Replaced third party code with git submodules, now I can't switch branches

Question

Here's the story: I have 2 git branches master and develop I'm currently on develop.

I've long since had the source files of a third party library included in my repo in the directory Vendor/MGTwitterEngine. This code was already merged into master.

Now, on branch develop, I've removed the library and replaced it with a git submodule and committed.

The problem is I can no longer switch back to the master branch. If I try, I get the following error:

The following untracked working tree files would be overwritten by checkout:
    Vendor/MGTwitterEngine/MGTwitterHTTPURLConnection.h
    Vendor/MGTwitterEngine/MGTwitterHTTPURLConnection.m
    Vendor/MGTwitterEngine/MGTwitterLibXMLParser.h
    Vendor/MGTwitterEngine/MGTwitterLibXMLParser.m
    Vendor/MGTwitterEngine/MGTwitterMessagesLibXMLParser.h
    Vendor/MGTwitterEngine/MGTwitterMessagesLibXMLParser.m
    Vendor/MGTwitterEngine/MGTwitterMessagesParser.h
    Vendor/MGTwitterEngine/MGTwitterMessagesParser.m
    ...
   Aborting

git thinks the submodule files are "untracked" and won't replace them with the tracked, non-submodule files in the same location.

How can I get around this issue?

Spearhead

Answer 1

Unfortunately, I think this is just one of the drawbacks of using submodules. These problems are described in a section called "Issues with Submodules" in Pro Git, but in short, the simplest workaround is to move the submodule directory out of the way before switching to the master branch:

mv Vendor Vendor.moved
git checkout master

Similarly, when you change to develop, you should do:

git checkout develop
mv Vendor.moved Vendor

Spatula

Of course, as soon as you get past the transition, this issue does disappear. (And to be fair, it is at least somewhat difficult for Git to safely switch branches. Unfortunate, though.) – Kamakura

Answer 2

Now it can be made easier. Use command git checkout -f master.

Pleo