How git ignore works

How git ignore works#

Check ignored files#

To list files that match any pattern in your .gitignore, use the --ignored option to the git status command. All files to be ignored will be listed in the Ignored files: section.

In the next cell I define a .gitignore' file, which tells git to ignore any file that matches file_to_be_ignored*’.

%%writefile ignore_files/check_ignored_files/.gitignore
file_to_be_ignored*

Overwriting ignore_files/check_ignored_files/.gitignore

So lets see how it looks. In the following cell I create some files, some matching file_to_be_ignored, some not, and then run git status with and without --ignored.

With the --ignored option, you can see the file_to_be_ignored* files in the Ignored files: section.

%%bash
cd ignore_files/check_ignored_files
git init &> /dev/null

touch file_to_be_ignored{1..3}
touch other_file{1..3}

echo "=====git status====="
git status

echo
echo "=====git status --ignored====="
git status --ignored

rm -r .git

=====git status=====
On branch master

No commits yet

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
	.gitignore
	other_file1
	other_file2
	other_file3

nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

=====git status --ignored=====
On branch master

No commits yet

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
	.gitignore
	other_file1
	other_file2
	other_file3

Ignored files:
  (use "git add -f <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
	file_to_be_ignored1
	file_to_be_ignored2
	file_to_be_ignored3

nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

Any entry#

Using the syntax *<symbol_combination>* you can specify a symbol combination and any file with that symbol combination in the relative filepath will be ignored by git.

The following example shows:

  • Files tree and .gitignore, which tells git to ignore any file with symb_comb in it’s filepath;

  • The results of the git status of a freshly created repository, which helps us understand exactly what files git is ignoring.

There are few important fatures:

  • Of course, some_folder2 doesn’t have symb_comb in it’s filepath, but it only has one file and that file should be ignored by git, so to git this folder appears empty;

  • Git ignores files in directories started or ended with symb_comb.

%%bash
cd ignore_files/any_entry
git init &> /dev/null

echo "=====FILES TREE====="
tree

echo
echo
echo "=====.GITIGNORE FILE====="
cat .gitignore


echo
echo
echo "=====GIT STATUS====="
git status

rm -r .git

=====FILES TREE=====
.
├── some_folder
│   └── some_file
└── some_random_file

1 directory, 2 files


=====.GITIGNORE FILE=====
*symb_comb*


=====GIT STATUS=====
On branch master

No commits yet

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
	.gitignore
	some_folder/
	some_random_file

nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

.gitignore in subfolders#

You can add a .gitignore file in any subdirectory of your repository - git will interpret this and ignore all files, and you should describe the files relative to the subdirectory path.

For example, let’s look at creating a repository based on the ignore_files/subfolder folder. Suppose there is also a test_subfolder folder, and there is some special work being done there that requires the some_file_in_subfolder file to be ignored. So you can just add a .gitignore file to test_subfolder and git will automatically ignore any files mentioned in test_subfolder/.gitinore from test_subfolder.

In the following cells, this is what happens to the file test_subfolder/some_file_in_subfolder, and git status --ignored shows this file as ignored.

%%writefile ignore_files/subfolders/test_subfolder/.gitignore
some_file_in_subfolder

Overwriting ignore_files/subfolders/test_subfolder/.gitignore

%%writefile ignore_files/subfolders/test_subfolder/some_file_in_subfolder
test file content

Writing ignore_files/subfolders/test_subfolder/some_file_in_subfolder

%%bash
cd ignore_files/subfolders
git init &> /dev/null

git add --all

git status --ignored
rm -r .git

On branch master

No commits yet

Changes to be committed:
  (use "git rm --cached <file>..." to unstage)
	new file:   test_subfolder/.gitignore

Ignored files:
  (use "git add -f <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
	test_subfolder/some_file_in_subfolder