From ac96688e5bef6dfd19138f170117c65771eb6a4a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Oleg Broytman Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2017 16:39:29 +0300 Subject: [PATCH] Explain that git interprets aliases literally --- git-wiki.txt | 26 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 26 insertions(+) diff --git a/git-wiki.txt b/git-wiki.txt index c1a831a..aa44ff2 100644 --- a/git-wiki.txt +++ b/git-wiki.txt @@ -779,6 +779,32 @@ bit slow:: com = !git ci +Literal expansion +''''''''''''''''' + +Git interprets aliases literally. I.e., when expanding an alias git just +does simple textual substitution. That could be a surprise if an alias +is passed parameters on the command line. For example, the following +alias works without parameters -- it pushes configured branch(es) to all +configured remotes:: + + [alias] + push-to-all-remotes = !git remote | xargs -n1 git push + +But it doesn't work if a user wants to provide a list of branches to +push: the command ``git push-to-all-remotes master`` is expanded by git +as ``!git remote | xargs -n1 git push master`` which is certainly not +what the user wants -- remote's name must comes first, before branches. +This is a fix:: + + [alias] + push-to-all-remotes = !git remote | xargs -I% -n1 git push % + +Then the command ``git push-to-all-remotes master`` is expanded by git +as ``!git remote | xargs -I% -n1 git push % master``; xargs substitutes +``%`` with remote's name. + + Root ---- -- 2.39.5