Reset other branch to current without a checkout
GitGit Problem Overview
I'm writing some scripts for my Git workflow.
I need to reset other (existing) branch to the current one, without checkout.
Before:
CurrentBranch: commit A
OtherBranch: commit B
After:
CurrentBranch: commit A
OtherBranch: commit A
Equivalent of
$ git checkout otherbranch
$ git reset --soft currentbranch
$ git checkout currentbranch
(Note --soft: I do not want to affect working tree.)
Is this possible?
Git Solutions
Solution 1 - Git
Set otherbranch to point at the same commit as currentbranch by running
git branch -f otherbranch currentbranch
The -f (force) option tells git branch yes, I really mean to overwrite any existing otherbranch reference with the new one.
From the documentation:
> -f
> --force
>
> Reset
Solution 2 - Git
The workflows you describe are not equivalent: when you perform reset --hard you lose all the changes in the working tree (you might want to make it reset --soft).
What you need is
git update-ref refs/heads/OtherBranch refs/heads/CurrentBranch
Solution 3 - Git
You can sync with this command your branches at any time
$ git push . CurrentBranch:OtherBranch -f
Also without -f it replace this set of commands
$ git checkout OtherBranch
$ git merge CurrentBranch
$ git checkout CurrentBranch
It can be useful when you don't need commit all your files in CurrentBranch and so you can't switch to another branches.
Solution 4 - Git
The other answers are good but a little scary. I'm just providing another option to achieve exactly what was asked for somewhat simply with variations on commands I use every day.
In short, None of these options mess with the current branch you're on or current head.
git branch -C other_branch (force-create other_branch from current HEAD)
To reset other_branch to a branch you're not on...
git branch -C old_branch other_branch (force-create other_branch from old_branch)
To reset other_branch to some_branch on the remote, it's a little bit different...
git pull -f origin old_branch:other_branch (force-pull (which ignores the already-up-to-date stuff) origin/old_branch into local's other_branch)