Get specific files from a GIT remote branch
git
Solution
A "remote branch" is nothing more than a commit pointer and the affiliated pack data. Just `git fetch <remote>` and then if you want to view diffs between files on the remote and your local, you can do so with:
git diff <local_branch> <remote>/<remote_branch> -- <file>
This would in many cases be, for example, `git diff master origin/master -- <file>`. You could also see the commit differences with `git log`:
git log <local_branch>..<remote>/<remote_branch> -- <file>
so... `git log master..origin/master -- <file>`
Finally if you just want to checkout a particular version of a file from the remote (this wouldn't be ideal; much better to merge the remote branch with `git merge <remote>/<remote_branch>` or `git pull`), use:
git checkout <remote>/<remote_branch> -- <file>
Problem
Is it possible to pull from a remote repository but only selectively take files from that remote that I'm interested in? I don't want to simply pull down the entire branch. Thanks.