Merge branch 'ds/sparse-index-ignored-files'

In cone mode, the sparse-index code path learned to remove ignored
files (like build artifacts) outside the sparse cone, allowing the
entire directory outside the sparse cone to be removed, which is
especially useful when the sparse patterns change.

* ds/sparse-index-ignored-files:
  sparse-checkout: clear tracked sparse dirs
  sparse-index: add SPARSE_INDEX_MEMORY_ONLY flag
  attr: be careful about sparse directories
  sparse-checkout: create helper methods
  sparse-index: use WRITE_TREE_MISSING_OK
  sparse-index: silently return when cache tree fails
  unpack-trees: fix nested sparse-dir search
  sparse-index: silently return when not using cone-mode patterns
  t7519: rewrite sparse index test

1 files changed, 10 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/git-sparse-checkout.txt b/Documentation/git-sparse-checkout.txt
index fdcf43f87c..42056ee9ff 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-sparse-checkout.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-sparse-checkout.txt
@@ -210,6 +210,16 @@ case-insensitive check. This corrects for case mismatched filenames in the
 'git sparse-checkout set' command to reflect the expected cone in the working
 directory.
 
+When changing the sparse-checkout patterns in cone mode, Git will inspect each
+tracked directory that is not within the sparse-checkout cone to see if it
+contains any untracked files. If all of those files are ignored due to the
+`.gitignore` patterns, then the directory will be deleted. If any of the
+untracked files within that directory is not ignored, then no deletions will
+occur within that directory and a warning message will appear. If these files
+are important, then reset your sparse-checkout definition so they are included,
+use `git add` and `git commit` to store them, then remove any remaining files
+manually to ensure Git can behave optimally.
+
 
 SUBMODULES
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