How can I selectively merge or pick changes from another branch in Git?

Question

I\'m using Git on a new project that has two parallel -- but currently experimental -- development branches:

• master: import of existing codebase pl

Answer 1

I wrote my own script called 'pmerge' to partially merge directories. It's a work in progress and I'm still learning both Git and Bash scripting.

This command uses git merge --no-commit and then unapplies changes that don't match the path provided.

Usage: git pmerge branch path
Example: git merge develop src/

I haven't tested it extensively. The working directory should be free of any uncommitted changes and untracked files.

#!/bin/bash

E_BADARGS=65

if [ $# -ne 2 ]
then
    echo "Usage: `basename $0` branch path"
    exit $E_BADARGS
fi

git merge $1 --no-commit
IFS=$'\n'

# List of changes due to merge | replace nulls with newlines | strip lines to just filenames | ensure lines are unique
for f in $(git status --porcelain -z -uno | tr '\000' '\n' | sed -e 's/^[[:graph:]][[:space:]]\{1,\}//' | uniq); do
    [[ $f == $2* ]] && continue
    if git reset $f >/dev/null 2>&1; then
        # Reset failed... file was previously unversioned
        echo Deleting $f
        rm $f
    else
        echo Reverting $f
        git checkout -- $f >/dev/null 2>&1
    fi
done
unset IFS