From: Elijah Newren <newren@xxxxxxxxx>
Much like the file selection options we tweaked in the last commit, the
status tags printed with -t had descriptions that were easy to
misunderstand, and for many of the same reasons. Clarify them.
Also, while at it, remove the "semi-deprecated" comment for "git
ls-files -t". The -t option was marked as semi-deprecated in 5bc0e247c4
("Document ls-files -t as semi-obsolete.", 2010-07-28) because:
"git ls-files -t" is [...] badly documented, hence we point the
users to superior alternatives.
The feature is marked as "semi-obsolete" but not "scheduled for removal"
since it's a plumbing command, scripts might use it, and Git testsuite
already uses it to test the state of the index.
Marking it as obsolete because it was easily misunderstood, which I
think was primarily due to documentation problems, is one strategy, but
I think fixing the documentation is a better option. Especially since
in the intervening time, "git ls-files -t" has become heavily used by
sparse-checkout users where the same confusion just doesn't apply.
Signed-off-by: Elijah Newren <newren@xxxxxxxxx>
---
Documentation/git-ls-files.txt | 28 +++++++++++++++-------------
1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt
index f89ab1bfc98..3886d58d178 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt
@@ -137,25 +137,27 @@ OPTIONS
with `-s` or `-u` options does not make any sense.
-t::
- This feature is semi-deprecated. For scripting purpose,
- linkgit:git-status[1] `--porcelain` and
+ Show status tags together with filenames. Note that for
+ scripting purposes, linkgit:git-status[1] `--porcelain` and
linkgit:git-diff-files[1] `--name-status` are almost always
superior alternatives, and users should look at
linkgit:git-status[1] `--short` or linkgit:git-diff[1]
`--name-status` for more user-friendly alternatives.
+
--
-This option identifies the file status with the following tags (followed by
-a space) at the start of each line:
-
- H:: cached
- S:: skip-worktree
- M:: unmerged
- R:: removed/deleted
- C:: modified/changed
- K:: to be killed
- ?:: other
- U:: resolve-undo
+This option provides a reason for showing each filename, in the form
+of a status tag (which is followed by a space and then the filename).
+The status tags are all single characters from the following list:
+
+ H:: tracked file that is not either unmerged or skip-worktree
+ S:: tracked file that is skip-worktree
+ M:: tracked file that is unmerged
+ R:: tracked file with unstaged removal/deletion
+ C:: tracked file with unstaged modification/change
+ K:: untracked paths which are part of file/directory conflicts
+ which prevent checking out tracked files
+ ?:: untracked file
+ U:: file with resolve-undo information
--
-v::
--
gitgitgadget
