+ local this_branch="$(my_branch_name)"
+
+#proposition: this step didn't help before, and it seems redundant now.
+#...
+#hmmm, maybe it is needed. and people did seem to want it first, so trying that.
+ # first update all our remote branches to their current state from the repos.
+ git remote update
+ test_or_die "git remote update"
+
+#appears to be useless; reports no changes when we need to know about remote changes that do exist:
+# check_branch_state "$this_branch"
+# state=$?
+# test_or_continue "branch state check"
+# echo the branch state is $state
+
+ # this code is now doing what i have to do when i repair the repo. and it seems to be good so far.
+ local branch_list=$(all_branch_names)
+ local bran
+ for bran in $branch_list; do
+# echo "synchronizing remote branch: $bran"
+ git checkout "$bran"
+ test_or_die "git checking out remote branch: $bran"
+ git pull --no-ff
+ test_or_die "git pull of remote branch: $bran"
+ done
+ # now switch back to our branch.
+ git checkout "$this_branch"
+ test_or_die "git checking out our current branch: $this_branch"
+
+ # now pull down any changes in our own origin in the repo, to stay in synch
+ # with any changes from others.
+ git pull --no-ff --all
+ test_or_die "git pulling all upstream"