.gitignore exclude files in directory but not certain directories

git gitignore
Matthew picture Matthew · Apr 8, 2011 · Viewed 91.3k times · Source 
application/cache/*
application/cache/folder/*
application/cache/folder/onemorefolder/*

This doesn't seem to be working. When I clone the project, there is no "application/cache" folder or "application/cache/folder" folder, etc...

I'd like if files in the cache folders weren't cached but folders were, so that the folders permissions transfer and exist.

Answer

mipadi picture mipadi · Apr 8, 2011

Git doesn't track folders, only files, so if you ignore everything in a folder, Git won't have anything to track. You can add a .gitignore file to each directory (application/cache, application/cache/folder, application/cache/folder/onemorefolder/) with the following contents:

*
!.gitignore

Then, you can add those directories, and only the .gitignore file in each directory will get added -- but this means the directories will now be tracked (i.e., created when cloning).

Related questions

How to make Git "forget" about a file that was tracked but is now in .gitignore?

There is a file that was being tracked by git, but now the file is on the .gitignore list. However, that file keeps showing up in git status after it's edited. How do you force git to completely forget about …

Read More
How to create a .gitignore file

I need to add some rules to my .gitignore file. However, I can't find it in my project folder. Isn't it created automatically by Xcode? If not, what command allows me to create one?

Read More
.gitignore and "The following untracked working tree files would be overwritten by checkout"

So I added a folder to my .gitignore file. Once I do a git status it tells me # On branch latest nothing to commit (working directory clean) However, when I try to change branches I get the following: My-MacBook-Pro:webapp …

Read More