Git Attributes and Macro Attributes

attempted for blobs for paths with the attribute `delta` set to false. Viewing files in GUI tools ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ `encoding` ^^^^^^^^^^ The value of this attribute specifies the character encoding that should be used by GUI tools (e.g. linkgit:gitk[1] and linkgit:git-gui[1]) to display the contents of the relevant file. Note that due to performance considerations linkgit:gitk[1] does not use this attribute unless you manually enable per-file encodings in its options. If this attribute is not set or has an invalid value, the value of the `gui.encoding` configuration variable is used instead (See linkgit:git-config[1]). USING MACRO ATTRIBUTES ---------------------- You do not want any end-of-line conversions applied to, nor textual diffs produced for, any binary file you track. You would need to specify e.g. ------------ *.jpg -text -diff ------------ but that may become cumbersome, when you have many attributes. Using macro attributes, you can define an attribute that, when set, also sets or unsets a number of other attributes at the same time. The system knows a built-in macro attribute, `binary`: ------------ *.jpg binary ------------ Setting the "binary" attribute also unsets the "text" and "diff" attributes as above. Note that macro attributes can only be "Set", though setting one might have the effect of setting or unsetting other attributes or even returning other attributes to the "Unspecified" state. DEFINING MACRO ATTRIBUTES ------------------------- Custom macro attributes can be defined only in top-level gitattributes files (`$GIT_DIR/info/attributes`, the `.gitattributes` file at the top level of the working tree, or the global or system-wide gitattributes files), not in `.gitattributes` files in working tree subdirectories. The built-in macro attribute "binary" is equivalent to: ------------ [attr]binary -diff -merge -text ------------ NOTES ----- Git does not follow symbolic links when accessing a `.gitattributes` file in the working tree. This keeps behavior consistent when the file is accessed from the index or a tree versus from the filesystem. EXAMPLES -------- If you have these three `gitattributes` file: ---------------------------------------------------------------- (in $GIT_DIR/info/attributes) a* foo !bar -baz (in .gitattributes) abc foo bar baz (in t/.gitattributes) ab* merge=filfre abc -foo -bar *.c frotz ---------------------------------------------------------------- the attributes given to path `t/abc` are computed as follows: 1. By examining `t/.gitattributes` (which is in the same directory as the path in question), Git finds that the first line matches. `merge` attribute is set. It also finds that the second line matches, and attributes `foo` and `bar` are unset. 2. Then it examines `.gitattributes` (which is in the parent directory), and finds that the first line matches, but `t/.gitattributes` file already decided how `merge`, `foo` and `bar` attributes should be given to this path, so it leaves `foo` and `bar` unset. Attribute `baz` is set. 3. Finally it examines `$GIT_DIR/info/attributes`. This file is used to override the in-tree settings. The first line is a match, and `foo` is set, `bar` is reverted to unspecified state, and `baz` is unset. As the result, the attributes assignment to `t/abc` becomes: ---------------------------------------------------------------- foo set to true bar unspecified baz set to false merge set to string value "filfre" frotz unspecified ---------------------------------------------------------------- SEE ALSO -------- linkgit:git-check-attr[1]. GIT --- Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite

Git attributes allow for customizing Git's behavior, and macro attributes provide a way to define a set of attributes that can be applied to files, making it easier to manage complex attribute settings, with options to set, unset, or override attributes in various gitattributes files.