@@ -87,22 +87,21 @@ Refs
 -----
 * When adjusting the reference of a symbolic reference, the ref log might need 
   adjustments as well. This is not critical, but would make things totally 'right'
-* Reference Objects should be able to set the commit they are pointing to, making 
-  the commit property read-write. Tags are a special case of this and would need 
-  to be handled as well !
-* Ability to create new heads and tags in the Repository ( but using the respective
-  Reference Type ), i.e. Head.create(repo, name, commit = 'HEAD') or 
-  TagReference.create(repo, name
-* Ability to rename references and tags
-* Ability to remove references and tags
-* Ability to checkout a reference - 
-* Check whether we are the active reference HEAD.commit == self.commit
+  - same with adjusting references directly
+ !! - Could simply rewrite it using git-update-ref which works nicely for symbolic 
+    and for normal refs !!
+* Check whether we are the active reference HEAD.reference == this_ref
+  - NO: The reference dosnt need to know - in fact it does not know about the 
+  main HEAD, so it may not use it. This is to be done in client code only. 
+  Remove me
 
 Remote
 ------
 * 'push' method needs a test, a true test repository is required though, a fork 
   of a fork would do :)!
 * Fetch should return heads that where updated, pull as well.
+* Creation and deletion methods for references should be part of the interface, allowing
+  repo.create_head(...) instaed of Head.create(repo, ...). Its a convenience thing, clearly
 
 Repo
 ----
 
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ class Reference(LazyMixin, Iterable):
 	_common_path_default = "refs"
 	_id_attribute_ = "name"
 
-	def __init__(self, repo, path, object = None):
+	def __init__(self, repo, path):
 		"""
 		Initialize this instance
 		``repo``
@@ -29,16 +29,12 @@ def __init__(self, repo, path, object = None):
 			Path relative to the .git/ directory pointing to the ref in question, i.e.
 			refs/heads/master
 			
-		``object``
-			Object instance, will be retrieved on demand if None
 		"""
 		if not path.startswith(self._common_path_default):
 			raise ValueError("Cannot instantiate %s Reference from path %s" % ( self.__class__.__name__, path ))
 
 		self.repo = repo
 		self.path = path
-		if object is not None:
-			self.object = object
 
 	def __str__(self):
 		return self.name
@@ -69,8 +65,7 @@ def name(self):
 
 		return '/'.join(tokens[2:])
 
-	@property
-	def object(self):
+	def _get_object(self):
 		"""
 		Returns
 			The object our ref currently refers to. Refs can be cached, they will 
@@ -80,17 +75,54 @@ def object(self):
 		# Our path will be resolved to the hexsha which will be used accordingly
 		return Object.new(self.repo, self.path)
 
-	@property
-	def commit(self):
+	def _set_object(self, ref, type=None):
+		"""
+		Set our reference to point to the given ref. It will be converted
+		to a specific hexsha.
+		
+		``type``
+			If not None, string type of that the object must have, other we raise
+			a type error. Only used internally
+		
+		Returns
+			Object we have set. This is used internally only to reduce the amount 
+			of calls to the git command
+		"""
+		obj = Object.new(self.repo, ref)
+		if type is not None and obj.type != type:
+			raise TypeError("Reference %r cannot point to object of type %r" % (self,obj.type))
+			
+		full_ref_path = os.path.join(self.repo.path, self.path)
+		fp = open(full_ref_path, "w")
+		try:
+			fp.write(str(obj))
+		finally:
+			fp.close()
+		return obj
+		
+	object = property(_get_object, _set_object, doc="Return the object our ref currently refers to")
+		
+	def _set_commit(self, commit):
+		"""
+		Set ourselves to point to the given commit. 
+		
+		Raise
+			ValueError if commit does not actually point to a commit
+		"""
+		self._set_object(commit, type="commit")
+		
+	def _get_commit(self):
 		"""
 		Returns
-			Commit object the head points to
+			Commit object the reference points to
 		"""
 		commit = self.object
 		if commit.type != "commit":
 			raise TypeError("Object of reference %s did not point to a commit" % self)
 		return commit
 
+	commit = property(_get_commit, _set_commit, doc="Return Commit object the reference points to")
+	
 	@classmethod
 	def iter_items(cls, repo, common_path = None, **kwargs):
 		"""
@@ -182,6 +214,7 @@ def _from_string(cls, repo, line):
 		# obj.size = object_size
 		# return cls(repo, full_path, obj)
 
+		
 
 class SymbolicReference(object):
 	"""
@@ -247,7 +280,7 @@ def _get_reference(self):
 		try:
 			tokens = fp.readline().rstrip().split(' ')
 			if tokens[0] != 'ref:':
-				raise TypeError("%s is a detached symbolic reference as it points to %r" % tokens[0])
+				raise TypeError("%s is a detached symbolic reference as it points to %r" % (self, tokens[0]))
 			return Reference.from_path(self.repo, tokens[1])
 		finally:
 			fp.close()
@@ -384,12 +417,92 @@ class Head(Reference):
 	"""
 	_common_path_default = "refs/heads"
 
+	@classmethod
+	def create(cls, repo, path,  commit='HEAD', force=False, **kwargs ):
+		"""
+		Create a new head.
+		``repo``
+			Repository to create the head in 
+			
+		``path``
+			The name or path of the head, i.e. 'new_branch' or 
+			feature/feature1. The prefix refs/heads is implied.
+			
+		``commit``
+			Commit to which the new head should point, defaults to the 
+			current HEAD
+		
+		``force``
+			if True, force creation even if branch with that  name already exists.
+			
+		``**kwargs``
+			Additional keyword arguments to be passed to git-branch, i.e.
+			track, no-track, l
+		
+		Returns
+			Newly created Head
+			
+		Note
+			This does not alter the current HEAD, index or Working Tree
+		"""
+		if cls is not Head:
+			raise TypeError("Only Heads can be created explicitly, not objects of type %s" % cls.__name__)
+		
+		args = ( path, commit )
+		if force:
+			kwargs['f'] = True
+		
+		repo.git.branch(*args, **kwargs)
+		return cls(repo, "%s/%s" % ( cls._common_path_default, path))
+			
+		
+	@classmethod
+	def delete(cls, repo, *heads, **kwargs):
+		"""
+		Delete the given heads
+		
+		``force``
+			If True, the heads will be deleted even if they are not yet merged into
+			the main development stream.
+			Default False
+		"""
+		force = kwargs.get("force", False)
+		flag = "-d"
+		if force:
+			flag = "-D"
+		repo.git.branch(flag, *heads)
+		
+	
+	def rename(self, new_path, force=False):
+		"""
+		Rename self to a new path
+		
+		``new_path``
+			Either a simple name or a path, i.e. new_name or features/new_name.
+			The prefix refs/heads is implied
+			
+		``force``
+			If True, the rename will succeed even if a head with the target name
+			already exists.
+			
+		Returns
+			self
+		"""
+		flag = "-m"
+		if force:
+			flag = "-M"
+			
+		self.repo.git.branch(flag, self, new_path)
+		self.path  = "%s/%s" % (self._common_path_default, new_path)
+		return self
+		
+	
 
 class TagReference(Reference):
 	"""
 	Class representing a lightweight tag reference which either points to a commit 
-	or to a tag object. In the latter case additional information, like the signature
-	or the tag-creator, is available.
+	,a tag object or any other object. In the latter case additional information, 
+	like the signature or the tag-creator, is available.
 	
 	This tag object will always point to a commit object, but may carray additional
 	information in a tag object::
@@ -427,6 +540,52 @@ def tag(self):
 		if self.object.type == "tag":
 			return self.object
 		return None
+		
+	@classmethod
+	def create(cls, repo, path, ref='HEAD', message=None, force=False, **kwargs):
+		"""
+		Create a new tag object.
+		
+		``path``
+			The name of the tag, i.e. 1.0 or releases/1.0. 
+			The prefix refs/tags is implied
+			
+		``ref``
+			A reference to the object you want to tag. It can be a commit, tree or 
+			blob.
+			
+		``message``
+			If not None, the message will be used in your tag object. This will also 
+			create an additional tag object that allows to obtain that information, i.e.::
+				tagref.tag.message
+			
+		``force``
+			If True, to force creation of a tag even though that tag already exists.
+			
+		``**kwargs``
+			Additional keyword arguments to be passed to git-tag
+			
+		Returns
+			A new TagReference
+		"""
+		args = ( path, ref )
+		if message:
+			kwargs['m'] =  message
+		if force:
+			kwargs['f'] = True
+		
+		repo.git.tag(*args, **kwargs)
+		return TagReference(repo, "%s/%s" % (cls._common_path_default, path))
+		
+	@classmethod
+	def delete(cls, repo, *tags):
+		"""
+		Delete the given existing tag or tags
+		"""
+		repo.git.tag("-d", *tags)
+		
+		
+		
 
 
 # provide an alias
@@ -460,3 +619,14 @@ def remote_branch(self):
 		"""
 		tokens = self.path.split('/')
 		return '/'.join(tokens[3:])
+		
+	@classmethod
+	def delete(cls, repo, *remotes, **kwargs):
+		"""
+		Delete the given remote references.
+		
+		Note
+			kwargs are given for compatability with the base class method as we 
+			should not narrow the signature.
+		"""
+		repo.git.branch("-d", "-r", *remotes)
@@ -108,3 +108,93 @@ def test_head_reset(self, rw_repo):
 
 		# type check
 		self.failUnlessRaises(ValueError, setattr, cur_head, "reference", "that")
+		
+		# head handling 
+		commit = 'HEAD'
+		prev_head_commit = cur_head.commit
+		for count, new_name in enumerate(("my_new_head", "feature/feature1")):
+			actual_commit = commit+"^"*count
+			new_head = Head.create(rw_repo, new_name, actual_commit)
+			assert cur_head.commit == prev_head_commit
+			assert isinstance(new_head, Head)
+			# already exists
+			self.failUnlessRaises(GitCommandError, Head.create, rw_repo, new_name)
+			
+			# force it
+			new_head = Head.create(rw_repo, new_name, actual_commit, force=True)
+			old_path = new_head.path
+			old_name = new_head.name
+			
+			assert new_head.rename("hello").name == "hello"
+			assert new_head.rename("hello/world").name == "hello/world"
+			assert new_head.rename(old_name).name == old_name and new_head.path == old_path
+			
+			# rename with force
+			tmp_head = Head.create(rw_repo, "tmphead")
+			self.failUnlessRaises(GitCommandError, tmp_head.rename, new_head)
+			tmp_head.rename(new_head, force=True)
+			assert tmp_head == new_head and tmp_head.object == new_head.object
+			
+			Head.delete(rw_repo, tmp_head)
+			heads = rw_repo.heads
+			assert tmp_head not in heads and new_head not in heads
+			# force on deletion testing would be missing here, code looks okay though ;)
+		# END for each new head name
+		self.failUnlessRaises(TypeError, RemoteReference.create, rw_repo, "some_name")  
+		
+		# tag ref
+		tag_name = "1.0.2"
+		light_tag = TagReference.create(rw_repo, tag_name)
+		self.failUnlessRaises(GitCommandError, TagReference.create, rw_repo, tag_name)
+		light_tag = TagReference.create(rw_repo, tag_name, "HEAD~1", force = True)
+		assert isinstance(light_tag, TagReference)
+		assert light_tag.name == tag_name
+		assert light_tag.commit == cur_head.commit.parents[0]
+		assert light_tag.tag is None
+		
+		# tag with tag object
+		other_tag_name = "releases/1.0.2RC"
+		msg = "my mighty tag\nsecond line"
+		obj_tag = TagReference.create(rw_repo, other_tag_name, message=msg)
+		assert isinstance(obj_tag, TagReference)
+		assert obj_tag.name == other_tag_name
+		assert obj_tag.commit == cur_head.commit
+		assert obj_tag.tag is not None
+		
+		TagReference.delete(rw_repo, light_tag, obj_tag)
+		tags = rw_repo.tags
+		assert light_tag not in tags and obj_tag not in tags
+		
+		# remote deletion
+		remote_refs_so_far = 0
+		remotes = rw_repo.remotes 
+		assert remotes
+		for remote in remotes:
+			refs = remote.refs
+			RemoteReference.delete(rw_repo, *refs)
+			remote_refs_so_far += len(refs)
+		# END for each ref to delete
+		assert remote_refs_so_far
+		
+		for remote in remotes:
+			# remotes without references throw
+			self.failUnlessRaises(AssertionError, getattr, remote, 'refs')
+		# END for each remote
+		
+		# change where the active head points to
+		if cur_head.is_detached:
+			cur_head.reference = rw_repo.heads[0]
+		
+		head = cur_head.reference
+		old_commit = head.commit
+		head.commit = old_commit.parents[0]
+		assert head.commit == old_commit.parents[0]
+		assert head.commit == cur_head.commit
+		head.commit = old_commit
+		
+		# setting a non-commit as commit fails, but succeeds as object
+		head_tree = head.commit.tree
+		self.failUnlessRaises(TypeError, setattr, head, 'commit', head_tree)
+		assert head.commit == old_commit		# and the ref did not change
+		head.object = head_tree
+		assert head.object == head_tree