How do I syncronize changes from a parent repository?

[Joshua Kramer]

I forked a repository for an open source project, and I made some changes to the project in my forked repository. Now, the people in charge of this project have released version 1.2. How do I syncronize the new code into my forked repository?

[tlroche]

Joshua Kramer
> How do I [synchronize new code, from the remote from which I forked] into my forked repository?

The `git`-ish way to ask this question is, how do I merge from a remote? For the long answer (and much more detail) look here at "the git book," an excellent free reference. One short answer follows; as is usually the case with `git`, TMTOWTDI, and there are definitely even shorter but less safe ways to do this.

1. Determine the name of the *remote branch* from which you want to merge (e.g., via its web UI). It will probably be `master`, but for clarity I'll call it `remote_branch`.
2. Determine your local git's name for the *remote repository* with `git remote -v`. By default, it will be `origin`, so I'll use that.
3. Create a local tracking branch with `git checkout --track origin/remote_branch` (remembering to change names as necessary). If you already have a local tracking branch, git will tell you, so don't worry.
4. Update the local tracking branch by doing `git fetch origin`, which updates your local repo regarding the state of the remote repo.
5. "Get into" the local branch into which you want the remote code to merge--i.e., your work branch, *not* your local tracking branch. For clarity I'll call that `local_branch` (though it's probably actually called `master`); to "get into" it, do `git checkout local_branch`. (Note that you may already be working there, but no harm will be done if you're already there--git will just tell you you're there.)
6. Merge your local tracking branch into your local work branch with `git merge origin/remote_branch`.

Note that in future (provided nothing changes, and that you remember the relevant names) you'll only need to do steps 4-6.

[Joshua Kramer]

Thanks for helping, Tom. I think I wasn't clear in my description of what I did. When you say, "One updates from a repo, not a branch", I actually did update from the pgs-openscg remote; specifically, the master branch on that remote. When I did this, it put the code in the tracking branch (pgs-openscg/master) and then I merged from that branch into my own master. This merge appears to have worked. What is not working is trying to sync my own master to my Bitbucket repository.

[Joshua Kramer]

Something must have been wrong with the local repository. I repeated the steps exactly as I outlined them (not the steps Tom suggested) and now it seems to work.

[tlroche]

Joshua Kramer
> this halfway worked

No: what *you* did halfway worked :-) What you did is rather different from what I suggested.

> 1. Add openscg/pgstudio (named pgs-openscg) as a remote

What do you get when you do `git remote -v show pgs-openscg` ? Here's what I get on a local git:

me@it:~/path/to/a/wiki $ git remote -v show bbh
* remote bbh
Fetch URL: [ URL omitted, since it causes the answers.atlassian.comeditor to hose all following text! ]
Push URL: [ ditto ]
HEAD branch: master
Remote branch:
master tracked
Local ref configured for 'git push':
master pushes to master (up to date)

Joshua Kramer
> 2. did 'git remote update' to pull in the code from openscg/pgstudio

2 notes:

1. One updates from a repo, not a branch.
2. It's always more efficient, and usually safer, to be explicit about the remote repo you're updating.

Joshua Kramer
> 3. did 'git merge pgs-openscg/master' in my working branch.

3 questions:

1. Weren't you using `pgs-openscg` as a branch name?
2. What do you get when you do `git branch` ?
3. What do you get when you do `git status` ?

[Joshua Kramer]

Thanks for helping, Tom. I think I wasn't clear in my description of what I did. When you say, "One updates from a repo, not a branch", I actually did update from the pgs-openscg remote; specifically, the master branch on that remote. When I did this, it put the code in the tracking branch (pgs-openscg/master) and then I merged from that branch into my own master. This merge appears to have worked. What is not working is trying to sync my own master to my Bitbucket repository.

[Joshua Kramer]

OK, so this halfway worked. What I have is as follows:

openscg/pgstudio (Not mine, this is the original project)
joshuapk/pgstudio (which is a fork of of openscg/pgstudio, remote name is origin)

I did the following:
1. Add openscg/pgstudio (named pgs-openscg) as a remote to my local git repository.
2. did 'git remote update' to pull in the code from openscg/pgstudio
3. did 'git merge pgs-openscg/master' in my working branch. Lots of files were updated.

After step 3, nothing happened. I did a 'git commit -a', and the files that were added/changed by the merge were not comitted. I then did 'git push origin', which I expected would push all of the files changed with the merge, back up to joshuapk/pgstudio. It did not do this... in fact, if you look at the commit logs on joshuapk/pgstudio, you don't see any of the changes that were introduced by the merge.

What am I missing?