.\"     Title: hgignore
.\"    Author: 
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets v1.73.2 <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\"      Date: 08/13/2008
.\"    Manual: 
.\"    Source: 
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.TH "HGIGNORE" "5" "08/13/2008" "" ""
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.SH "NAME"
hgignore \- syntax for Mercurial ignore files
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
The Mercurial system uses a file called \&.hgignore in the root directory of a repository to control its behavior when it finds files that it is not currently managing\&.
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.SH "DESCRIPTION"
Mercurial ignores every unmanaged file that matches any pattern in an ignore file\&. The patterns in an ignore file do not apply to files managed by Mercurial\&. To control Mercurial\'s handling of files that it manages, see the hg(1) man page\&. Look for the "\-I" and "\-X" options\&.
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In addition, a Mercurial configuration file can point to a set of per\-user or global ignore files\&. See the hgrc(5) man page for details of how to configure these files\&. Look for the "ignore" entry in the "ui" section\&.
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.SH "SYNTAX"
An ignore file is a plain text file consisting of a list of patterns, with one pattern per line\&. Empty lines are skipped\&. The "#" character is treated as a comment character, and the "\e" character is treated as an escape character\&.
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Mercurial supports several pattern syntaxes\&. The default syntax used is Python/Perl\-style regular expressions\&.
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To change the syntax used, use a line of the following form:
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syntax: NAME
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where NAME is one of the following:
.PP
regexp
.RS 4
Regular expression, Python/Perl syntax\&.
.RE
.PP
glob
.RS 4
Shell\-style glob\&.
.RE
The chosen syntax stays in effect when parsing all patterns that follow, until another syntax is selected\&.
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Neither glob nor regexp patterns are rooted\&. A glob\-syntax pattern of the form "*\&.c" will match a file ending in "\&.c" in any directory, and a regexp pattern of the form "\e\&.c$" will do the same\&. To root a regexp pattern, start it with "^"\&.
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.SH "EXAMPLE"
Here is an example ignore file\&.
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.RS 4
.nf
# use glob syntax\&.
syntax: glob
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.RE
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.RS 4
.nf
*\&.elc
*\&.pyc
*~
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.RE
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.RS 4
.nf
# switch to regexp syntax\&.
syntax: regexp
^\e\&.pc/
.fi
.RE
.SH "AUTHOR"
Vadim Gelfer <vadim\&.gelfer@gmail\&.com>
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Mercurial was written by Matt Mackall <mpm@selenic\&.com>\&.
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.SH "SEE ALSO"
hg(1), hgrc(5)
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.SH "COPYING"
This manual page is copyright 2006 Vadim Gelfer\&. Mercurial is copyright 2005\-2007 Matt Mackall\&. Free use of this software is granted under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL)\&.
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