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-rw-r--r--Documentation/git-sparse-checkout.txt92
1 files changed, 58 insertions, 34 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-sparse-checkout.txt b/Documentation/git-sparse-checkout.txt
index b81dbe0654..88e55f432f 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-sparse-checkout.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-sparse-checkout.txt
@@ -3,9 +3,7 @@ git-sparse-checkout(1)
NAME
----
-git-sparse-checkout - Initialize and modify the sparse-checkout
-configuration, which reduces the checkout to a set of paths
-given by a list of patterns.
+git-sparse-checkout - Reduce your working tree to a subset of tracked files
SYNOPSIS
@@ -17,8 +15,20 @@ SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
-----------
-Initialize and modify the sparse-checkout configuration, which reduces
-the checkout to a set of paths given by a list of patterns.
+This command is used to create sparse checkouts, which means that it
+changes the working tree from having all tracked files present, to only
+have a subset of them. It can also switch which subset of files are
+present, or undo and go back to having all tracked files present in the
+working copy.
+
+The subset of files is chosen by providing a list of directories in
+cone mode (which is recommended), or by providing a list of patterns
+in non-cone mode.
+
+When in a sparse-checkout, other Git commands behave a bit differently.
+For example, switching branches will not update paths outside the
+sparse-checkout directories/patterns, and `git commit -a` will not record
+paths outside the sparse-checkout directories/patterns as deleted.
THIS COMMAND IS EXPERIMENTAL. ITS BEHAVIOR, AND THE BEHAVIOR OF OTHER
COMMANDS IN THE PRESENCE OF SPARSE-CHECKOUTS, WILL LIKELY CHANGE IN
@@ -28,30 +38,44 @@ THE FUTURE.
COMMANDS
--------
'list'::
- Describe the patterns in the sparse-checkout file.
+ Describe the directories or patterns in the sparse-checkout file.
'set'::
- Enable the necessary config settings
- (extensions.worktreeConfig, core.sparseCheckout,
- core.sparseCheckoutCone) if they are not already enabled, and
- write a set of patterns to the sparse-checkout file from the
+ Enable the necessary sparse-checkout config settings
+ (`core.sparseCheckout`, `core.sparseCheckoutCone`, and
+ `index.sparse`) if they are not already set to the desired values,
+ and write a set of patterns to the sparse-checkout file from the
list of arguments following the 'set' subcommand. Update the
working directory to match the new patterns.
+
-When the `--stdin` option is provided, the patterns are read from
-standard in as a newline-delimited list instead of from the arguments.
+To ensure that adjusting the sparse-checkout settings within a worktree
+does not alter the sparse-checkout settings in other worktrees, the 'set'
+subcommand will upgrade your repository config to use worktree-specific
+config if not already present. The sparsity defined by the arguments to
+the 'set' subcommand are stored in the worktree-specific sparse-checkout
+file. See linkgit:git-worktree[1] and the documentation of
+`extensions.worktreeConfig` in linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
++
+When the `--stdin` option is provided, the directories or patterns are
+read from standard in as a newline-delimited list instead of from the
+arguments.
+
When `--cone` is passed or `core.sparseCheckoutCone` is enabled, the
-input list is considered a list of directories instead of
-sparse-checkout patterns. This allows for better performance with a
-limited set of patterns (see 'CONE PATTERN SET' below). Note that the
-set command will write patterns to the sparse-checkout file to include
-all files contained in those directories (recursively) as well as
-files that are siblings of ancestor directories. The input format
-matches the output of `git ls-tree --name-only`. This includes
-interpreting pathnames that begin with a double quote (") as C-style
-quoted strings. This may become the default in the future; --no-cone
-can be passed to request non-cone mode.
+input list is considered a list of directories. This allows for
+better performance with a limited set of patterns (see 'CONE PATTERN
+SET' below). The input format matches the output of `git ls-tree
+--name-only`. This includes interpreting pathnames that begin with a
+double quote (") as C-style quoted strings. Note that the set command
+will write patterns to the sparse-checkout file to include all files
+contained in those directories (recursively) as well as files that are
+siblings of ancestor directories. This may become the default in the
+future; --no-cone can be passed to request non-cone mode.
++
+When `--no-cone` is passed or `core.sparseCheckoutCone` is not enabled,
+the input list is considered a list of patterns. This mode is harder
+to use and less performant, and is thus not recommended. See the
+"Sparse Checkout" section of linkgit:git-read-tree[1] and the "Pattern
+Set" sections below for more details.
+
Use the `--[no-]sparse-index` option to use a sparse index (the
default is to not use it). A sparse index reduces the size of the
@@ -69,11 +93,10 @@ understand the sparse directory entries index extension and may fail to
interact with your repository until it is disabled.
'add'::
- Update the sparse-checkout file to include additional patterns.
- By default, these patterns are read from the command-line arguments,
- but they can be read from stdin using the `--stdin` option. When
- `core.sparseCheckoutCone` is enabled, the given patterns are interpreted
- as directory names as in the 'set' subcommand.
+ Update the sparse-checkout file to include additional directories
+ (in cone mode) or patterns (in non-cone mode). By default, these
+ directories or patterns are read from the command-line arguments,
+ but they can be read from stdin using the `--stdin` option.
'reapply'::
Reapply the sparsity pattern rules to paths in the working tree.
@@ -117,13 +140,14 @@ decreased in utility.
SPARSE CHECKOUT
---------------
-"Sparse checkout" allows populating the working directory sparsely.
-It uses the skip-worktree bit (see linkgit:git-update-index[1]) to tell
-Git whether a file in the working directory is worth looking at. If
-the skip-worktree bit is set, then the file is ignored in the working
-directory. Git will avoid populating the contents of those files, which
-makes a sparse checkout helpful when working in a repository with many
-files, but only a few are important to the current user.
+"Sparse checkout" allows populating the working directory sparsely. It
+uses the skip-worktree bit (see linkgit:git-update-index[1]) to tell Git
+whether a file in the working directory is worth looking at. If the
+skip-worktree bit is set, and the file is not present in the working tree,
+then its absence is ignored. Git will avoid populating the contents of
+those files, which makes a sparse checkout helpful when working in a
+repository with many files, but only a few are important to the current
+user.
The `$GIT_DIR/info/sparse-checkout` file is used to define the
skip-worktree reference bitmap. When Git updates the working