Re: [PATCH] mingw: introduce the 'core.hideDotFiles' setting

[Ramsay Jones <ramsay@ramsayjones.plus.com>]

On 04/05/16 15:40, Johannes Schindelin wrote:
> From: Erik Faye-Lund <kusmabite@googlemail.com>
> 
> On Unix (and Linux) it is common that files and directories whose names
> start with a dot are not shown by default. This convention is used by Git:
> the .git/ directory should be left alone by regular users, and only
> accessed through Git itself.
> 
> On Windows, no such convention exists. Instead, there is an explicit flag
> to mark files or directories as hidden.
> 
> In the early days, Git for Windows did not mark the .git/ directory (or
> for that matter, any file or directory whose name starts with a dot)
> hidden. This lead to quite a bit of confusion, and even loss of data.
> 
> Consequently, Git for Windows introduced the core.hideDotFiles setting,
> with three possible values: true, false, and dotGitOnly, defaulting to
> marking only the .git/ directory as hidden.
> 
> The rationale: users do not need to access .git/ directly, and indeed (as
> was demonstrated) should not really see that directory, either. However,
> not all dot files should be hidden, as e.g. Eclipse does not show them
> (and the user would therefore be unable to add, say, a .gitattributes
> file).
> 
> In over five years since the last attempt to bring this patch into core
> Git, this patch has served Git for Windows' users well: no single report
> indicated problems with the hidden .git/ directory, and the stream of
> problems caused by the previously non-hidden .git/ directory simply
> stopped.
> 
> Initial-Test-By: Pat Thoyts <patthoyts@users.sourceforge.net>
> Signed-off-by: Erik Faye-Lund <kusmabite@gmail.com>
> Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
> ---
> 
> 	Let's try this again (I will not point you to the previous
> 	submission, out of personal embarrassment).
> 
> 	This patch has served us so well in the Git for Windows project
> 	that there is little sense in hiding it from core Git.
> 
>  Documentation/config.txt |  6 ++++++
>  builtin/init-db.c        |  1 +
>  cache.h                  |  7 +++++++
>  compat/mingw.c           | 38 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  config.c                 |  8 ++++++++
>  environment.c            |  1 +
>  git-compat-util.h        |  4 ++++
>  t/t0001-init.sh          | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  8 files changed, 95 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
> index 42d2b50..a9f599d 100644
> --- a/Documentation/config.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/config.txt
> @@ -269,6 +269,12 @@ See linkgit:git-update-index[1].
>  +
>  The default is true (when core.filemode is not specified in the config file).
>  
> +core.hideDotFiles::
> +	(Windows-only) If true (which is the default), mark newly-created

The patch (if I'm reading it correctly) and the commit message indicate that
the default is 'dotGitOnly'.

> +	directories and files whose name starts with a dot as hidden.
> +	If 'dotGitOnly', only the .git/ directory is hidden, but no other
> +	files starting with a dot.
> +

ATB,
Ramsay Jones