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664 lines
21 KiB
664 lines
21 KiB
gitattributes(5) |
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================ |
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NAME |
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---- |
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gitattributes - defining attributes per path |
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SYNOPSIS |
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-------- |
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$GIT_DIR/info/attributes, .gitattributes |
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DESCRIPTION |
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----------- |
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A `gitattributes` file is a simple text file that gives |
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`attributes` to pathnames. |
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Each line in `gitattributes` file is of form: |
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pattern attr1 attr2 ... |
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That is, a pattern followed by an attributes list, |
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separated by whitespaces. When the pattern matches the |
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path in question, the attributes listed on the line are given to |
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the path. |
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Each attribute can be in one of these states for a given path: |
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Set:: |
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The path has the attribute with special value "true"; |
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this is specified by listing only the name of the |
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attribute in the attribute list. |
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Unset:: |
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The path has the attribute with special value "false"; |
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this is specified by listing the name of the attribute |
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prefixed with a dash `-` in the attribute list. |
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Set to a value:: |
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The path has the attribute with specified string value; |
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this is specified by listing the name of the attribute |
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followed by an equal sign `=` and its value in the |
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attribute list. |
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Unspecified:: |
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No pattern matches the path, and nothing says if |
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the path has or does not have the attribute, the |
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attribute for the path is said to be Unspecified. |
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When more than one pattern matches the path, a later line |
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overrides an earlier line. This overriding is done per |
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attribute. The rules how the pattern matches paths are the |
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same as in `.gitignore` files; see linkgit:gitignore[5]. |
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When deciding what attributes are assigned to a path, git |
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consults `$GIT_DIR/info/attributes` file (which has the highest |
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precedence), `.gitattributes` file in the same directory as the |
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path in question, and its parent directories (the further the |
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directory that contains `.gitattributes` is from the path in |
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question, the lower its precedence). |
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If you wish to affect only a single repository (i.e., to assign |
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attributes to files that are particular to one user's workflow), then |
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attributes should be placed in the `$GIT_DIR/info/attributes` file. |
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Attributes which should be version-controlled and distributed to other |
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repositories (i.e., attributes of interest to all users) should go into |
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`.gitattributes` files. |
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Sometimes you would need to override an setting of an attribute |
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for a path to `unspecified` state. This can be done by listing |
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the name of the attribute prefixed with an exclamation point `!`. |
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EFFECTS |
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------- |
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Certain operations by git can be influenced by assigning |
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particular attributes to a path. Currently, the following |
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operations are attributes-aware. |
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Checking-out and checking-in |
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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These attributes affect how the contents stored in the |
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repository are copied to the working tree files when commands |
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such as 'git-checkout' and 'git-merge' run. They also affect how |
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git stores the contents you prepare in the working tree in the |
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repository upon 'git-add' and 'git-commit'. |
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`crlf` |
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^^^^^^ |
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This attribute controls the line-ending convention. |
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Set:: |
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Setting the `crlf` attribute on a path is meant to mark |
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the path as a "text" file. 'core.autocrlf' conversion |
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takes place without guessing the content type by |
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inspection. |
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Unset:: |
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Unsetting the `crlf` attribute on a path tells git not to |
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attempt any end-of-line conversion upon checkin or checkout. |
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Unspecified:: |
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Unspecified `crlf` attribute tells git to apply the |
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`core.autocrlf` conversion when the file content looks |
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like text. |
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Set to string value "input":: |
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This is similar to setting the attribute to `true`, but |
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also forces git to act as if `core.autocrlf` is set to |
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`input` for the path. |
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Any other value set to `crlf` attribute is ignored and git acts |
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as if the attribute is left unspecified. |
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The `core.autocrlf` conversion |
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
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If the configuration variable `core.autocrlf` is false, no |
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conversion is done. |
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When `core.autocrlf` is true, it means that the platform wants |
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CRLF line endings for files in the working tree, and you want to |
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convert them back to the normal LF line endings when checking |
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in to the repository. |
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When `core.autocrlf` is set to "input", line endings are |
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converted to LF upon checkin, but there is no conversion done |
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upon checkout. |
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If `core.safecrlf` is set to "true" or "warn", git verifies if |
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the conversion is reversible for the current setting of |
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`core.autocrlf`. For "true", git rejects irreversible |
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conversions; for "warn", git only prints a warning but accepts |
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an irreversible conversion. The safety triggers to prevent such |
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a conversion done to the files in the work tree, but there are a |
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few exceptions. Even though... |
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- 'git-add' itself does not touch the files in the work tree, the |
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next checkout would, so the safety triggers; |
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- 'git-apply' to update a text file with a patch does touch the files |
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in the work tree, but the operation is about text files and CRLF |
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conversion is about fixing the line ending inconsistencies, so the |
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safety does not trigger; |
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- 'git-diff' itself does not touch the files in the work tree, it is |
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often run to inspect the changes you intend to next 'git-add'. To |
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catch potential problems early, safety triggers. |
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`ident` |
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^^^^^^^ |
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When the attribute `ident` is set for a path, git replaces |
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`$Id$` in the blob object with `$Id:`, followed by the |
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40-character hexadecimal blob object name, followed by a dollar |
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sign `$` upon checkout. Any byte sequence that begins with |
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`$Id:` and ends with `$` in the worktree file is replaced |
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with `$Id$` upon check-in. |
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`filter` |
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^^^^^^^^ |
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A `filter` attribute can be set to a string value that names a |
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filter driver specified in the configuration. |
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A filter driver consists of a `clean` command and a `smudge` |
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command, either of which can be left unspecified. Upon |
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checkout, when the `smudge` command is specified, the command is |
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fed the blob object from its standard input, and its standard |
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output is used to update the worktree file. Similarly, the |
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`clean` command is used to convert the contents of worktree file |
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upon checkin. |
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A missing filter driver definition in the config is not an error |
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but makes the filter a no-op passthru. |
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The content filtering is done to massage the content into a |
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shape that is more convenient for the platform, filesystem, and |
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the user to use. The key phrase here is "more convenient" and not |
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"turning something unusable into usable". In other words, the |
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intent is that if someone unsets the filter driver definition, |
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or does not have the appropriate filter program, the project |
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should still be usable. |
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Interaction between checkin/checkout attributes |
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
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In the check-in codepath, the worktree file is first converted |
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with `filter` driver (if specified and corresponding driver |
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defined), then the result is processed with `ident` (if |
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specified), and then finally with `crlf` (again, if specified |
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and applicable). |
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In the check-out codepath, the blob content is first converted |
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with `crlf`, and then `ident` and fed to `filter`. |
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Generating diff text |
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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`diff` |
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^^^^^^ |
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The attribute `diff` affects how 'git' generates diffs for particular |
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files. It can tell git whether to generate a textual patch for the path |
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or to treat the path as a binary file. It can also affect what line is |
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shown on the hunk header `@@ -k,l +n,m @@` line, tell git to use an |
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external command to generate the diff, or ask git to convert binary |
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files to a text format before generating the diff. |
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Set:: |
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A path to which the `diff` attribute is set is treated |
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as text, even when they contain byte values that |
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normally never appear in text files, such as NUL. |
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Unset:: |
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A path to which the `diff` attribute is unset will |
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generate `Binary files differ` (or a binary patch, if |
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binary patches are enabled). |
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Unspecified:: |
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A path to which the `diff` attribute is unspecified |
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first gets its contents inspected, and if it looks like |
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text, it is treated as text. Otherwise it would |
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generate `Binary files differ`. |
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String:: |
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Diff is shown using the specified diff driver. Each driver may |
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specify one or more options, as described in the following |
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section. The options for the diff driver "foo" are defined |
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by the configuration variables in the "diff.foo" section of the |
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git config file. |
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Defining an external diff driver |
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
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The definition of a diff driver is done in `gitconfig`, not |
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`gitattributes` file, so strictly speaking this manual page is a |
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wrong place to talk about it. However... |
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To define an external diff driver `jcdiff`, add a section to your |
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`$GIT_DIR/config` file (or `$HOME/.gitconfig` file) like this: |
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---------------------------------------------------------------- |
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[diff "jcdiff"] |
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command = j-c-diff |
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---------------------------------------------------------------- |
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When git needs to show you a diff for the path with `diff` |
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attribute set to `jcdiff`, it calls the command you specified |
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with the above configuration, i.e. `j-c-diff`, with 7 |
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parameters, just like `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` program is called. |
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See linkgit:git[1] for details. |
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Defining a custom hunk-header |
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
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Each group of changes (called a "hunk") in the textual diff output |
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is prefixed with a line of the form: |
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@@ -k,l +n,m @@ TEXT |
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This is called a 'hunk header'. The "TEXT" portion is by default a line |
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that begins with an alphabet, an underscore or a dollar sign; this |
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matches what GNU 'diff -p' output uses. This default selection however |
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is not suited for some contents, and you can use a customized pattern |
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to make a selection. |
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First, in .gitattributes, you would assign the `diff` attribute |
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for paths. |
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------------------------ |
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*.tex diff=tex |
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------------------------ |
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Then, you would define a "diff.tex.xfuncname" configuration to |
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specify a regular expression that matches a line that you would |
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want to appear as the hunk header "TEXT", like this: |
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------------------------ |
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[diff "tex"] |
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xfuncname = "^(\\\\(sub)*section\\{.*)$" |
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------------------------ |
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Note. A single level of backslashes are eaten by the |
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configuration file parser, so you would need to double the |
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backslashes; the pattern above picks a line that begins with a |
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backslash, and zero or more occurrences of `sub` followed by |
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`section` followed by open brace, to the end of line. |
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There are a few built-in patterns to make this easier, and `tex` |
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is one of them, so you do not have to write the above in your |
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configuration file (you still need to enable this with the |
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attribute mechanism, via `.gitattributes`). The following built in |
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patterns are available: |
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- `bibtex` suitable for files with BibTeX coded references. |
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- `cpp` suitable for source code in the C and C++ languages. |
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- `html` suitable for HTML/XHTML documents. |
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- `java` suitable for source code in the Java language. |
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- `objc` suitable for source code in the Objective-C language. |
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- `pascal` suitable for source code in the Pascal/Delphi language. |
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- `php` suitable for source code in the PHP language. |
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- `python` suitable for source code in the Python language. |
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- `ruby` suitable for source code in the Ruby language. |
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- `tex` suitable for source code for LaTeX documents. |
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Customizing word diff |
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
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You can customize the rules that `git diff --color-words` uses to |
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split words in a line, by specifying an appropriate regular expression |
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in the "diff.*.wordRegex" configuration variable. For example, in TeX |
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a backslash followed by a sequence of letters forms a command, but |
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several such commands can be run together without intervening |
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whitespace. To separate them, use a regular expression such as |
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------------------------ |
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[diff "tex"] |
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wordRegex = "\\\\[a-zA-Z]+|[{}]|\\\\.|[^\\{}[:space:]]+" |
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------------------------ |
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A built-in pattern is provided for all languages listed in the |
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previous section. |
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Performing text diffs of binary files |
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
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Sometimes it is desirable to see the diff of a text-converted |
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version of some binary files. For example, a word processor |
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document can be converted to an ASCII text representation, and |
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the diff of the text shown. Even though this conversion loses |
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some information, the resulting diff is useful for human |
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viewing (but cannot be applied directly). |
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The `textconv` config option is used to define a program for |
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performing such a conversion. The program should take a single |
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argument, the name of a file to convert, and produce the |
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resulting text on stdout. |
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For example, to show the diff of the exif information of a |
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file instead of the binary information (assuming you have the |
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exif tool installed): |
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------------------------ |
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[diff "jpg"] |
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textconv = exif |
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------------------------ |
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NOTE: The text conversion is generally a one-way conversion; |
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in this example, we lose the actual image contents and focus |
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just on the text data. This means that diffs generated by |
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textconv are _not_ suitable for applying. For this reason, |
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only `git diff` and the `git log` family of commands (i.e., |
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log, whatchanged, show) will perform text conversion. `git |
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format-patch` will never generate this output. If you want to |
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send somebody a text-converted diff of a binary file (e.g., |
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because it quickly conveys the changes you have made), you |
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should generate it separately and send it as a comment _in |
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addition to_ the usual binary diff that you might send. |
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Performing a three-way merge |
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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`merge` |
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^^^^^^^ |
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The attribute `merge` affects how three versions of a file is |
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merged when a file-level merge is necessary during `git merge`, |
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and other programs such as `git revert` and `git cherry-pick`. |
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Set:: |
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Built-in 3-way merge driver is used to merge the |
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contents in a way similar to 'merge' command of `RCS` |
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suite. This is suitable for ordinary text files. |
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Unset:: |
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Take the version from the current branch as the |
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tentative merge result, and declare that the merge has |
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conflicts. This is suitable for binary files that does |
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not have a well-defined merge semantics. |
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Unspecified:: |
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By default, this uses the same built-in 3-way merge |
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driver as is the case the `merge` attribute is set. |
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However, `merge.default` configuration variable can name |
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different merge driver to be used for paths to which the |
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`merge` attribute is unspecified. |
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String:: |
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3-way merge is performed using the specified custom |
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merge driver. The built-in 3-way merge driver can be |
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explicitly specified by asking for "text" driver; the |
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built-in "take the current branch" driver can be |
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requested with "binary". |
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Built-in merge drivers |
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
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There are a few built-in low-level merge drivers defined that |
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can be asked for via the `merge` attribute. |
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text:: |
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Usual 3-way file level merge for text files. Conflicted |
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regions are marked with conflict markers `<<<<<<<`, |
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`=======` and `>>>>>>>`. The version from your branch |
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appears before the `=======` marker, and the version |
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from the merged branch appears after the `=======` |
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marker. |
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binary:: |
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Keep the version from your branch in the work tree, but |
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leave the path in the conflicted state for the user to |
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sort out. |
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union:: |
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Run 3-way file level merge for text files, but take |
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lines from both versions, instead of leaving conflict |
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markers. This tends to leave the added lines in the |
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resulting file in random order and the user should |
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verify the result. Do not use this if you do not |
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understand the implications. |
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Defining a custom merge driver |
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
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|
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The definition of a merge driver is done in the `.git/config` |
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file, not in the `gitattributes` file, so strictly speaking this |
|
manual page is a wrong place to talk about it. However... |
|
|
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To define a custom merge driver `filfre`, add a section to your |
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`$GIT_DIR/config` file (or `$HOME/.gitconfig` file) like this: |
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---------------------------------------------------------------- |
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[merge "filfre"] |
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name = feel-free merge driver |
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driver = filfre %O %A %B |
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recursive = binary |
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---------------------------------------------------------------- |
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The `merge.*.name` variable gives the driver a human-readable |
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name. |
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The `merge.*.driver` variable's value is used to construct a |
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command to run to merge ancestor's version (`%O`), current |
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version (`%A`) and the other branches' version (`%B`). These |
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three tokens are replaced with the names of temporary files that |
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hold the contents of these versions when the command line is |
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built. |
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The merge driver is expected to leave the result of the merge in |
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the file named with `%A` by overwriting it, and exit with zero |
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status if it managed to merge them cleanly, or non-zero if there |
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were conflicts. |
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The `merge.*.recursive` variable specifies what other merge |
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driver to use when the merge driver is called for an internal |
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merge between common ancestors, when there are more than one. |
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When left unspecified, the driver itself is used for both |
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internal merge and the final merge. |
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Checking whitespace errors |
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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`whitespace` |
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^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
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|
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The `core.whitespace` configuration variable allows you to define what |
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'diff' and 'apply' should consider whitespace errors for all paths in |
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the project (See linkgit:git-config[1]). This attribute gives you finer |
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control per path. |
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Set:: |
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Notice all types of potential whitespace errors known to git. |
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Unset:: |
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Do not notice anything as error. |
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Unspecified:: |
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Use the value of `core.whitespace` configuration variable to |
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decide what to notice as error. |
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String:: |
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Specify a comma separate list of common whitespace problems to |
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notice in the same format as `core.whitespace` configuration |
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variable. |
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Creating an archive |
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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`export-ignore` |
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
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Files and directories with the attribute `export-ignore` won't be added to |
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archive files. |
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`export-subst` |
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
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|
|
If the attribute `export-subst` is set for a file then git will expand |
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several placeholders when adding this file to an archive. The |
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expansion depends on the availability of a commit ID, i.e., if |
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linkgit:git-archive[1] has been given a tree instead of a commit or a |
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tag then no replacement will be done. The placeholders are the same |
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as those for the option `--pretty=format:` of linkgit:git-log[1], |
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except that they need to be wrapped like this: `$Format:PLACEHOLDERS$` |
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in the file. E.g. the string `$Format:%H$` will be replaced by the |
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commit hash. |
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Viewing files in GUI tools |
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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`encoding` |
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^^^^^^^^^^ |
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|
|
The value of this attribute specifies the character encoding that should |
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be used by GUI tools (e.g. linkgit:gitk[1] and linkgit:git-gui[1]) to |
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display the contents of the relevant file. Note that due to performance |
|
considerations linkgit:gitk[1] does not use this attribute unless you |
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manually enable per-file encodings in its options. |
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|
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If this attribute is not set or has an invalid value, the value of the |
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`gui.encoding` configuration variable is used instead |
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(See linkgit:git-config[1]). |
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USING ATTRIBUTE MACROS |
|
---------------------- |
|
|
|
You do not want any end-of-line conversions applied to, nor textual diffs |
|
produced for, any binary file you track. You would need to specify e.g. |
|
|
|
------------ |
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*.jpg -crlf -diff |
|
------------ |
|
|
|
but that may become cumbersome, when you have many attributes. Using |
|
attribute macros, you can specify groups of attributes set or unset at |
|
the same time. The system knows a built-in attribute macro, `binary`: |
|
|
|
------------ |
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*.jpg binary |
|
------------ |
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|
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which is equivalent to the above. Note that the attribute macros can only |
|
be "Set" (see the above example that sets "binary" macro as if it were an |
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ordinary attribute --- setting it in turn unsets "crlf" and "diff"). |
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|
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DEFINING ATTRIBUTE MACROS |
|
------------------------- |
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|
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Custom attribute macros can be defined only in the `.gitattributes` file |
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at the toplevel (i.e. not in any subdirectory). The built-in attribute |
|
macro "binary" is equivalent to: |
|
|
|
------------ |
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[attr]binary -diff -crlf |
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------------ |
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EXAMPLE |
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------- |
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If you have these three `gitattributes` file: |
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---------------------------------------------------------------- |
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(in $GIT_DIR/info/attributes) |
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a* foo !bar -baz |
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(in .gitattributes) |
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abc foo bar baz |
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(in t/.gitattributes) |
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ab* merge=filfre |
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abc -foo -bar |
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*.c frotz |
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---------------------------------------------------------------- |
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the attributes given to path `t/abc` are computed as follows: |
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1. By examining `t/.gitattributes` (which is in the same |
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directory as the path in question), git finds that the first |
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line matches. `merge` attribute is set. It also finds that |
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the second line matches, and attributes `foo` and `bar` |
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are unset. |
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2. Then it examines `.gitattributes` (which is in the parent |
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directory), and finds that the first line matches, but |
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`t/.gitattributes` file already decided how `merge`, `foo` |
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and `bar` attributes should be given to this path, so it |
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leaves `foo` and `bar` unset. Attribute `baz` is set. |
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3. Finally it examines `$GIT_DIR/info/attributes`. This file |
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is used to override the in-tree settings. The first line is |
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a match, and `foo` is set, `bar` is reverted to unspecified |
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state, and `baz` is unset. |
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As the result, the attributes assignment to `t/abc` becomes: |
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---------------------------------------------------------------- |
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foo set to true |
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bar unspecified |
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baz set to false |
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merge set to string value "filfre" |
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frotz unspecified |
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---------------------------------------------------------------- |
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GIT |
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--- |
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Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
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