how to except files from be merged to other git branch?

Question

I have two branches: one for development and another for production, each one has its own config values in app.config file

what I want is to ignore these values whenever I merge or rebase these branches.

Then perhaps you best bet would be to not even version the `app.config` file in the first place. Is there any reason why it is currently being versioned? — Tim Biegeleisen, Feb 18 '19 at 15:49
@TimBiegeleisen , yes because it has other than these config values and I want them to be shared with other team members — Christian, Feb 18 '19 at 15:53
Then maybe have one versioned file for common properties, and other config files which can be branch specific. — Tim Biegeleisen, Feb 18 '19 at 15:54
@TimBiegeleisen , OK thanks, I got this solution in mind but I was wondering if there is a better way to achive that — Christian, Feb 18 '19 at 15:55
If your app.config file differs from the one that is versioned consider having a separate unversioned app.config for your local development (if I understand correctly that the versioned app.config is for production) — LinFelix, Feb 18 '19 at 16:38

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 19 '19 at 06:01

Then perhaps you best bet would be to not even version the app.config

Exactly, but you can still generate it, with a content filter driver, using .gitattributes declaration.

What you would version is a template file, and a file with all possible values per environment (per branch).

^{(image from "Customizing Git - Git Attributes", from "Pro Git book")}

The generated actual file remains ignored (by the .gitignore): your actual working tree does not get "dirty".

The smudge script:

detect the right branch
selects the correct value file and generates the correct file based on the template the smudge script is applied on during a git checkout.

That way, you modify the config.<branch> value file as much as you want: the config file (not versioned) will be generated from those values.
And it won't have any merge issue.

how to except files from be merged to other git branch?

1 Answers1