(E) Creating .gitignore file¶

Backgrounds¶

There exist files that are not wanted to be stored in version control. For example, all the files in the build folder of Qt Creator can be regenerated by performing build in Qt Creator, if the source code files and project file exist. Therefore it is not reasonable to store the content of the build folder in Git.

We do not want to add the above kind of files by accident, for example, with the command git add --all, or see the files with the command git status. The situation can be solved with the file called .gitignore. This file is a normal text file, containing a list of all paths and files that are meant to be left outside version control. You can create such a file with any text editor. (For example, from Linux remote desktop, you can find an editor: Applications -> Accessories -> Text Editor.)

At this point, recall using wild cards and what is meant, for example, with *.txt or *~. (If you do not remember these things, you can check them from the second-last chapter Self study: Using Git in command line, section Command line operations, at Special characters in paths.)

For example, the files ending with .pro.user include local settings of a Qt project, and they are not typically intended to store in Git. If you add the line:

*.pro.user

in the file .gitignore, Git will ignore all the files ending with .pro.user in sequel. This is because in the place of the the character *, any number (including zero) of any characters are allowed. If you have earlier stored files ending with .pro.user in your central repository, you can remove them with the command git rm.

Initial step of the assignment¶

In the root of your repository, create two new text files, .gitignore and test.pro.user, in a way you have used to. In the command line (Terminal), this can be done with the command:

touch .gitignore test.pro.user

What says the command git status? Open the file .gitignore with a text editor and add there the line *.pro.user. See again how the status looks like.

Completing the assignment¶

In your .gitignore file, add also such a line that prevents the build directories to be tracked in the version control. Here we mean all the subdirectories in your home directory that begin with the text build-, and after this text any number of any characters are allowed. How could you use the character * now?

You can test the behavior of your gitignore by using command the git status. If you add new files and git status does not show them as ”Untracked files:”, it means that your gitignore works at least in the case of that file.

Tips for completing the assignment:

• Make first sure that your repository has no unsaved modifications.
• Create .gitignore file in the root of your repository (in the same directory, where you have subdirectories Examples, Student, and Templates).
• During the assignment, use the command git status to check the status, as guided previously.
• Never ever add such files in your .gitignore file that you should submit, e.g. files with suffixes .cpp, .hh, or .pro.
• If desired, you can write also other lines in your .gitignore file to eliminate files with certain type from version control.
• The name of the .gitignore file begins with a dot. Therefore you cannot see it in the list produced by the command line command ls, but you can see it with the command ls -a. Similarly, the file cannot be seen in Files view in the remote desktop, unless you have checked Show Hidden Files.