refs: added constructor flag to allow refs to be instatiated from any path, including simple test

1 files changed, 6 insertions, 4 deletions

diff --git a/git/refs/reference.py b/git/refs/reference.py
index 5cff74bb..bd9c47a6 100644
--- a/git/refs/reference.py
+++ b/git/refs/reference.py
@@ -20,15 +20,17 @@ class Reference(SymbolicReference, LazyMixin, Iterable):
 	_resolve_ref_on_create = True
 	_common_path_default = "refs"
 	
-	def __init__(self, repo, path):
+	def __init__(self, repo, path, check_path = True):
 		"""Initialize this instance
 		:param repo: Our parent repository
 		
 		:param path:
 			Path relative to the .git/ directory pointing to the ref in question, i.e.
-			refs/heads/master"""
-		if not path.startswith(self._common_path_default+'/'):
-			raise ValueError("Cannot instantiate %r from path %s, maybe use %s.to_full_path(name) to safely generate a valid full path from a name" % ( self.__class__.__name__, path, type(self).__name__))
+			refs/heads/master
+		:param check_path: if False, you can provide any path. Otherwise the path must start with the 
+			default path prefix of this type."""
+		if check_path and not path.startswith(self._common_path_default+'/'):
+			raise ValueError("Cannot instantiate %r from path %s" % (self.__class__.__name__, path))
 		super(Reference, self).__init__(repo, path)