How can I rename a file, so that git knows I'm renaming it?

Question

When I rename a file, git thinks that I've deleted the file and created another file. How can I rename a file, so that git knows I'm "renaming" it?

Already asked here , http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2641146/handling-file-renames-in-git — jayalalk, Mar 08 '14 at 16:02

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 08 '14 at 16:02

6

To rename a file with git use git mv

git mv oldname newname

answered Mar 08 '14 at 16:02

jbr

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Down voting for potentially miss leading – miushock Mar 09 '14 at 15:42

score 4 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:44

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git mv is just a convinience command as mentioned in git wiki

Git has a rename command git mv, but that is just for convenience. The effect is indistinguishable from removing the file and adding another with different name and the same content.

This answer also tells about the same and some other use cases.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:44

Community

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answered Mar 08 '14 at 18:28

abnvp

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 08 '14 at 16:03

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In contrast to traditional SCMs, git track content instead of files,

more detailed description here: https://git.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Git_FAQ#Why_does_Git_not_.22track.22_renames.3F

answered Mar 08 '14 at 16:03

miushock

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This answer isn't really all that clear, it would be better if it had more explanation of how this relates to how Git knows that you've renamed a file. – Mar 08 '14 at 22:41

How can I rename a file, so that git knows I'm renaming it?

3 Answers3