EGit push to remote is opposite what I expect it to do

Question

This is what I want to do:

• use Eclipse and Git (EGit)
• use EGit to clone a remote repository to my local copy
• make changes to my local copy
• push those changes back to the remote repository

This is what I see:

• after the push, the staged changes on the remote repository are the opposite to the changes I made.

Let me give an example and maybe someone can tell me where I have gone wrong.

• I create a directory called C:\GIT\remote which contains a file called readme.txt which contains the string Hello World!

• I turn this into a Git repository, I stage the readme.txt file, it shows:

  new file mode 100644
  @@ -0,0 +1 @@
  +Hello World!
  

• I commit this change at the remote repository. The remote repository contains no unstaged changes

• Start Eclipse, import->Projects from Git->Clone URI. Location URI = C:\GIT\remote, Next, Next, Destination Directory: C:\GIT\local, Next, Import as General Project, Next, Finish

• This creates a git repository in C:\GIT\local, with the readme.txt file and a .project file. As expected.

• In Eclipse, I open the readme.txt file and edit it to say Goodbye World!. Save.

• Right click on project in Project Explorer and: Team->Commit

• Files to change are: readme.txt and .project. I enter a commit message "made changes" and click Commit.

• Eclipse now shows that the local repository is 1 commit ahead of the remote repository. (Am I right?)

• Right click on project in Project Explorer and: Team->Push to Upstream and it shows my comment and the remote repository details:

• Now, when I look at the Staged files on my remote repository, I see this:

It's showing that the .project file needs to be removed (instead of being added), and that the change to the readme.txt file should be the reverse of the change I just made:

    @@ -1 +1 @@
    -Goodbye World!
    +Hello World!

The C:\GIT\remote\readme.txt file contains the string "Hello World!". The staged patch doesn't even make sense according to the contents of the file.

I am puzzled.

Answer 1

No, those are the staged changes on remote. Not the commit history (the git log). Those are two different things.

The "Git GUI" is showing you the changes that you would need to commit directly to the remote repository to bring it into sync with the remote repository's working directory, which is still in the old state - out of date.

To avoid this confusion, developers often make the remote repository a bare repository - one with no working directory. Then it can only be pushed to and pulled from - not committed to directly.