https://jwodder.github.io/kbits/2022-02-06T00:00:00-05:00References I wish I'd already found2021-06-22T00:00:00-04:002022-02-06T00:00:00-05:00John T. Wodder IItag:jwodder.github.io,2021-06-22:/kbits/posts/vcs-files/

<p class="first last">A list of version control system-specific files that one may find in the working directories of common version control systems</p>

<p>The following is a list of VCS-specific files that one may find in the working directories of common version control systems. This list is useful for, say, knowing what files to ignore when traversing a project directory.</p> <p>Did I leave anything out? <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/jwodder/kbits">Feel free to send a pull request.</a></p> <table border="1" class="docutils align-center"> <thead valign="bottom"> <tr><th class="head">VCS</th> <th class="head">File/Directory</th> <th class="head">Purpose</th> <th class="head">Documentation</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody valign="top"> <tr><td rowspan="5"><a class="reference external" href="https://git-scm.com">Git</a></td> <td><tt class="docutils literal">.git/</tt></td> <td>Repository data</td> <td><a class="reference external" href="https://git-scm.com/docs/gitrepository-layout">gitrepository-layout(5)</a></td> </tr> <tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">.gitattributes</tt></td> <td>Defines per-path attributes</td> <td><a class="reference external" href="https://git-scm.com/docs/gitattributes">gitattributes(5)</a></td> </tr> <tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">.gitignore</tt></td> <td>Lists files to exclude from version control</td> <td><a class="reference external" href="https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore">gitignore(5)</a></td> </tr> <tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">.gitmodules</tt></td> <td>Defines submodules</td> <td><a class="reference external" href="https://git-scm.com/docs/gitmodules">gitmodules(5)</a></td> </tr> <tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">.mailmap</tt></td> <td>Maps names &amp; e-mails to canonical values</td> <td><a class="reference external" href="https://git-scm.com/docs/gitmailmap">gitmailmap(5)</a></td> </tr> <tr><td rowspan="4"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.mercurial-scm.org">Mercurial</a></td> <td><tt class="docutils literal">.hg/</tt></td> <td>Repository data</td> <td><a class="reference external" href="https://www.mercurial-scm.org/wiki/FileFormats">wiki:FileFormats</a></td> </tr> <tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">.hgignore</tt></td> <td>Lists files to exclude from version control</td> <td><a class="reference external" href="https://www.selenic.com/mercurial/hgignore.5.html">hgignore(5)</a></td> </tr> <tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">.hgsigs</tt></td> <td>Contains changeset signatures from the GPG extension</td> <td>—</td> </tr> <tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">.hgtags</tt></td> <td>Defines tags</td> <td>—</td> </tr> <tr><td rowspan="3"><a class="reference external" href="http://darcs.net">Darcs</a></td> <td><tt class="docutils literal">_darcs/</tt></td> <td>Repository data</td> <td>—</td> </tr> <tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">.binaries</tt></td> <td>Lists files to treat as binary <a class="footnote-reference" href="#fn1" id="footnote-reference-1">[1]</a></td> <td><a class="reference external" href="binaries">Manual</a></td> </tr> <tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">.boring</tt></td> <td>Lists files to exclude from version control <a class="footnote-reference" href="#fn1" id="footnote-reference-2">[1]</a></td> <td><a class="reference external" href="http://darcs.net/manual/Configuring_darcs.html#SECTION00410040000000000000">Manual</a></td> </tr> <tr><td rowspan="2"><a class="reference external" href="https://bazaar.canonical.com">Bazaar</a></td> <td><tt class="docutils literal">.bzr/</tt></td> <td>Repository data</td> <td>—</td> </tr> <tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">.bzrignore</tt></td> <td>Lists files to exclude from version control</td> <td><a class="reference external" href="http://doc.bazaar.canonical.com/bzr.2.7/en/user-reference/ignore-help.html">bzr ignore</a></td> </tr> <tr><td><a class="reference external" href="http://subversion.apache.org">Subversion</a></td> <td><tt class="docutils literal">.svn/</tt> or <tt class="docutils literal">_svn/</tt> <a class="footnote-reference" href="#fn2" id="footnote-reference-3">[2]</a></td> <td>Local copy of repository data <a class="footnote-reference" href="#fn3" id="footnote-reference-4">[3]</a></td> <td>&nbsp;</td> </tr> <tr><td><a class="reference external" href="http://cvs.nongnu.org">CVS</a></td> <td><tt class="docutils literal">CVS/</tt></td> <td>Local copy of repository data (one per directory)</td> <td><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gnu.org/software/trans-coord/manual/cvs/html_node/Working-directory-storage.html">Manual</a></td> </tr> <tr><td rowspan="2"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gnu.org/software/rcs/">RCS</a></td> <td><em>filename</em><tt class="docutils literal">,v</tt></td> <td>Version history for <em>filename</em></td> <td><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gnu.org/software/rcs/manual/html_node/Concepts.html#RCS-file">Manual</a></td> </tr> <tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">RCS/</tt></td> <td>Conventional directory for storing <tt class="docutils literal">*,v</tt> files</td> <td>—</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="fn1" rules="none"> <colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> <tbody valign="top"> <tr><td class="label">[1]</td><td><em>(<a class="fn-backref" href="#footnote-reference-1">1</a>, <a class="fn-backref" href="#footnote-reference-2">2</a>)</em> Darcs normally stores its binaries file and boring file inside the <tt class="docutils literal">_darcs/</tt> directory, but it is possible to use any file under version control in their place; the names listed here are the conventional names for such files.</td></tr> </tbody> </table> <table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="fn2" rules="none"> <colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> <tbody valign="top"> <tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#footnote-reference-3">[2]</a></td><td>For compatibility with ASP.NET, Subversion will use the name <tt class="docutils literal">_svn</tt> instead of <tt class="docutils literal">.svn</tt> if the <tt class="docutils literal">SVN_ASP_DOT_NET_HACK</tt> environment variable is defined.</td></tr> </tbody> </table> <table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="fn3" rules="none"> <colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> <tbody valign="top"> <tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#footnote-reference-4">[3]</a></td><td>Prior to version 1.7, Subversion placed a <tt class="docutils literal">.svn</tt>/<tt class="docutils literal">_svn</tt> directory in every subdirectory of the working directory under version control.</td></tr> </tbody> </table>