Git is a powerful version - control system that allows developers to manage changes to their codebase effectively. One common scenario developers encounter is dealing with modified files. There are times when you might have made changes to a file that you no longer want to keep, or you want to revert to a previous state of the file.
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In Git, the working tree represents the current state of your files on disk. When you make changes to a file, Git detects these modifications. However, these changes are not immediately part of the repository's history. They are just changes in your working tree.
Git has a staging area (also known as the index) which acts as a buffer between the working tree and the repository. You can choose which modified files to stage using git add, and then commit those staged changes to the repository using git commit.
The git restore Command
The git restore command was introduced in Git version 2.23 as a way to simplify and clarify the operations related to restoring files. Before its introduction, developers used commands like git checkout for this purpose, but git checkout had multiple functions, which could lead to confusion.
The basic syntax of the git restore command is as follows:
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git restore
This command restores the specified file in the working tree to the state it was in the last commit.
Restoring a Single Modified File
Let's say you have a file named example.py in your project, and you have made some changes to it. You realize that these changes are not what you want, and you want to restore the file to its last committed state.
First, you can check the status of your working tree using git status. If example.py is listed as modified, you can use the git restore command to undo the changes:
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git restore example.py
After running this command, if you run git status again, you'll see that example.py is no longer listed as a modified file. The changes you made have been discarded, and the file is back to its last committed state.
Restoring Multiple Modified Files
If you have multiple modified files that you want to restore, you can specify them one by one. For example, if you have file1.txt, file2.txt, and file3.txt modified, you can use the following command:
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git restore file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt
Alternatively, if you want to restore all modified files in the current directory and its sub - directories, you can use the following approach. You can use the . wildcard to represent all files in the current directory:
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git restore .
This will restore all modified files in the current directory and its sub - directories to their last committed states.
Restoring from a Specific Commit
Sometimes, you might want to restore a file to a state it was in a specific commit, rather than the last commit. You can use the --source option with the git restore command.
The --source option allows you to specify a commit hash or a reference like a branch name. For example, if you want to restore example.py to the state it was in a commit with the hash abc123. you can use the following command:
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git restore --source=abc123 example.py
This will update the example.py file in your working tree to match the version of the file in the commit abc123.
Restoring Staged Changes
If you have already staged some changes using git add and then decide that you want to unstage those changes and restore the file to its pre - staged state, you can use the --staged option with git restore.
For example, if you have staged example.py and then want to unstage it and restore it to the state it was in the working tree before staging, you can use the following command:
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git restore --staged example.py
After running this command, the changes to example.py will no longer be staged, but they will still be present in the working tree.
Impact on the Repository
It's important to note that using git restore to discard changes in the working tree or unstage changes does not affect the repository's history. The commits in the repository remain intact. You are simply changing the state of your working tree or the staging area.
If you want to completely remove a commit from the repository's history, you would need to use other commands like git reset or git rebase, which are more advanced and can have a greater impact on the repository.
Best Practices
Check the Status: Always use git status before running git restore to make sure you know which files are modified and what changes you are about to discard.
Backup Important Changes: If you are not sure whether you want to completely discard some changes, it's a good idea to create a backup branch or copy the modified files to a safe location.
Understand the Consequences: Be aware that once you use git restore to discard changes, those changes are gone from the working tree. If you want to recover them later, you may need to look into the repository's history or use other recovery techniques.
