SYNOPSIS
--------
-$GIT_DIR/info/attributes, gitattributes
+$GIT_DIR/info/attributes, .gitattributes
DESCRIPTION
When deciding what attributes are assigned to a path, git
consults `$GIT_DIR/info/attributes` file (which has the highest
precedence), `.gitattributes` file in the same directory as the
-path in question, and its parent directories (the further the
-directory that contains `.gitattributes` is from the path in
-question, the lower its precedence).
+path in question, and its parent directories up to the toplevel of the
+work tree (the further the directory that contains `.gitattributes`
+is from the path in question, the lower its precedence).
If you wish to affect only a single repository (i.e., to assign
attributes to files that are particular to one user's workflow), then
Unset::
- Unsetting the `crlf` attribute on a path is meant to
- mark the path as a "binary" file. The path never goes
- through line endings conversion upon checkin/checkout.
+ Unsetting the `crlf` attribute on a path tells git not to
+ attempt any end-of-line conversion upon checkin or checkout.
Unspecified::
`ident`
^^^^^^^
-When the attribute `ident` is set to a path, git replaces
-`$Id$` in the blob object with `$Id:`, followed by
+When the attribute `ident` is set for a path, git replaces
+`$Id$` in the blob object with `$Id:`, followed by the
40-character hexadecimal blob object name, followed by a dollar
sign `$` upon checkout. Any byte sequence that begins with
`$Id:` and ends with `$` in the worktree file is replaced
Generating diff text
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+`diff`
+^^^^^^
+
The attribute `diff` affects if 'git-diff' generates textual
patch for the path or just says `Binary files differ`. It also
can affect what line is shown on the hunk header `@@ -k,l +n,m @@`
Defining a custom hunk-header
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-Each group of changes (called "hunk") in the textual diff output
+Each group of changes (called a "hunk") in the textual diff output
is prefixed with a line of the form:
@@ -k,l +n,m @@ TEXT
-The text is called 'hunk header', and by default a line that
-begins with an alphabet, an underscore or a dollar sign is used,
-which matches what GNU 'diff -p' output uses. This default
-selection however is not suited for some contents, and you can
-use customized pattern to make a selection.
+This is called a 'hunk header'. The "TEXT" portion is by default a line
+that begins with an alphabet, an underscore or a dollar sign; this
+matches what GNU 'diff -p' output uses. This default selection however
+is not suited for some contents, and you can use a customized pattern
+to make a selection.
-First in .gitattributes, you would assign the `diff` attribute
+First, in .gitattributes, you would assign the `diff` attribute
for paths.
------------------------
*.tex diff=tex
------------------------
-Then, you would define "diff.tex.funcname" configuration to
+Then, you would define a "diff.tex.xfuncname" configuration to
specify a regular expression that matches a line that you would
-want to appear as the hunk header, like this:
+want to appear as the hunk header "TEXT", like this:
------------------------
[diff "tex"]
- funcname = "^\\(\\\\\\(sub\\)*section{.*\\)$"
+ xfuncname = "^(\\\\(sub)*section\\{.*)$"
------------------------
Note. A single level of backslashes are eaten by the
There are a few built-in patterns to make this easier, and `tex`
is one of them, so you do not have to write the above in your
configuration file (you still need to enable this with the
-attribute mechanism, via `.gitattributes`). Another built-in
-pattern is defined for `java` that defines a pattern suitable
-for program text in Java language.
+attribute mechanism, via `.gitattributes`). The following built in
+patterns are available:
+
+- `bibtex` suitable for files with BibTeX coded references.
+
+- `java` suitable for source code in the Java language.
+
+- `pascal` suitable for source code in the Pascal/Delphi language.
+
+- `ruby` suitable for source code in the Ruby language.
+
+- `tex` suitable for source code for LaTeX documents.
Performing a three-way merge
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+`merge`
+^^^^^^^
+
The attribute `merge` affects how three versions of a file is
merged when a file-level merge is necessary during `git merge`,
and other programs such as `git revert` and `git cherry-pick`.
commit hash.
+USING ATTRIBUTE MACROS
+----------------------
+
+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 -crlf -diff
+------------
+
+but that may become cumbersome, when you have many attributes. Using
+attribute macros, you can specify groups of attributes set or unset at
+the same time. The system knows a built-in attribute macro, `binary`:
+
+------------
+*.jpg binary
+------------
+
+which is equivalent to the above. Note that the attribute macros can only
+be "Set" (see the above example that sets "binary" macro as if it were an
+ordinary attribute --- setting it in turn unsets "crlf" and "diff").
+
+
+DEFINING ATTRIBUTE MACROS
+-------------------------
+
+Custom attribute macros can be defined only in the `.gitattributes` file
+at the toplevel (i.e. not in any subdirectory). The built-in attribute
+macro "binary" is equivalent to:
+
+------------
+[attr]binary -diff -crlf
+------------
+
+
EXAMPLE
-------