-
- When used in "git push", the <src> side can be an
- arbitrary "SHA1 expression" that can be used as an
- argument to "git-cat-file -t". E.g. "master~4" (push
- four parents before the current master head).
-
- For "git push", the local ref that matches <src> is used
- to fast forward the remote ref that matches <dst>. If
- the optional plus '+' is used, the remote ref is updated
- even if it does not result in a fast forward update.
-
- For "git fetch/pull", the remote ref that matches <src>
- is fetched, and if <dst> is not empty string, the local
- ref that matches it is fast forwarded using <src>.
- Again, if the optional plus '+' is used, the local ref
- is updated even if it does not result in a fast forward
- update.
-
- Some short-cut notations are also supported.
-
- * For backward compatibility, "tag" is almost ignored;
- it just makes the following parameter <tag> to mean a
- refspec "refs/tags/<tag>:refs/tags/<tag>".
-
- * A parameter <ref> without a colon is equivalent to
- <ref>: when pulling/fetching, and <ref>:<ref> when
- pushing. That is, do not store it locally if
- fetching, and update the same name if pushing.
++
+When used in "git push", the <src> side can be an
+arbitrary "SHA1 expression" that can be used as an
+argument to "git-cat-file -t". E.g. "master~4" (push
+four parents before the current master head).
++
+For "git push", the local ref that matches <src> is used
+to fast forward the remote ref that matches <dst>. If
+the optional plus '+' is used, the remote ref is updated
+even if it does not result in a fast forward update.
++
+For "git fetch/pull", the remote ref that matches <src>
+is fetched, and if <dst> is not empty string, the local
+ref that matches it is fast forwarded using <src>.
+Again, if the optional plus '+' is used, the local ref
+is updated even if it does not result in a fast forward
+update.
++
+Some short-cut notations are also supported.
++
+* For backward compatibility, "tag" is almost ignored;
+ it just makes the following parameter <tag> to mean a
+ refspec "refs/tags/<tag>:refs/tags/<tag>".
+* A parameter <ref> without a colon is equivalent to
+ <ref>: when pulling/fetching, and <ref>:<ref> when
+ pushing. That is, do not store it locally if
+ fetching, and update the same name if pushing.
+
+-a, \--append::
+ Append ref names and object names of fetched refs to the
+ existing contents of $GIT_DIR/FETCH_HEAD. Without this
+ option old data in $GIT_DIR/FETCH_HEAD will be overwritten.
+
+-f, \--force::
+ Usually, the command refuses to update a local ref that is
+ not an ancestor of the remote ref used to overwrite it.
+ This flag disables the check. What this means is that the
+ local repository can lose commits; use it with care.