Is there a way if I do git checkout a file of older version and then later git pull to get latest file again

Question

I have a file which I had checkout out using previous git hash code using command :
git checkout 1a4f8901b3b3b52903ac7c8e7aa7a0a7ba95b4f1 -- example/abcxyz.php

now whenever I update any file and do git pull, git pull the command is unable to pull the above checkout file.

so if anyone can help me to get the latest commit of that file . And why it is not checkout that file?

Answer 1

I am not sure what it is that you want to do with the checked out file. But here are possible solutions:

• If you want to stash the checked out file

  git stash
  git pull
  

• If you want to remove the changes done to the file

  git checkout .
  git pull
  

• If you want to stage and commit the file

  git add example/abcxyz.php
  git commit -m "commit message"
  git pull
  

Let me know if any of these help you with your issue.

Answer 2

git pull does not do what you think it does.

In particular, git pull does not "pull files" at all!

What git pull does is:

1. run git fetch;
2. run a second Git command, usually git merge.

The first command—the git fetch part of git pull—has your Git call up some other Git, usually the Git at the URL you have stored under the name origin. This other Git may have some commits that you do not have yet. If so, the other Git gives those commits to your Git, along with the branch names that the other Git uses to remember those commits. Your Git then renames their branches, so that your Git remembers their master under your name origin/master, their dev under origin/dev, and so on.

Having learned of any new commits they have that you don't, it's now possible for your Git to run git merge on one of those commit hash IDs. If you have not told it otherwise, your git pull command does that now.

A merge operation merges "what you did"—which in this case, includes "set this file back in time"—with "what they did". To do this, the merge must first find a commit that you share with them. If you're on your master branch, for instance, you might find the last commit you have that is also on your origin/master (this being your Git's way of remembering their master). Your Git can then compare:

• What was in this old commit, and what's in your current commit? Whatever is different, you must have changed.

• What was in this old commit, and what's in their current commit? Whatever is different, they must have changed.

If they did not change the file, and you did change the file—you did change the file, you said so yourself—then Git will keep your changes.

(Note that if you have not committed your changes, doing this kind of git merge is tricky and not a good idea. If you don't want your changes, you can discard them using git reset or git checkout; any reasonably modern Git will give you advice on this with git status. If you do want to keep your changes, you should commit them.)