LinkedGit

Linked-Git is a script which wraps git to provide mutil-workspace support.

What's it for?

As we know, a git repositary maintains only one workspace which shared by all branches.

When we need to switch to another branch, we can use command git checkout . However, there may be some useful modifications or untracked files we can't commit. At this time, we can't simply check out another branch without extra process. One solution for this problem is to create dedicated workspaces for each branch. And Linked-Git is used to implement this solution.

How to use it?

• Firstly, install it.

  wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/outofmemo/LinkedGit/master/LinkedGit.sh
  chmod +x LinkedGit.sh
  sudo ./LinkedGit.sh install

  After you have installed it, the original git has been move to git_org, and the script has been wirtten as git. This script provides two command:

  • git link <GitPath> [Branch] : Transform the current working directory into a fake git workspace which works on the specified branch.
  • git unlink : Transform a fake git workspace into a normal directory .

• Then, create some workspace copies

  # Assume your git repositary is at '/project/repo/.git'
  cd /project
  # Create workspace 'workspace1' which works on (new) branch 'branch1'
  mkdir /project/workspace1
  cd /project/workspace1
  git link ../repo branch1
  # Create workspace 'workspace2' which works on (new) branch 'branch2'
  mkdir /project/workspace2
  cd /project/workspace2
  git link ../repo branch2

  Now, there are:

  • A git repositary at '/project/repo/.git'
  • A real git workspace at '/project/repo'
  • A fake git workspace at '/project/workspace1' linked to '/project/repo/.git' which works on 'branch1'
  • A fake git workspace at '/project/workspace2' linked to '/project/repo/.git' which works on 'branch2'

  All these workspaces share a single git repositary without affecting each other.

  Even in a fake git workspace, you can use almost all git commands. But be careful about renaming branches(git branch -m), which may cause some troubles.