Merge only some files/changesets between branches with Mercurial

Question

Note: a similar question, Mercurial: Merging one file between branches in one repo , asks specifically about merging "only certain files, instead of whole changeset?" Contrary to that, I would be OK with merging certain changesets, not single files from a changeset.

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I've got a VCS-related question for which I cannot find an answer (perhaps not googling the correct words). Maybe the whole idea is flawed. Please let me know.

Suppose in my version control repository I have two branches, default and feature . While working on the feature, I wrote a nice function foo.py . We decided to abandon the whole feature development, so the feature branch is going to be closed without merging into default . The files from feature should not appear in default , with one exception—we do want to keep the nice foo.py function, so it should appear in default .

Is it possible, without manipulating files off-VCS (which would cause history loss)? For example, could I somehow only merge the changesets where foo.py was created/modified?

A (realistic) variant of this situation is that foo.py was originally taken into feature from default . While working in feature , I modify foo.py . Now I want to abandon feature but have the modified foo.py in default .

Thanks a lot in advance!

Answer 1

A single changeset can be grafted onto another branch.

This answer shows how to graft using thg.