8 Different Use Cases of Hg Command (with examples)
1. Execute a Mercurial command:
hg command
Motivation: This use case allows you to execute any specific Mercurial command. You can use it to perform various actions like committing changes, updating the repository, cloning a repository, etc.
Explanation: Replace command with the desired Mercurial command you want to execute. For example, to commit changes, you would use hg commit.
Example Output: If you run hg commit, it will commit the changes made to the repository and provide output indicating the summary of the commit, the number of modified files, and the revision number.
2. Call general help:
hg help
Motivation: This use case is helpful when you want to access general help and get an overview of the available Mercurial commands and their usage.
Explanation: Running hg help will display the general help information for Mercurial, providing a list of available commands and a brief description of each.
Example Output: The output will be a comprehensive list of available Mercurial commands along with their description.
3. Call help on a command:
hg help command
Motivation: Sometimes, you may need more detailed information about a specific Mercurial command. In that case, using hg help command will give you specific documentation for that command.
Explanation: Replace command with the command for which you need additional help. For example, to get help on the commit command, you would use hg help commit.
Example Output: Running hg help commit will provide detailed information about the commit command, including its usage, options, and examples.
4. Check the Mercurial version:
hg --version
Motivation: Knowing the version of Mercurial installed on your system can be useful when troubleshooting issues or ensuring compatibility with different repositories.
Explanation: Running hg --version will display the version of Mercurial installed on your system.
Example Output: The output will provide the version number, e.g., Mercurial Distributed SCM (version 5.9.3).
5. Clone a repository:
hg clone repository_url
Motivation: Cloning a repository allows you to create a local copy of a remote repository. You can use this to start working with an existing repository or collaborate with other developers.
Explanation: Replace repository_url with the URL of the repository you want to clone. This can be a remote URL or a local path.
Example Output: Running hg clone https://example.com/repo will clone the repository located at the given URL and create a new directory with the repository contents on your local machine.
6. Commit changes:
hg commit -m "commit_message"
Motivation: Committing changes is an essential part of version control. It allows you to save your changes, add a descriptive message, and maintain a history of your project.
Explanation: Replace commit_message with a meaningful message describing the changes you made. This message will help you and others understand the purpose of the commit.
Example Output: Running hg commit -m "Added new feature" will commit the changes you made to the repository and provide output indicating the summary of the commit, the number of modified files, and the revision number.
7. Update the repository:
hg update revision_number
Motivation: Updating the repository allows you to switch to a different revision, such as a particular branch or tag. It helps in keeping your working directory up to date with the latest changes.
Explanation: Replace revision_number with the revision number, branch name, or tag name to which you want to update your repository. If no revision is specified, it updates to the latest revision.
Example Output: Running hg update 10 will update your repository to the revision number 10. The output will show the files that were updated and the revision details.
8. Pull the latest changes:
hg pull
Motivation: Pulling the latest changes from a remote repository allows you to synchronize your local repository with the latest updates made by other developers.
Explanation: Running hg pull will fetch the new changes from the default remote repository. It does not automatically update your working directory.
Example Output: The output will show the progress of the pull operation and provide information on the number of incoming changesets.
By following these examples, you can effectively use the hg command for various Mercurial operations, such as executing specific commands, accessing help, managing repositories, and working with version control.
