.gitignore - Ignore everything in a directory except one file

Question

I know there is a lot of questions like this, but no one solved my problem. I want something very simple - ignore all files and folders under specific folder except one file. This is what I try:

#Ignore
public/typings/*

#Allow
!public/typings/browser/ambient/jquery/jquery.d.ts

...but the file is still ignored.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

It seems ! only works if the file is in the same folder. A possible workaround would be to nest the same statement till you get to your final file. A bit messy, but it works.

public/typings/* !public/typings/browser public/typings/browser/* !public/typings/browser/ambient public/typings/browser/ambient/* !public/typings/browser/ambient/jquery public/typings/browser/ambient/jquery/* !public/typings/browser/ambient/jquery/jquery.d.ts 

Answer 2

If the file was added in a previous commit before you put it in git ignore, it's possible your .gitignore is not working. I had the same problem few days ago. I solved the problem thanks to this post:

Post int randallkent

I hope this helps you

EDIT:

solution was found here: gitignore directory exception not working

Answer 3

I've been struggling a lot with this subject, let me share a procedure that worked for me:

1) Add the top level folder "abc/" to your .gitignore 2) Let's say that in "abc/" you have also "def/" and "jkl/" folders. If you want to keep the contents of "jkl/" you can just do:

git add -f jkl/*.php

Ok! Now everything inside "jkl/" with .php extension will be tracked by git, even in the next commits, without any headaches!

I've found this to be the right solution for my case, because I was really going insane trying to understand how gitignore does scan files and directories.