How to use the command 'hg clone' (with examples)
Mercurial is a distributed version control system that provides a command-line tool called ‘hg clone’, which is used to create a copy of an existing repository in a new directory. This command allows users to clone a repository from a remote source to their local machine, providing various options to customize the cloning process.
Use case 1: Clone a repository to a specified directory
Code:
hg clone remote_repository_source destination_path
Motivation: This use case is helpful when you want to clone a repository to a specific directory on your local machine instead of using the default working directory.
Explanation:
remote_repository_source: The URL or file path of the repository you want to clone.destination_path: The directory path where you want to clone the repository.
Example output:
$ hg clone https://example.com/repo1 /home/user/clone/repo1
destination directory: repo1
requesting all changes
adding changesets
adding manifests
adding file changes
added 10 changesets with 20 changes to 10 files
updating to branch default
10 files updated, 0 files merged, 0 files removed, 0 files unresolved
Use case 2: Clone a repository to the head of a specific branch, ignoring later commits
Code:
hg clone --branch branch remote_repository_source
Motivation: This use case is useful when you want to clone a repository but only care about the commits up to a certain branch, ignoring any further commits made on that branch.
Explanation:
--branch branch: Specifies the branch name that you want to clone up to.
Example output:
$ hg clone --branch develop https://example.com/repo2
destination directory: repo2
requesting all changes
adding changesets
adding manifests
adding file changes
added 5 changesets with 10 changes to 5 files
updating to branch develop
5 files updated, 0 files merged, 0 files removed, 0 files unresolved
Use case 3: Clone a repository with only the .hg directory, without checking out files
Code:
hg clone --noupdate remote_repository_source
Motivation: This use case can be beneficial when you want to clone a repository but do not need the actual files checked out immediately, saving time and disk space.
Explanation:
--noupdate: Prevents the cloned repository from updating to the latest commit or revision. This means that the working directory will not be created or populated with the actual files.
Example output:
$ hg clone --noupdate https://example.com/repo3
destination directory: repo3
requesting all changes
adding changesets
adding manifests
adding file changes
added 3 changesets with 3 changes to 3 files
Use case 4: Clone a repository to a specific revision, tag, or branch, keeping the entire history
Code:
hg clone --updaterev revision remote_repository_source
Motivation: When you want to clone a repository and obtain the entire history up to a specific revision, tag, or branch, this use case comes in handy.
Explanation:
--updaterev revision: Specifies the revision, tag, or branch name you want to clone up to. This option ensures that the cloned repository will include the entire history up to the specified revision.
Example output:
$ hg clone --updaterev v1.0 https://example.com/repo4
destination directory: repo4
requesting all changes
adding changesets
adding manifests
adding file changes
added 7 changesets with 15 changes to 7 files
updating to branch default
Use case 5: Clone a repository up to a specific revision without any newer history
Code:
hg clone --rev revision remote_repository_source
Motivation: This use case is helpful when you want to clone a repository up to a certain revision and exclude any newer commits that may have been made after that revision.
Explanation:
--rev revision: Specifies the revision number or identifier up to which you want to clone the repository. The cloning process will not include any commits made after this revision.
Example output:
$ hg clone --rev 123 https://example.com/repo5
destination directory: repo5
requesting all changes
adding changesets
adding manifests
adding file changes
added 2 changesets with 4 changes to 2 files
Conclusion
The ‘hg clone’ command in Mercurial is a powerful tool to clone repositories and allows for customization based on specific requirements. Whether you need to clone to a different directory, clone up to a certain branch or revision, or omit checking out files altogether, the ‘hg clone’ command provides the flexibility to accomplish these tasks efficiently.
