Re: [PATCH] make slash-rules more readable

[Philip Oakley <philipoakley@iee.org>]

only one minor point...

On 25/06/2019 12:05, Dr. Adam Nielsen wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> any comments about the patch note from 04.06 ?
>
> All the best,
> Adam
>
> On 04.06.19 19:34, Dr. Adam Nielsen wrote:
>> gitignore.txt: make slash-rules more readable
>>
>> Renew paragraphs relevant for pattern with slash.
>> Aim to make it more clear and to avoid possible
>> pitfalls for the reader. Add some examples.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Dr. Adam Nielsen <admin@in-ici.net>
>>
>> ---
>>   Documentation/gitignore.txt | 66 ++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------
>>   1 file changed, 44 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/Documentation/gitignore.txt b/Documentation/gitignore.txt
>> index b5bc9dbff0..d47b1ae296 100644
>> --- a/Documentation/gitignore.txt
>> +++ b/Documentation/gitignore.txt
>> @@ -89,28 +89,28 @@ PATTERN FORMAT
>>      Put a backslash ("`\`") in front of the first "`!`" for patterns
>>      that begin with a literal "`!`", for example, "`\!important!.txt`".
>>   - - If the pattern ends with a slash, it is removed for the
>> -   purpose of the following description, but it would only find
>> -   a match with a directory.  In other words, `foo/` will match a
>> -   directory `foo` and paths underneath it, but will not match a
>> -   regular file or a symbolic link `foo` (this is consistent
>> -   with the way how pathspec works in general in Git).
>> -
>> - - If the pattern does not contain a slash '/', Git treats it as
>> -   a shell glob pattern and checks for a match against the
>> -   pathname relative to the location of the `.gitignore` file
>> -   (relative to the toplevel of the work tree if not from a
>> -   `.gitignore` file).
>> -
>> - - Otherwise, Git treats the pattern as a shell glob: "`*`" matches
>> -   anything except "`/`", "`?`" matches any one character except "`/`"
>> -   and "`[]`" matches one character in a selected range. See
>> -   fnmatch(3) and the FNM_PATHNAME flag for a more detailed
>> -   description.
>> -
>> - - A leading slash matches the beginning of the pathname.
>> -   For example, "/{asterisk}.c" matches "cat-file.c" but not
>> -   "mozilla-sha1/sha1.c".
>> + - The slash '/' is used as the directory separator. Separators may
>> +   occur at the beginning, middle or end of the `.gitignore` search 
>> pattern.
>> +
>> + - If there is a separator at the beginning or middle (or both) of the
>> +   pattern, then the pattern is relative to the directory level of the
>> +   particular `.gitignore` file itself. Otherwise the pattern may also
>> +   match at any level below the `.gitignore` level.
>> +
>> + - If there is a separator at the end of the pattern then the pattern
>> +   will only match directories, otherwise the pattern can match both
>> +   files and directories.
>> +
>> + - For example, a pattern `doc/frotz/` matches `doc/frotz` directory,
>> +   but not `a/doc/frotz` directory; however `frotz/` matches `frotz`

her I misread this as:  "but not a `doc/frotz` directory;"
i.e. the leading 'a' is too easy to skim over as is part of the 
sentence's prose, so maybe change to a 'baz' lead directory (bar already 
having been used below).

>> +   and `a/frotz` that is a directory (all paths are relative from
>> +   the `.gitignore` file).
>> +
>> + - An asterisk "`*`" matches anything except a slash.
>> +   The character "`?`" matches any one character except "`/`".
>> +   The range notation, e.g. `[a-zA-Z]`, can be used to match
>> +   one of the characters in a range. See fnmatch(3) and the
>> +   FNM_PATHNAME flag for a more detailed description.
>>     Two consecutive asterisks ("`**`") in patterns matched against
>>   full pathname may have special meaning:
>> @@ -152,6 +152,28 @@ To stop tracking a file that is currently 
>> tracked, use
>>   EXAMPLES
>>   --------
>>   + - The pattern `hello.*` matches any file or folder
>> +   whose name begins with `hello`. If one wants to restrict
>> +   this only to the directory and not in its subdirectories,
>> +   one can prepend the pattern with a slash, i.e. `/hello.*`;
>> +   the pattern now matches `hello.txt`, `hello.c` but not
>> +   `a/hello.java`.
>> +
>> + - The pattern `foo/` will match a directory `foo` and
>> +   paths underneath it, but will not match a regular file
>> +   or a symbolic link `foo` (this is consistent with the
>> +   way how pathspec works in general in Git)
>> +
>> + - The pattern `doc/frotz` and `/doc/frotz` have the same effect
>> +   in any `.gitignore` file. In other words, a leading slash
>> +   is not relevant  if there is already a middle slash in
>> +   the pattern.
>> +
>> + - The pattern "foo/*", matches "foo/test.json"
>> +   (a regular file), "foo/bar" (a directory), but it does not match
>> +   "foo/bar/hello.c" (a regular file), as the asterisk in the
>> +   pattern does not match "bar/hello.c" which has a slash in it.
>> +
>>   --------------------------------------------------------------
>>       $ git status
>>       [...]
>>
>
Have you tried it out on any StackOverflow replies to see if those that 
inhabit that zone find it helpful?
Philip