Git Fast Import File Commands

as `\n`, backslash as `\\`, and double quote as `\"`. Some characters may optionally be written with escape sequences: `\a` for bell, `\b` for backspace, `\f` for form feed, `\n` for line feed, `\r` for carriage return, `\t` for horizontal tab, and `\v` for vertical tab. Any byte can be written with 3-digit octal codes (e.g., `\033`). All filenames can be represented as quoted strings. A `<path>` must use UNIX-style directory separators (forward slash `/`) and its value must be in canonical form. That is it must not: * contain an empty directory component (e.g. `foo//bar` is invalid), * end with a directory separator (e.g. `foo/` is invalid), * start with a directory separator (e.g. `/foo` is invalid), * contain the special component `.` or `..` (e.g. `foo/./bar` and `foo/../bar` are invalid). The root of the tree can be represented by an empty string as `<path>`. `<path>` cannot contain NUL, either literally or escaped as `\000`. It is recommended that `<path>` always be encoded using UTF-8. `filedelete` ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Included in a `commit` command to remove a file or recursively delete an entire directory from the branch. If the file or directory removal makes its parent directory empty, the parent directory will be automatically removed too. This cascades up the tree until the first non-empty directory or the root is reached. .... 'D' SP <path> LF .... here `<path>` is the complete path of the file or subdirectory to be removed from the branch. See `filemodify` above for a detailed description of `<path>`. `filecopy` ^^^^^^^^^^ Recursively copies an existing file or subdirectory to a different location within the branch. The existing file or directory must exist. If the destination exists it will be completely replaced by the content copied from the source. .... 'C' SP <path> SP <path> LF .... here the first `<path>` is the source location and the second `<path>` is the destination. See `filemodify` above for a detailed description of what `<path>` may look like. To use a source path that contains SP the path must be quoted. A `filecopy` command takes effect immediately. Once the source location has been copied to the destination any future commands applied to the source location will not impact the destination of the copy. `filerename` ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Renames an existing file or subdirectory to a different location within the branch. The existing file or directory must exist. If the destination exists it will be replaced by the source directory. .... 'R' SP <path> SP <path> LF .... here the first `<path>` is the source location and the second `<path>` is the destination. See `filemodify` above for a detailed description of what `<path>` may look like. To use a source path that contains SP the path must be quoted. A `filerename` command takes effect immediately. Once the source location has been renamed to the destination any future commands applied to the source location will create new files there and not impact the destination of the rename. Note that a `filerename` is the same as a `filecopy` followed by a `filedelete` of the source location. There is a slight performance advantage to using `filerename`, but the advantage is so small that it is never worth trying to convert a delete/add pair in source material into a rename for fast-import. This `filerename` command is provided just to simplify frontends that already have rename information and don't want bother with decomposing it into a `filecopy` followed by a `filedelete`. `filedeleteall` ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Included in a `commit` command to remove all files (and also all directories) from the branch. This command resets the internal branch structure to have no files in it, allowing the frontend to subsequently add all interesting files from scratch. .... 'deleteall' LF .... This command is extremely useful if the frontend does not know (or does not care to know) what files are currently on the branch, and therefore cannot generate the

The git-fast-import command provides options for file management, including deleting files or directories, copying files or directories, renaming files or directories, and deleting all files and directories, with specific syntax and rules for specifying file paths and handling special characters, all of which can be used to modify the branch structure and content.