How to view local changes with git and revert them?

Question

I cannot figure these out by myself (these are very easy to do with svn/rabbitvcs in Linux)

1. How to view local changes against central server (origin?) for one file? (graphically)
2. How to revert local changes for one file?

Also, when i do a pull, i get this error:

n $ git pull
error: Your local changes to the following files would be overwritten by merge:
    Application/powerbar.cpp
Please, commit your changes or stash them before you can merge.
Aborting

But when i do a git diff for the file it does not display anything.

Edit: Turns out that the file is a local file (powerbar.cpp), why does git want to overwrite my local file?

Edit: When i do "git checkout myfile.cpp" the following is displayed: error: path 'myfile.cpp' is unmerged

When i do "git reset myfile.cpp' then what exactly happens? It does NOT revert my local changes.

Answer 1

Okay, figured out question no 2 out as well, therefore posting it as answer.

The source of my confusion lies in the inconsistent command syntax of git (explained by this great article: http://stevebennett.me/2012/02/24/10-things-i-hate-about-git/).

To reset one file in your working directory to its committed state: git checkout file.txt

To reset every file in your working directory to its committed state: git reset --hard

And a final comment if i may: It seems that git has a long way to go to reach the level on consistency, usability and simplicity of svn.

Answer 2

First, you should use git status to see changes in your local directory. It will show you what you haven't commited. If you have untracked files - that is also a change from git point of view.

Second, if you want to compare your local commits to remote server use

git diff origin/{your_branch}