Strange behaviour with git-add, .gitignore and a tracked file

Strange behaviour with git-add, .gitignore and a tracked file

[David ‘Bombe’ Roden]

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Hi.

I stumbled across some strange behaviour today:

---
git init git-test
cd git-test
echo '*' > .gitignore
git add -f .gitignore
git commit -m "Add gitignore."
mkdir dir
echo a > dir/file
git add -f dir/file
git commit -m "Add dir/file."
echo b >> dir/file
git add dir/file
---

The last git-add results in the following error message:

---
The following paths are ignored by one of your .gitignore files:
dir
Use -f if you really want to add them.
fatal: no files added
---

While it is true that the file specification matches a pattern in .gitignore, 
the file is already tracked and should not be ignored.

This behaviour was reproduced with 1.7.7.4 (on OS X), 1.7.5.4, 1.7.1, 
1.7.8-247-g10f4eb6 (latest master as of a couple of hours ago) (all Linux).


Greetings,

	David
-- 
David ‘Bombe’ Roden <bombe@pterodactylus.net>

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Re: Strange behaviour with git-add, .gitignore and a tracked file

[Junio C Hamano]

David ‘Bombe’ Roden  <bombe@pterodactylus.net> writes:

> This behaviour was reproduced with 1.7.7.4 (on OS X), 1.7.5.4, 1.7.1, 
> 1.7.8-247-g10f4eb6 (latest master as of a couple of hours ago) (all Linux).

Doesn't that suggest perhaps it could be a designed behaviour?

Perhaps to help users to realize that their .gitignore pattern may want to
be improved?