Using .gitignore to control Git file tracking

When working in the Translator there may be certain files you do not want to track in a Git repository, such as files that may contain confidential information. A Git Ignore(.gitignore) file can be added to a Translator project to exclude files from being traced by Git.

How to create a .gitignore file in the Translator:

STEP 1: In your Component Translator, create a new custom file and call it .gitignore

In the Translator project, create a new file called .gitignore. Make sure to select a custom file type:

STEP 2: Edit .gitignore to exclude files from being tracked by git.

Specify the files which you want to ignore, meaning they will be excluded from your repository.

You can also add exceptions to your exclusions. For example, you can add exceptions to the Samples folder if you have some sample data that doesn't have any sensitive info that you want to keep in the component's Git history (e.g. if it's a template component).

The following example includes an example .gitignore file for sample data:

# Ignore all files within the "Samples" folder   
/Samples/*   
   
# Exceptions (files to include)   
!/Samples/Sample_001   

STEP 3: In the Translator, make a commit, push your commit to your linked repository and check if the files exist.

Once you've created your .gitignore file, any changes you commit and push to your linked upstream repository will not contain the ignored files.

You can confirm this by navigating to your Git repository and viewing the latest commits.