VSCode extension indexes files which are ignored by git about continue HOT 5 CLOSED

@andrewbrey Thanks for opening this and documenting well. Double-check showed we do seem to be making a few mistakes, so I'll try to iron these out before end of the week. Definitely a bug and not a feature request!

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@sestinj thank you very much, and from one OSS contributor to another, I promise to not be mad if life happens and that quick of a turnaround (or any turnaround at all) doesn't happen :)

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@andrewbrey It should now be solved in pre-release. There were 2 distinct problems that I found:

1. We weren't matching patterns that ended in a '/', which is why things like your script/lib/apps/**/.app weren't working
2. We weren't checking for .gitignores in parent folders of the directory. Now we do, up to the root of the repository

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I appreciate it : ) It's bothering me quite a bit now that I know about it...so this may be the primary driving force

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I had this incredibly informative conversation with Continue to find the cause of this bug:

This is a session transcript from Continue on 1/25/2024, 3:30:26 PM.

User

what are the rules of the .gitignore spec? For example, if I write ".env" does this mean all .env files even in nested folders get ignored?

Continue

The .gitignore file allows you to specify intentionally untracked files to ignore in Git projects. Rules in the .gitignore file determine which files and directories Git should ignore. Here are some common rules and behaviors regarding .gitignore specifications:

1. Blank Lines: These are ignored and can be used for spacing.

2. Comments: Lines starting with # are treated as comments.

3. Standard Glob Patterns: Git respects simple glob patterns.

   • * matches any number of characters, but does not match /.
   • ? matches a single character.
   • [abc] matches any one character listed.
   • [0-9] matches any character in the range.

4. Directories: You can ignore a directory by appending a / to the end of the directory name.

5. Negation: You can negate a rule by prefixing it with an exclamation mark (!), which will re-include any files that were excluded by earlier rules.

When you specify a pattern in the .gitignore file:

• Writing .env in your .gitignore file will indeed ignore .env files at the root directory and in all subdirectories. The pattern .env matches files or directories named .env anywhere in the repository.

• If you want to specify .env files only at the root level and not in any subdirectory, you would prefix it with a slash (/.env), indicating that it is rooted in the directory where the .gitignore file resides.

• Conversely, to ignore .env files in a specific subdirectory only, you would prefix it with the path to that directory (e.g., subdirectory/.env).

Special Cases and Additional Rules:

• Trailing Spaces: A space character at the end of the line is ignored unless it is escaped with a backslash (\).

• Directory vs File: If a pattern does not contain a slash (/), Git treats it as a glob pattern that can match files or directories anywhere in the repository. If a pattern ends with a slash, it is considered a directory only.

• Leading Double Asterisks (**): Patterns starting with **/ will match files in all directories. For example, **/.env will match a .env file anywhere in your project.

• Internal Double Asterisks (**): Using ** in the middle of a pattern (e.g., a/**/b) can match zero or more directories. For instance, this would match a/b, a/x/b, a/x/y/b, and so on.

Understanding these rules helps you fine-tune which files and directories Git should ignore in your projects, thereby keeping your repository clean and avoiding the inclusion of unwanted or sensitive files.

User

what if I want to match a directory anywhere in my project, can I just write "node_modules"?

Continue

Yes, if you want to ignore a directory named node_modules anywhere in your project, you can simply add node_modules to your .gitignore file without leading or trailing slashes. This pattern tells Git to ignore node_modules directories wherever they may appear in the project structure—whether at the root level or nested within other directories.

Here's how it works:

• node_modules: This entry will match and ignore a directory named node_modules located anywhere in your repository. It applies to the root level as well as any subdirectories. Git will ignore the directory itself and all files and subdirectories contained within any node_modules directory.

This is a typical use case in projects that use Node.js, where dependencies installed via npm are placed in a node_modules directory. Given the large number of files usually contained in node_modules and the fact that these dependencies can be installed via npm based on the project’s package.json file, it’s common practice to ignore this directory in Git repositories.

To reiterate, specifying node_modules in your .gitignore file without any slashes is the best practice for ignoring this directory no matter where it's located within your project.

User

What if I said "node_modules/vsce". Would this ignore "vsce" in any node_modules folder, or just the top-level one?

Continue

When you specify node_modules/vsce in your .gitignore file, it will ignore the vsce directory within a node_modules directory at the root of your Git repository. It does not apply to node_modules/vsce located in subdirectories deeper than the root level.

Here is how it works:

• node_modules/vsce: This pattern is relative to the location of the .gitignore file. If your .gitignore file is at the root of your repository, then node_modules/vsce will match a vsce directory that is directly inside a node_modules directory at the root level of your repository. It will not match a vsce directory located in a node_modules directory that is itself nested within another directory (e.g., someotherdir/node_modules/vsce).

If you want to ignore a vsce directory within node_modules directories wherever they might be found in your project, you should prepend the pattern with a double asterisk like this:

• **/node_modules/vsce: This pattern will match and ignore any vsce directory located within any node_modules directory at any level of your project's directory structure. The double asterisk (**) serves as a wildcard that matches any number of directories, including nested ones. So, whether node_modules/vsce is at the root, one level deep, or several levels deep, this pattern ensures it will be ignored by Git.

Remember, the specificity of your .gitignore entries is crucial for achieving the desired behavior in terms of which files and directories Git ignores in your project.

User

so is it correct to say there is an implicit "**/" prepended to a line only if there are no slashes in the entry?

Continue

Yes, your understanding is essentially correct. When you specify a pattern in the .gitignore file without any slashes /, Git applies that pattern to directory names and filenames across the entire repository, which behaves as though there's an implicit **/ prepended to the pattern. This means the pattern will match files or directories at any level of the project's directory hierarchy.

Here are a few examples to illustrate this behavior:

• target: This will ignore files or directories named target anywhere in the repository. It's as if you had written **/target, matching target at the root, as well as in any nested directories.

• *.log: This pattern will match and ignore all files with the .log extension, regardless of where they are in the directory structure. This behavior is akin to having **/*.log, applying it to any .log file in any directory.

However, introducing slashes into the pattern alters how the pattern is matched:

• Patterns containing a leading slash (/), e.g., /logs, are anchored to the root directory of the repository and do not have an implicit **/. So, /logs would match a logs directory only at the root.

• Patterns with a slash in the middle specify a particular directory structure that must be matched. For example, docs/internal matches a specific path but doesn't have an implicit leading **/, meaning it only matches docs/internal relative to the location of the .gitignore file, not at any level.

• Patterns ending with a slash (/) are used to exclusively match directories, as opposed to files or symbolic links.

So, while there's an implicit **/ for patterns without slashes, indicating they can match at any level of the directory structure, any inclusion of a slash in a pattern specifies more precise matching behavior and locations within the repository.

User

will "node_modules/" match in any nested directory?

Continue

Yes, specifying node_modules/ in your .gitignore file will match and ignore node_modules directories located anywhere within the repository, not just in the root directory. The trailing slash (/) indicates that node_modules is a directory. Without any leading path component or asterisk (* or **), this pattern effectively ignores directories named node_modules at any level of your project's directory structure.

So, when you use:

• node_modules/: This pattern will cause Git to ignore all directories named node_modules, along with their contents, no matter where they are found within your project.

This usage is common in projects that use npm for managing JavaScript dependencies because node_modules directories can become quite large, and the dependencies can easily be restored using npm install. Omitting these directories from the repository improves performance and reduces clutter.

The implicit behavior where Git applies this pattern to directory names across the entire repository hierarchy makes .gitignore rules both powerful and flexible, allowing developers to exclude specific files, directories, or patterns of filenames from being tracked by Git with concise syntax.

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