Ignoring already committed files in Sourcetree

Question

I am still new to git. Since I do not need my repository to be publicly available, I chose Bitbucket. As my desktop client I use Atlassian Sourcetree.

I am working on a Java project using Eclipse IDE. Just like everyone, I do not need the class files to be visible in changed files, however those files have already been committed and pulled into my remote repository.
Now I need SourceTree to not to show those class files as changed files whenever I make a change to .java file.

As I have understood by coming through so many questions and answers, the entry in the .gitignore file alone cannot simply ignore the class files since they have already been committed and pulled.
For that, as I understand, what I should do is ignore the file in source tree and commit it. Then only the entry in the .gitignore file would do what we need. (This is my understanding. Please correct me if I am wrong).

What my problem now is, the ignore option is grayed out; so as a solution for that the community suggest to first select the Stop Tracking option and then select the ignore option. But when I do Stop Tracking, no change appears.
As per the community, the file should be marked with a blue icon. But it is not in my case. Even though I didn't get change of the icon, I then tried to select the ignore option. But still it is grayed out. Even after doing these steps, when I make a change to .java file, the .class file appears in the changed files list.

What is wrong here? Why I am not getting the job done? What have I done wrong?

Adding files to `.gitignore` which are already in the repository won't do anything. If this be the case, then you first need to `git -rm` the file, push, and afterwards add it to `.gitignore`. — Tim Biegeleisen, Oct 11 '16 at 06:36
thanks. HOw can I `git -rm` the entire folder which contains all the class files — vigamage, Oct 11 '16 at 07:57
Check out `git update-index` as suggested in the second answer to this question: [Ignore files that have already been committed to a Git repository](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1139762/ignore-files-that-have-already-been-committed-to-a-git-repository) — BJ Myers, Oct 12 '16 at 20:06

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:34

2

What my problem now is, the ignore option is grayed out; so as a solution for that the community suggest to first select the Stop Tracking option and then select the ignore option.

According to "What is the difference between Stop Tracking and Discard File in git SourceTree":

You should use Stop Tracking.
After this, if you see the file listed in Unstaged files, you can use right-click > Ignore... in SourceTree to update your .gitignore file to ignore the file in future.

In your case though, instead of adding the files one by one to a .gitignore, adit a .gitignore at the root of your repo and add:

*.class

edited May 23 '17 at 10:34

Community

1
1

answered Oct 11 '16 at 06:38

VonC

1,262,500
529
4,410
5,250

stop tracking does not make the file go into unstaged files; so that I cannot ignore it. – vigamage Oct 11 '16 at 08:00
in my repo, i have the `.gitignore` file with `.classpath` entry in it. I think it is correct. Isn't it? – vigamage Oct 11 '16 at 08:03
@vigamage Then switch to comand line and try (for testing) `git rm -r obj` (if your `.class` are in the folder `obj`) No need for wildcard – VonC Oct 11 '16 at 08:05

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 11 '16 at 06:39

0

Enter git status to display your modified code changes.then add your unwanted files in the .gitignore . At last add your file and commit it.

answered Oct 11 '16 at 06:39

Thala

21
5

Ignoring already committed files in Sourcetree

2 Answers2