From 92be938e96508a87fa2b0b78bd335fc6273f5763 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Philip Oakley Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2015 22:22:53 +0000 Subject: doc: core.ignoreStat update, and clarify the --assume-unchanged effect The assume-unchanged bit, and consequently core.ignoreStat, can be misunderstood. Be assertive about the expectation that file changes should notified to Git. Overhaul the general wording thus: 1. direct description of what is ignored given first. 2. example instruction of the user manual action required. 3. use sideways indirection for assume-unchanged and update-index references. 4. add a 'normally' to give leeway for the change detection. Signed-off-by: Philip Oakley Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano --- Documentation/config.txt | 22 +++++++++++++--------- 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-) diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt index 2415d58c03..493ab196fa 100644 --- a/Documentation/config.txt +++ b/Documentation/config.txt @@ -364,15 +364,19 @@ This is useful for excluding servers inside a firewall from proxy use, while defaulting to a common proxy for external domains. core.ignoreStat:: - If true, commands which modify both the working tree and the index - will mark the updated paths with the "assume unchanged" bit in the - index. These marked files are then expected to stay unchanged in the - working tree. If you change them you should mark their update manually. - Git will normally not detect the file changes by lstat() calls. - This is useful on systems where those calls are very slow, such as - cifs/Microsoft Windows. - See linkgit:git-update-index[1]. - False by default. + If true, Git will avoid using lstat() calls to detect if files have + changed by setting the "assume-unchanged" bit for those tracked files + which it has updated identically in both the index and working tree. ++ +When files are modified outside of Git, the user will need to stage +the modified files explicitly (e.g. see 'Examples' section in +linkgit:git-update-index[1]). +Git will not normally detect changes to those files. ++ +This is useful on systems where lstat() calls are very slow, such as +CIFS/Microsoft Windows. ++ +False by default. core.preferSymlinkRefs:: Instead of the default "symref" format for HEAD -- cgit v1.2.1