Git Sparse Checkout: Cone Pattern Set

the gitignore-style patterns used in sparse checkouts. INTERNALS -- CONE PATTERN SET ----------------------------- In cone mode, only directories are accepted, but they are translated into the same gitignore-style patterns used in the full pattern set. We refer to the particular patterns used in those mode as being of one of two types: 1. *Recursive:* All paths inside a directory are included. 2. *Parent:* All files immediately inside a directory are included. Since cone mode always includes files at the toplevel, when running `git sparse-checkout set` with no directories specified, the toplevel directory is added as a parent pattern. At this point, the sparse-checkout file contains the following patterns: ---------------- /* !/*/ ---------------- This says "include everything immediately under the toplevel directory, but nothing at any level below that." When in cone mode, the `git sparse-checkout set` subcommand takes a list of directories. The command `git sparse-checkout set A/B/C` sets the directory `A/B/C` as a recursive pattern, the directories `A` and `A/B` are added as parent patterns. The resulting sparse-checkout file is now ---------------- /* !/*/ /A/ !/A/*/ /A/B/ !/A/B/*/ /A/B/C/ ---------------- Here, order matters, so the negative patterns are overridden by the positive patterns that appear lower in the file. Unless `core.sparseCheckoutCone` is explicitly set to `false`, Git will parse the sparse-checkout file expecting patterns of these types. Git will warn if the patterns do not match. If the patterns do match the expected format, then Git will use faster hash-based algorithms to compute inclusion in the sparse-checkout. If they do not match, git will behave as though `core.sparseCheckoutCone` was false, regardless of its setting. In the cone mode case, despite the fact that full patterns are written to the $GIT_DIR/info/sparse-checkout file, the `git sparse-checkout list` subcommand will list the directories that define the recursive patterns. For the example sparse-checkout file above, the output

In cone mode, Git sparse checkout translates directory paths into gitignore-style patterns, which can be either recursive or parent patterns. The sparse-checkout file contains these patterns, and the order of patterns matters. Git will use faster hash-based algorithms if the patterns match the expected format, and will warn if they do not match, defaulting to non-cone mode behavior if necessary.