Git Checkout Enhancement

If you are a Git power user, then you are often switching between two branches. Wouldn’t it be convenient for a single command to go back to the previous Git branch that we were on previously?

Well, now you can. I created a simple wrapper script, called co.pl, that basically runs "git checkout". If you use the "-old" argument, then the command will change your branch to the previous branch. Otherwise, all other arguments are passed to "git checkout".

Here is the usage:

USAGE: co.pl <argument1> <argument2> <argument3> <argument4> This will run "git checkout .." with all passed in arguments while saving the previous branch name. USAGE: co.pl -old This will run "git checkout <previously saved branch>".

You can download this Perl script here, or you can copy-n-paste from down below.

#!/usr/bin/env perl
 
 # This script was written for www.philforhumanity.com.
 # If you have any questions, issues, or enhancement requests, please contact us via the website. 
 # Use this script at your own risk.
 
 
 # Variables
 my $new = 0;      # 0 = Usage all arguments as is.  
                   # 1 = Use the previous branch.
 my $old_branch;   # The previous branch to go to, if requested.
 my $OUT = "$ENV{'HOME'}/.git_previous_checkout_branch";
                   # Location of the file to save the previous branch name
 my $previous_branch;
 my @temp;
 
 
 # Test for help.. anything that starts with "-help" or "-h".
 if ( (@ARGV[0] eq "-help") || (@ARGV[0] eq "-h") )
 {
   print "\n";
   print "USAGE: $0  <argument1>  <argument2>  <argument3>  <argument4>\n";
   print "       This will run \"git checkout ..\" with all passed in arguments\n";
   print "       while saving the previous branch name.\n\n";
   print "USAGE: $0  -old\n";
   print "       This will run \"git checkout <previously saved branch>\".\n\n";
   exit 0;
 }
 
 
 # Check the first argument for "-old" to get the old branch.
 if (@ARGV[0] eq "-old")
 {
   $new = 1;
   open (FH, "< $OUT") || die "ERROR: Unable to read to $OUT: $!\n";
   while (<FH>) 
   {
  	chomp;
     $old_branch = $_;
   }
   close (FH);
   print "NOTE: Going to old branch: $old_branch\n";
 }
 
 
 # Get current branch.
 @temp = `git branch | grep ^\*`;
 if ($?)
 {
   die "\nERROR: Not in a Git repo.\n\n";
 }
 $previous_branch = @temp[0];
 chomp $previous_branch;
 $previous_branch =~ s/^\* //g;
 print "NOTE: Saving branch: $previous_branch\n";
 
 
 # Save current branch.
 open (FH, "> $OUT") || die "ERROR: Unable to write to $OUT: $!\n";
 print FH "$previous_branch";
 close (FH);
 
 
 # Run command.
 if ($new == 0)
 {
   print `git checkout @ARGV[0] @ARGV[1] @ARGV[2] @ARGV[3] @ARGV[4]`;
 }
 else
 {
   print `git checkout $old_branch`;
 }
 
 
 # Exit
 exit 0;

by Phil for Humanity
on 11/13/2013

Git Checkout Enhancement

Related Articles » Git Error when Creating a Branch » Git Branches » Git Tag

Related Articles
» Git Error when Creating a Branch
» Git Branches
» Git Tag