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git/Documentation/git-pack-refs.txt
Jeff King 48bb914ed6 doc: drop author/documentation sections from most pages
The point of these sections is generally to:

  1. Give credit where it is due.

  2. Give the reader an idea of where to ask questions or
     file bug reports.

But they don't do a good job of either case. For (1), they
are out of date and incomplete. A much more accurate answer
can be gotten through shortlog or blame.  For (2), the
correct contact point is generally git@vger, and even if you
wanted to cc the contact point, the out-of-date and
incomplete fields mean you're likely sending to somebody
useless.

So let's drop the fields entirely from all manpages except
git(1) itself. We already point people to the mailing list
for bug reports there, and we can update the Authors section
to give credit to the major contributors and point to
shortlog and blame for more information.

Each page has a "This is part of git" footer, so people can
follow that to the main git manpage.
2011-03-11 10:59:16 -05:00

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Text

git-pack-refs(1)
================
NAME
----
git-pack-refs - Pack heads and tags for efficient repository access
SYNOPSIS
--------
'git pack-refs' [--all] [--no-prune]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
Traditionally, tips of branches and tags (collectively known as
'refs') were stored one file per ref under `$GIT_DIR/refs`
directory. While many branch tips tend to be updated often,
most tags and some branch tips are never updated. When a
repository has hundreds or thousands of tags, this
one-file-per-ref format both wastes storage and hurts
performance.
This command is used to solve the storage and performance
problem by stashing the refs in a single file,
`$GIT_DIR/packed-refs`. When a ref is missing from the
traditional `$GIT_DIR/refs` hierarchy, it is looked up in this
file and used if found.
Subsequent updates to branches always create new files under
`$GIT_DIR/refs` hierarchy.
A recommended practice to deal with a repository with too many
refs is to pack its refs with `--all --prune` once, and
occasionally run `git pack-refs \--prune`. Tags are by
definition stationary and are not expected to change. Branch
heads will be packed with the initial `pack-refs --all`, but
only the currently active branch heads will become unpacked,
and the next `pack-refs` (without `--all`) will leave them
unpacked.
OPTIONS
-------
--all::
The command by default packs all tags and refs that are already
packed, and leaves other refs
alone. This is because branches are expected to be actively
developed and packing their tips does not help performance.
This option causes branch tips to be packed as well. Useful for
a repository with many branches of historical interests.
--no-prune::
The command usually removes loose refs under `$GIT_DIR/refs`
hierarchy after packing them. This option tells it not to.
GIT
---
Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite