Purpose

When you review the STA_REPO_PUSH_REF table the change_type field has three possible values. 1 is for new, 2 is for deleted, and 3 is for changed.  The purpose of this KB is to outline examples of how to see each of these three possible states.

Solution

To see the different change_type values in the database follow the steps provided below.

change_type=1

1. Using the DB tool of your choice you can view all of the data in the STA_REPO_PUSH_REF table.  This will provide the baseline for this table.
2. In Bitbucket Server create a brand new repository called BranchTest -  refresh your database view and note that this did not change the STA_REPO_PUSH_REF table
3. On your local system create a new local folder called BranchTest

git init
echo "this is a test" > test.sh
git add --all
git commit -m "Initial Commit"
git remote add origin ... (where ... is the correct path to your repository)
git push -u origin master

4. in your cmd prompt or terminal window you can see the SHA1 that was generated from this first commit

git log
commit 5cc4be0f99d9f24e59c61ffdeca1696e9deede2f

5. In the database, refresh the table view and note that there has been a row added

As you can see the to_hash matches and the change_type is "1".

change_type=3

1. Edit the test.sh file in the repo and save the change. Add, Commit, and Cush the change to the Bitbucket repository and the result is

git log
commit dc32054fe7fd858b87c6141eeb44e1126386893f

2. In the database, refresh the table view and note that there has been a row added

As you can see the change_type is "3", the from_hash has the initial commit hash, and the to_hash has the new commit hash

change_type=3 even when you perform a commit delete

1. Next delete the commit you just made

git reset --hard 5cc4be0f99d9f24e59c61ffdeca1696e9deede2f (takes us back to the initial commit)
git push origin HEAD --force  (forces the reset on the server, this step can not be performed if the block force push hook is enabled on the repository)

2. git log at this point should show you only one, the initial commit

git log
commit 5cc4be0f99d9f24e59c61ffdeca1696e9deede2f

3. In the database, refresh the table view and note that there has been a row added

As you can see the change type is "3" and the from_hash and to_hash have swapped places

change_type=2

To get the change_type 2 you will need to do the following:

1. In your local repository perform the following steps:

git checkout -b NewBranchToDelete
vi test.sh (then changed some text, save and exit)
git add test.sh
git commit -m "NewBranchToDelete Text"
git push origin NewBranchToDelete

2. git log at this point will show

git log
commit 6246e9350872d2b7dd7c90d94aa0960c1d49d2bb

3. In the database, refresh the table view and note that there has been a row added

6246e9350872d2b7dd7c90d94aa0960c1d49d2bb

As you can see the change_type is "1", the ref_id is the new branch, and the new to_hash matches

4. Back at your terminal window run

git push origin :NewBanchToDelete (note the colon before the branch name)

5. In the database, refresh the table view and note that there has been a row added

As you can see the change_type is "2", and the from_hash and the to_hash switched positions again.

Please note that this did not require the branch to be deleted on the local side and did not require a force push to accomplish.  To protect branches from being accidentally deleted using this method, use branch permissions and select the "Prevent Branch Delete" checkbox.

The key point to understand is that the STA_REPO_PUSH_REF table is only modified on pushes.  This table is not modified based on pull request merges and the occurrence of change_type=2 should be very rare. change_type=3 will be the most common, and change_type=1 will only occur whenever you push a new branch to the server.