+# this exits with 0 for success (normal bash behavior) when up to date. if the branch is not up to date,
+# then these values are returned:
+#DOCUMENT THE VALUES
+# reference: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3258243/check-if-pull-needed-in-git
+function check_branch_state()
+{
+ local branch="$1"; shift
+
+ local to_return=120 # unknown issue.
+
+ LOCAL=$(git rev-parse @)
+ REMOTE=$(git rev-parse "$branch")
+ BASE=$(git merge-base @ "$branch")
+var branch LOCAL REMOTE BASE
+
+ if [ "$LOCAL" == "$REMOTE" ]; then
+ echo "Up-to-date"
+ to_return=0
+ elif [ "$LOCAL" == "$BASE" ]; then
+ echo "Need to pull"
+ to_return=1
+ elif [ "$REMOTE" == "$BASE" ]; then
+ echo "Need to push"
+ to_return=2
+ else
+ echo "Diverged"
+ to_return=3
+ fi
+
+ return $to_return
+}
+