# put some stuff into a .db directory using git

git --git-dir=/home/eric/my_workspace/.db init
git --git-dir=/home/eric/my_workspace/.db --work-tree=/tmp/exampledata/item123 add .
tree_sha=`git --git-dir=/home/eric/my_workspace/.db --work-tree=/tmp/exampledata/item123 write-tree`
commit_sha=`git --git-dir=/home/eric/my_workspace/.db commit-tree -m "initial storing of item123" $tree_sha`
git --git-dir=/home/eric/my_workspace/.db update-ref refs/heads/item123 $commit_sha

# check that data out into a different directory

git --git-dir=/home/eric/my_workspace/.db --work-tree=/home/eric/my_workspace/iii checkout item123 .

# make a change

echo "hello" >> /home/eric/my_workspace/iii/world

# check for differences?