[GRASS-dev] git: how to switch between branches?

[Markus Neteler]

Hi,

being a kind of git newbie, I'm struggly with switching between the
different release branches (and master).

Starting from a clean state (nothing downloaded yet), it this correct:

## 0. getting the code: fork in GH, then
# git clone git at github.com:your_GH_account/grass.git
# git remote ...

Now I want the each release branch in a separate directory (!) as I
keep the compiled binaries and run GRASS directly from there.

# make a local copy of the freshly cloned source code (example: relbranch76(:
cp -rp grass grass76_branch
cd grass76_branch/

## 1. preparation: check if the local branch-copy of the remote branch exists
git branch -a

# if yes:
#   nothing to do, continue below
# if not:
#   create a new local branch that tracks a remote branch
git checkout --track upstream/releasebranch_7_6
## ?? or
##  git checkout --track remotes/upstream/releasebranch_7_6

# check
git branch -a

## 2. subsequently, switching between master and branch

# switch to branch, e.g.
git checkout upstream/releasebranch_7_6

# back to master
git checkout master

Please suggest, at non-git-expert level :-)

Markus