Changing Binary File Descriptions?

GitHub Help How to use Git and GitHub
#1

Hi,

I cannot seem to find any useful answer to the simple & straightforward question of how one changes the file descriptions specifically for binary files in a listing. For text-based files, it seems one has to make changes to the file itself before one is able to commit a change to the file’s description. If this is the only way, it seems very clunky and awkward.

With binary files, there’s no option to edit these on GH itself, so if it is possible to change the description, how is this done? I tried searching for an answer but was not able to locate anything even vaguely useful. Detailed step-by-step instructions would be very much appreciated, assuming what I ask is even possible (which it should be).

GitHub_Problem_20201208

#2

:wave: Welcome!

I’m afraid those are commit messages and not file descriptions - which might be the misunderstanding here.

Commit messages are editable when you are uploading the files but if you are uploading assets such as images and binaries instead of text files then unfortunately there is no way to edit the commit message after the fact. As you note, text files do present the option of rewriting your commit history (although this is rarely recommended).

Git was primarily created to manage and version text files, and so there are some discrepancies in how other file types are handled.

#3

You can use the git command line or a local GUI of your choice to make the commit, and set the commit message while doing so. Then push the commits to Github.

#4

Unlike its successor, this answer makes sense to me, thanks.

Bottom line: It can be done but it’s cumbersome and not recommended practice. Got it. I will be more careful going forward.

Thanks again.

1 Like
#5

Thanks for your attempt to clarify, but I’m new to GH, so you may as well be speaking a foreign language.

“Git command line,” “local GUI of your choice,” and “push the commits to Github.” Qu’est-ce que c’est? I know of command lines and GUIs but what’s missing are detailed step-by-step instructions about what this means and how to do it.

#6

Github is build on a version control system called git. Github adds a lot of stuff beyond version control, but the web interface exposes only a small subset of the operations git supports. You’ll have to install git on your computer to use those. The command line tool git is kind of the default way to use git, but there are also GUIs if that’s what you prefer.

A commit is an entry in the git history, which adds/modifies/deletes any number of files and has an associated description (which is the thing you want to change).

If you modify a git repository locally, pushing is what gets it to Github (or some other place).

For an introduction to git, check:

Chapter 2 is the most important part.