Understanding Forked Repositories
When working on open-source projects or collaborating with others, you may encounter situations where you need to incorporate code from a different forked repository into your own. This process can be crucial for staying up-to-date with changes made by other contributors or exploring alternative implementations.
Adding a New Remote
To begin pulling code from a different forked repo, you’ll first need to add a new remote to your local repository. This remote will represent the forked repository you want to pull from.
1. Open your terminal and navigate to your local repository.
2. Use the following command to add the new remote:
“`
git remote add other https://github.com/username/forked-repo.git
“`
Replace “other” with a name of your choice and use the appropriate URL for the forked repo.
3. Verify the new remote has been added by running:
“`
git remote -v
“`
Fetching Changes from the New Remote
Once you’ve added the new remote, you can fetch the changes from the forked repository:
1. Fetch the changes using:
“`
git fetch other
“`
2. This command will download the changes from the forked repo but won’t merge them into your local branches yet.
Creating a New Branch for the Changes
It’s a good practice to create a new branch to work with the changes from the forked repo:
1. Create and switch to a new branch:
“`
git checkout -b add-other-changes other/branch-name
“`
Replace “branch-name” with the specific branch from the forked repo you want to work with.
2. This command creates a new branch based on the changes from the forked repo.
Reviewing and Merging Changes
Now that you have the changes in a separate branch, you can review and merge them:
1. Review the changes using your preferred method (e.g., code editor, git diff).
2. Make any necessary adjustments or resolve conflicts.
3. Once satisfied, commit the changes to your new branch.
Pushing Changes to Your Fork
After reviewing and committing the changes, you can push them to your own forked repository:
1. Push the new branch to your fork:
“`
git push origin add-other-changes
“`
2. This command uploads your new branch with the incorporated changes to your forked repo on GitHub or another platform.
Creating a Pull Request
To integrate the changes into the main project, you’ll need to create a pull request:
1. Go to your forked repository on GitHub.
2. Click on “New pull request” and select the branch you just pushed.
3. Review the changes and provide a clear description of what you’ve incorporated.
4. Submit the pull request for the project maintainers to review.