[git] git ignore exception

I have a gitignore file that makes git ignore *.dll files, and that is actually the behavior I want. However, if I want an exception ( i.e. to be able to commit foo.dll), how can I achieve this?

This is how I do it, with a README.md file in each directory:

/data/*
!/data/README.md

!/data/input/
/data/input/*
!/data/input/README.md

!/data/output/
/data/output/*
!/data/output/README.md

The solution depends on the relation between the git ignore rule and the exception rule:

1. Files/Files at the same level: use the @Skilldrick solution.
2. Folders/Subfolders: use the @Matiss Jurgelis solution.

3. Files/Files in different levels or Files/Subfolders: you can do this:

   *.suo
   *.user
   *.userosscache
   *.sln.docstates
   
   # ...
   
   # Exceptions for entire subfolders
   !SetupFiles/elasticsearch-5.0.0/**/*
   !SetupFiles/filebeat-5.0.0-windows-x86_64/**/*
   
   # Exceptions for files in different levels
   !SetupFiles/kibana-5.0.0-windows-x86/**/*.suo
   !SetupFiles/logstash-5.0.0/**/*.suo
   

!foo.dll in .gitignore, or (every time!) git add -f foo.dll

If you're working with Visual Studio and your .dll happens to be in a bin folder, then you'll need to add an exception for the particular bin folder itself, before you can add the exception for the .dll file. E.g.

!SourceCode/Solution/Project/bin
!SourceCode/Solution/Project/bin/My.dll

This is because the default Visual Studio .gitignore file includes an ignore pattern for [Bbin]/

This pattern is zapping all bin folders (and consequently their contents), which makes any attempt to include the contents redundant (since the folder itself is already ignored).

I was able to find why my file wasn't being excepted by running

git check-ignore -v -- SourceCode/Solution/Project/bin/My.dll

from a Git Bash window. This returned the [Bbin]/ pattern.

Git ignores folders if you write:

/js

but it can't add exceptions if you do: !/js/jquery or !/js/jquery/ or !/js/jquery/*

You must write:

/js/* 

and only then you can except subfolders like this

!/js/jquery

Since Git 2.7.0 Git will take exceptions into account. From the official release notes:

• Allow a later "!/abc/def" to override an earlier "/abc" that appears in the same .gitignore file to make it easier to express "everything in /abc directory is ignored, except for ...".

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/git/git/master/Documentation/RelNotes/2.7.0.txt

edit: apparently this doesn't work any more since Git 2.8.0

Just add ! before an exclusion rule.

According to the gitignore man page:

Patterns have the following format:

...

• An optional prefix ! which negates the pattern; any matching file excluded by a previous pattern will become included again. If a negated pattern matches, this will override lower precedence patterns sources.

To exclude everything in a directory, but some sub-directories, do the following:

wp-content/*
!wp-content/plugins/
!wp-content/themes/

Source: https://gist.github.com/444295

You can simply git add -f path/to/foo.dll.

.gitignore ignores only files for usual tracking and stuff like git add .