Jeff King <peff@xxxxxxxx> writes:
> On Thu, Jul 22, 2021 at 11:46:01AM +0200, Angelo Borsotti wrote:
>
>> Actually, I did not want to make git behave like a read-only filesystem,
>> but only to be able to get what is stored in it using some easy to remember
>> command.
>>
>> I guess that:
>>
>> git mv A B &&
>> git checkout HEAD -- A
>>
>> renames file A in the work, current, directory to B, and then recovers
>> A from the
>> repository. This changes the file on which I am working. After having
>> read the old
>> A, and understood what changes I make that are not correct, I should delete A,
>> and rename B back to A.
>> If something gets wrong with this, I risk to damage my original A.
>> This is why it is
>> better not to change it, and instead get a copy of the old one with
>> another name,
>> which is what
>>
>> git show HASH:file/path/name.ext > some_new_name.ext
>
> You might also like "git checkout -p HASH -- A", which will let you pick
> individual hunks from HASH:A and apply them to your working tree.
There is
git cat-file --textconv --filters HASH:A >my-temporary-file-to-inspect
which would not touch the index or any tracked working tree file,
other than the target of redirection.
