A `gitignore` file specifies intentionally untracked files that
git should ignore.
-Note that all the `gitignore` files really concern only files
-that are not already tracked by git;
-in order to ignore uncommitted changes in already tracked files,
-please refer to the 'git update-index --assume-unchanged'
-documentation.
+Files already tracked by git are not affected; see the NOTES
+below for details.
Each line in a `gitignore` file specifies a pattern.
When deciding whether to ignore a path, git normally checks
tools, such as 'git status' and 'git add',
use patterns from the sources specified above.
-Patterns have the following format:
+PATTERN FORMAT
+--------------
- A blank line matches no files, so it can serve as a separator
for readability.
For example, "/{asterisk}.c" matches "cat-file.c" but not
"mozilla-sha1/sha1.c".
-An example:
+NOTES
+-----
+
+The purpose of gitignore files is to ensure that certain files
+not tracked by git remain untracked.
+
+To ignore uncommitted changes in a file that is already tracked,
+use 'git update-index {litdd}assume-unchanged'.
+
+To stop tracking a file that is currently tracked, use
+'git rm --cached'.
+
+EXAMPLES
+--------
--------------------------------------------------------------
$ git status
The second .gitignore prevents git from ignoring
`arch/foo/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S`.
+SEE ALSO
+--------
+linkgit:git-rm[1], linkgit:git-update-index[1],
+linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5]
+
Documentation
-------------
Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano, Josh Triplett,