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From: "Dr. Adam Nielsen" <admin@in-ici.net>
To: git@vger.kernel.org
Cc: "Dr. Adam Nielsen" <admin@in-ici.net>
Subject: [PATCH] make slash-rules more readable
Date: Tue,  4 Jun 2019 19:34:46 +0200	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20190604173446.2664-1-admin@in-ici.net> (raw)

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`
+   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
     [...]
-- 
2.17.1


             reply	other threads:[~2019-06-04 17:34 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 36+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2019-06-04 17:34 Dr. Adam Nielsen [this message]
2019-06-25 11:05 ` [PATCH] make slash-rules more readable Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-06-25 11:31   ` Philip Oakley
2019-06-27 17:10     ` Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-07-04 10:40       ` Philip Oakley
2019-07-04 10:46         ` Philip Oakley
2019-06-27 17:43   ` Junio C Hamano
  -- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
2020-02-15  3:08 Pavel Ivashkov
2019-06-02  9:04 Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-05-31 18:17 Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-05-31 18:16 Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-05-31  7:44 Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-05-31 16:30 ` Junio C Hamano
2019-05-31 17:24   ` Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-05-31 17:40     ` Junio C Hamano
2019-06-01  9:33   ` Philip Oakley
2019-06-02  9:01     ` Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-06-03 18:01     ` Junio C Hamano
2019-06-04 10:40       ` Philip Oakley
2019-06-01  9:23 ` Philip Oakley
2019-06-04 12:34 ` Philip Oakley
2019-06-04 17:22   ` Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-05-18 14:13 Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-05-19  1:59 ` Junio C Hamano
2019-05-19  6:59 ` Johannes Sixt
2019-05-18 14:07 Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-05-18 19:34 ` Philip Oakley
2019-05-19 15:33   ` Dr. Adam Nielsen
     [not found]     ` <0c2894ce-7eab-8207-9af8-7ce5e779d4ec@iee.org>
2019-05-29  8:28       ` Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-05-07 10:45 Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-05-08  5:33 ` Junio C Hamano
2019-05-12  9:56   ` Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-05-17 21:43     ` Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-05-18  6:42       ` Johannes Sixt
2019-05-18 13:20         ` Dr. Adam Nielsen
2019-04-26 14:32 Dr. Adam Nielsen

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