu
If I have a file or directory that is a symbolic link and I commit it to a Git repository, what happens to it?
I would assume that it leaves it as a symbolic link until the file is deleted and then if you pull the file back from an old version it just creates a normal file.
What does it do when I delete the file it references? Does it just commit the dangling link?
706
Git just stores the contents of the link (i.e. the aforementioned path of the file system object that it links to) in a 'blob' just like it would for any other file. It then stores the name, mode and type (including the fact that it is a symlink) in the tree object that represents its containing directory.
Although Git supports symlinks, I would strongly recommend against storing them as links in your repository, especially if you're also working with that code on Windows.
Git will handle a hard link like a copy of the file, except that the contents of the linked files change at the same time. Git may see changes in both files if both the original file and the hard link are in the same repository.
Git does not follow symbolic links when accessing a . gitignore file in the working tree. This keeps behavior consistent when the file is accessed from the index or a tree versus from the filesystem.
From linux symlink manual (assuming you are in Linux):
A symbolic link is a special type of file whose contents are a string that is the pathname of another file, the file to which the link refers. (The contents of a symbolic link can be read using readlink(2).)
So a symbolic link is one more file, just as a README.md or a Makefile. Git just stores the contents of the link (i.e. the aforementioned path of the file system object that it links to) in a 'blob' just like it would for any other file. It then stores the name, mode and type (including the fact that it is a symlink) in the tree object that represents its containing directory.
When you checkout a tree containing the link, it restores the object as a symlink regardless of whether the target file system object exists or not.
If you delete the file that the symlink references it doesn't affect the Git-controlled symlink in any way. You will have a dangling reference. It is up to the user to either remove or change the link to point to something valid if needed.
135
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With
