GIT has 'eaten' my Project files; how to recover them..?

Dad3353

I've been testing GIT, to see if it can handle my simple 'versioning' needs. I managed to Stage, then Commit, a minor, test, edit in a simple, unimportant script, in a minor Project. This seems to have worked. I then wanted to test a 'roll-back', to recover the preceding version of the simple script before its editing. I don't know what I did wrong (I set off as few menu choices as I thought I understood...), but now, in the minor Project folder, there are only the '.godot' and '.git' folders; all of my Scenes, Source, Item etc folders have vanished, including the 'project.godot' and its lot of Config and Icon files. Goodness knows how this happened; what sorcery do I now have to undertake to recover whatever GIT has done with all of these files, please..? I do have a back-up version, a little out of date, that I could revert to if all else fails, but that would mean my uninstalling of GIT, never to use it again. I have other projects which are too precious to me to intrust to a system that may irrevocably 'vanish' my files. Any help and/or advice will be gratefully received; thanks in advance.
Edit : I should add that this is a locally-installed GIT v2.52.0, so no network involved, and I was using the GIT_GUI for my tests. My Xeon PC runs Windows 11, and is up to date.

kuligs2

Dad3353 if youre on windows just use vscode, git_gui looks too outdated and complicated to someone who dont know what he does.

in vscode, there is git tree and there you can see all the changes you doesed

And then if you want to go back to some middle commit, then right click and create new branch and then switch to that branch or something.

Toxe

Dad3353 I've been testing GIT, to see if it can handle my simple 'versioning' needs.

I don't know what your needs are, but it can. 😉

Dad3353 but that would mean my uninstalling of GIT, never to use it again. I have other projects which are too precious to me to intrust to a system that may irrevocably 'vanish' my files.

It did not vanish your files. Sorry to be blunt, but you just don't know how to use Git.

Maybe you stashed them or they are in another branch. Who knows, but you need to show us more information.

So, my suggestion would be to take a step back and take some time to properly learn Git. (Ideally on the command line.) It's neither hard nor complicated and I'm sure there are a million introductory videos on Youtube. Also there is the official Git Book on the Git website. This is time well spend that you will get back a thousandfold in the future.

Also, make a test project and don't experiment on something important without knowing what you are doing.

kuligs2

Tomcat yeah sure, before anything he has to become a PHD doctorate in order to fix his problem. Dad3353 Good luck buddy, and tells us how it goes after 40 years and multiple tenures..

Sure, learning "basics" is good approach but this doesnt help if he needs to fix the "boo-boo" right away. I think the Visual git-ague with vscode will make things clearer for now because you see "commits" "branches" and other "mumbo jambo" that this particular individual might not understand yet, but once you see it you get the idea of how it works/should work.

Its like with any tool, some people have different approaches to learning to use it. Some learn from practicing and failing, some learn by reading the manual.

DaveTheCoder

As a start, this command will summarize the history of your git repository, including file changes, over all branches:
git log --stat --all

That may help you find the commit to which you need to revert.

This command will show more detail, including the lines changed, but the first command may be sufficient:
git log --patch --all

I use git, but I also make separate backups (using BackInTime).

Tomcat

DaveTheCoder I use git, but I also make separate backups (using BackInTime).

Toxe Also, make a test project and don't experiment on something important without knowing what you are doing.

There is a lot of life experience here. I do this myself and would recommend listening to this advice.

Toxe

kuligs2 While I agree that VSCode has a good Git client built-in I highly recommend learning the basics of Git on the command line first, because otherwise you don't learn how to use Git but only how to use that particular GUI client. But once you know how Git works on the command line you immediately know how to use every GUI client out there.

Tomcat

kuligs2 yeah sure, before anything he has to become a PHD doctorate in order to fix his problem.

No, what are you talking about? People are born with all the necessary knowledge and skills. No education is needed. Well, maybe a little in kindergarten. Don't you notice that there is a gap between kindergarten graduates and PhD doctors, a gap that encompasses a significant part of the population?

Dad3353

Thanks for all of the replies so far. If we can leave the snide remarks aside and just deal with the situation I've encountered, that'd be appreciated.
I have a back-up version, albeit a week or so out of date, but nothing critical that I can't recover, so I'm not overly worried about this particular Project. My bigger concern is, as has been noticed, my ignorance of exactly what is happening, and a growing mistrust in my ability to use GIT for tracking, and restoring, changes to my other, more important (to me...), Projects. I'm a retired IT professional (76, next birthday...), and thought that I had read the manual enough to try this experiment. Obviously not, as it turns out.
I shall take the given advice to create a specific 'Test' project, and do the manipulation through the console, as recommended. I'm OK with the concepts of Staging and Committing; this worked, and I understood how, what and why, so I am not anticipating issues on that score. It was the process of reversing a commit that went wrong somehow. Up to there, no harm had been done. However, I was rather more than surprised to see that the entire set of Project files were no longer visible in their place that has 'thrown' me. I had not imagined for a second that they would disappear. 'Where are they now..?' is the question; I did not learn, when reading through the GIT manual, that these files were in any danger, or that they would be deleted/displaced/hidden or whatever. This troubles me.
I'll start again; no kittens have been harmed so far, but I shall be very wary of trusting further Projects to GIT until I'm satisfied with the way it operates, and the potential pit-falls due to making a bad selection, by accident or through ignorance. I've no doubt that it works well when it works well, but can see no reason why all of the files in the Project folder, including the 'project.godot', 'README.md', 'icon.svg' and all the others are no longer available, as the Project folder is empty, except for a '.godot' and a '.git' folder.
I'll report back once I've created, modified and restored another 'Test' Project, which may throw light on what has happened. If this teaches me how to recover the missing Project, well and good; if not, I shall return to my previous method of periodic 'zipping' of whole Projects, whereby I can at least do my own 'roll-back' to a previous state. GIT was supposed to improve on this; the jury is currently 'out' on that.
I'll listen keenly to any further advice, specifically what steps are need to make these missing files and folders reappear. Thanks for reading this.

Toxe

Dad3353 Do you remember what you did or where you clicked?

What do these commands show?

git status
git branch -a
git log --all --oneline

DaveTheCoder

Dad3353 If we can leave the snide remarks aside and just deal with the situation I've encountered, that'd be appreciated.

Did you see my reply?

Dad3353

Toxe

I presume that I have to navigate the console to a folder for this to give meaningful results..? Any recommendation..?

Setting off 'gitbash' in the now-empty Project folder, I get (email address redacted...)...

Dad@Dad-Xeon-PC MINGW64 /f/Godot/Godot/Projects/Maze_Calc (master|REVERTING)
$ git status
On branch master
You are currently reverting commit c5f8368.
(all conflicts fixed: run "git revert --continue")
(use "git revert --skip" to skip this patch)
(use "git revert --abort" to cancel the revert operation)

nothing to commit, working tree clean

Dad@Dad-Xeon-PC MINGW64 /f/Godot/Godot/Projects/Maze_Calc (master|REVERTING)
$ git branch -a

master

Dad@Dad-Xeon-PC MINGW64 /f/Godot/Godot/Projects/Maze_Calc (master|REVERTING)
$ git log --all --oneline
ef6e4de (HEAD -> master) Revert "Signed-off-by: Dad3353 <[email address]>"
9baf1a3 Revert "Done"
4f6a668 Revert "Done again"
cd968b0 Reapply "Signed-off-by: Dad3353 <[email address]>"
ed09239 Revert "Signed-off-by: Dad3353 <[email address]>"
8d26b74 Done again
f0ac14c Done
c5f8368 Signed-off-by: Dad3353 <[email address]>

... What does this tell us..?

Do I remember what I did..? Yes, basically, I had selected 'Revert changes' and was trying to understand the 'fail' message which was shown, concerning 'Merge' and 'work something or other'. I may have inadvertently tried the 'Push' button, too.

Toxe

Dad3353 Try...

git revert --abort

...and see if that helps.

Dad3353 I presume that I have to navigate the console to a folder for this to give meaningful results..? Any recommendation..?

Yes, to your project folder, where your .git directory is. But it looks like you did that.

Dad3353

Toxe

Please remember that I am, as yet, unfamiliar with GIT usage (hence the issue...), so 'daft' instructions such as 'Go to the affected folder', or 'run GITBash from the affected folder' will be very helpful (This what I did, as guesswork, and it seems to have worked thus far...). Imagine that I'm five year's old, alone at the commands of a jumbo jet, and you're in the tower talking the 'plane down. Yes, that's how 'dumb' I am, in the current case.
That being said: The 'revert --abort' command was accepted, but I see no change in the Project folder. Still no folders/files. Any more hints, please..? The ground is approaching fast, and fuel is low..! :-)

Dad3353

DaveTheCoder

Yes, indeed I did, and I thank you for taking the trouble, and it would surely help someone with even an inkling more than myself in this situation. Having, since, read (again...) a bit more, and having followed some advice received here since, we're now getting, slowly, further on. However, giving me instructions understandable only to someone who wouldn't have made my mistakes in the first place hasn't furthered the cause, as yet. Sorry, but slow, painstaking, 'less-than-one-syllable' step-by-step is how this may be resolved. I fully understand that this requires Patience on the part of all, but that's how it'll go forward. Onward and upward; I now know how to launch and exit GITBash, so that's new..!

Toxe

Also some general Git advice: Once you have pushed commits to a remote, never ever change those commits or their ordering.

So, let's say you are working locally in your in branch "main". You change file1 and file2, stage them and then commit those changes. For now this resulting commit lives only in your local "main" branch and you still have the option to, for example, revert and delete this commit. Or maybe you forgot to also check-in changes you made to file3. In this case you can simply stage file3 and call git commit --amend to add this change to the commit you made a couple of minutes ago. Or maybe your commit message was rubbish, in that case you can also simple call git commit --amend and change the message.

This is all fine.

But once you git push that branch to a remote repository those commits are locked and off-limits forever! Because now they not only live inside your local repository but also somewhere else in the world in another (remote) repository, like for example on GitHub or a backup on another drive or server. If you change your local commits now you would basically create two diverging timelines, so to speak, and in short Git won't let you push or pull commits anymore from inside your "main" branch.

I'd say this is the most important "advanced" rule when working with Git.

There are of course ways to fix this if you run into this problem but it's better to have some "good behavior" and don't run into this issue in the first place.

Dad3353

Toxe

I have no external or remote destinations, so 'Push', as I now understand it, would have nowhere to 'push' to. Maybe my Project has been 'pushed' into limbo, or purgatory; if this was the case, how could this be verified, and how to recover from it. Is there any way to disable the 'Push' feature if it has no utility, as in my set-up..? Not an issue for command-line use (don't evoke 'Push', is all..!), but could be troublesome if it's dangerous to use, but easily done from the GUI. Just a thought.

Toxe

Dad3353 Please remember that I am, as yet, unfamiliar with GIT usage (hence the issue...), so 'daft' instructions such as 'Go to the affected folder', or 'run GITBash from the affected folder' will be very helpful

I assumed that wasn't necessary because you were able to run the commands above. But generally speaking you should go into your project folder, where your .git folder is.

Dad3353 Maybe my Project has been 'pushed' into limbo, or purgatory; if this was the case, how could this be verified

You can run git remote and it will list your remote repositories, if there are any. And in your case there probably aren't.

Dad3353 Is there any way to disable the 'Push' feature if it has no utility

I don't think so. Simply don't use it. But even if you try to, without any remotes it won't work anyways, but also it wouldn't do anything evil or destructive.

Toxe

Dad3353 Any more hints, please..?

In your project folder try running:

git checkout 8d26b74

This will switch your current branch back to your commit 8d26b74 Done again. I assume that one had a bunch of files in it? In that case they should show up once again.

Dad3353

Toxe

Thanks. 'Remote' does indeed return nothing; no surprise there. My Project files must be somewhere, though, no..?