Autogenerated HTML docs for v2.44.0-248-g4f9b7
[git-htmldocs.git] / gitsubmodules.html
blobaf6727efe5936b87e16c53b29e43ccc2d0aa6b17
1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
3 "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
4 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en">
5 <head>
6 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="application/xhtml+xml; charset=UTF-8" />
7 <meta name="generator" content="AsciiDoc 10.2.0" />
8 <title>gitsubmodules(7)</title>
9 <style type="text/css">
10 /* Shared CSS for AsciiDoc xhtml11 and html5 backends */
12 /* Default font. */
13 body {
14 font-family: Georgia,serif;
17 /* Title font. */
18 h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6,
19 div.title, caption.title,
20 thead, p.table.header,
21 #toctitle,
22 #author, #revnumber, #revdate, #revremark,
23 #footer {
24 font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
27 body {
28 margin: 1em 5% 1em 5%;
31 a {
32 color: blue;
33 text-decoration: underline;
35 a:visited {
36 color: fuchsia;
39 em {
40 font-style: italic;
41 color: navy;
44 strong {
45 font-weight: bold;
46 color: #083194;
49 h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
50 color: #527bbd;
51 margin-top: 1.2em;
52 margin-bottom: 0.5em;
53 line-height: 1.3;
56 h1, h2, h3 {
57 border-bottom: 2px solid silver;
59 h2 {
60 padding-top: 0.5em;
62 h3 {
63 float: left;
65 h3 + * {
66 clear: left;
68 h5 {
69 font-size: 1.0em;
72 div.sectionbody {
73 margin-left: 0;
76 hr {
77 border: 1px solid silver;
80 p {
81 margin-top: 0.5em;
82 margin-bottom: 0.5em;
85 ul, ol, li > p {
86 margin-top: 0;
88 ul > li { color: #aaa; }
89 ul > li > * { color: black; }
91 .monospaced, code, pre {
92 font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;
93 font-size: inherit;
94 color: navy;
95 padding: 0;
96 margin: 0;
98 pre {
99 white-space: pre-wrap;
102 #author {
103 color: #527bbd;
104 font-weight: bold;
105 font-size: 1.1em;
107 #email {
109 #revnumber, #revdate, #revremark {
112 #footer {
113 font-size: small;
114 border-top: 2px solid silver;
115 padding-top: 0.5em;
116 margin-top: 4.0em;
118 #footer-text {
119 float: left;
120 padding-bottom: 0.5em;
122 #footer-badges {
123 float: right;
124 padding-bottom: 0.5em;
127 #preamble {
128 margin-top: 1.5em;
129 margin-bottom: 1.5em;
131 div.imageblock, div.exampleblock, div.verseblock,
132 div.quoteblock, div.literalblock, div.listingblock, div.sidebarblock,
133 div.admonitionblock {
134 margin-top: 1.0em;
135 margin-bottom: 1.5em;
137 div.admonitionblock {
138 margin-top: 2.0em;
139 margin-bottom: 2.0em;
140 margin-right: 10%;
141 color: #606060;
144 div.content { /* Block element content. */
145 padding: 0;
148 /* Block element titles. */
149 div.title, caption.title {
150 color: #527bbd;
151 font-weight: bold;
152 text-align: left;
153 margin-top: 1.0em;
154 margin-bottom: 0.5em;
156 div.title + * {
157 margin-top: 0;
160 td div.title:first-child {
161 margin-top: 0.0em;
163 div.content div.title:first-child {
164 margin-top: 0.0em;
166 div.content + div.title {
167 margin-top: 0.0em;
170 div.sidebarblock > div.content {
171 background: #ffffee;
172 border: 1px solid #dddddd;
173 border-left: 4px solid #f0f0f0;
174 padding: 0.5em;
177 div.listingblock > div.content {
178 border: 1px solid #dddddd;
179 border-left: 5px solid #f0f0f0;
180 background: #f8f8f8;
181 padding: 0.5em;
184 div.quoteblock, div.verseblock {
185 padding-left: 1.0em;
186 margin-left: 1.0em;
187 margin-right: 10%;
188 border-left: 5px solid #f0f0f0;
189 color: #888;
192 div.quoteblock > div.attribution {
193 padding-top: 0.5em;
194 text-align: right;
197 div.verseblock > pre.content {
198 font-family: inherit;
199 font-size: inherit;
201 div.verseblock > div.attribution {
202 padding-top: 0.75em;
203 text-align: left;
205 /* DEPRECATED: Pre version 8.2.7 verse style literal block. */
206 div.verseblock + div.attribution {
207 text-align: left;
210 div.admonitionblock .icon {
211 vertical-align: top;
212 font-size: 1.1em;
213 font-weight: bold;
214 text-decoration: underline;
215 color: #527bbd;
216 padding-right: 0.5em;
218 div.admonitionblock td.content {
219 padding-left: 0.5em;
220 border-left: 3px solid #dddddd;
223 div.exampleblock > div.content {
224 border-left: 3px solid #dddddd;
225 padding-left: 0.5em;
228 div.imageblock div.content { padding-left: 0; }
229 span.image img { border-style: none; vertical-align: text-bottom; }
230 a.image:visited { color: white; }
232 dl {
233 margin-top: 0.8em;
234 margin-bottom: 0.8em;
236 dt {
237 margin-top: 0.5em;
238 margin-bottom: 0;
239 font-style: normal;
240 color: navy;
242 dd > *:first-child {
243 margin-top: 0.1em;
246 ul, ol {
247 list-style-position: outside;
249 ol.arabic {
250 list-style-type: decimal;
252 ol.loweralpha {
253 list-style-type: lower-alpha;
255 ol.upperalpha {
256 list-style-type: upper-alpha;
258 ol.lowerroman {
259 list-style-type: lower-roman;
261 ol.upperroman {
262 list-style-type: upper-roman;
265 div.compact ul, div.compact ol,
266 div.compact p, div.compact p,
267 div.compact div, div.compact div {
268 margin-top: 0.1em;
269 margin-bottom: 0.1em;
272 tfoot {
273 font-weight: bold;
275 td > div.verse {
276 white-space: pre;
279 div.hdlist {
280 margin-top: 0.8em;
281 margin-bottom: 0.8em;
283 div.hdlist tr {
284 padding-bottom: 15px;
286 dt.hdlist1.strong, td.hdlist1.strong {
287 font-weight: bold;
289 td.hdlist1 {
290 vertical-align: top;
291 font-style: normal;
292 padding-right: 0.8em;
293 color: navy;
295 td.hdlist2 {
296 vertical-align: top;
298 div.hdlist.compact tr {
299 margin: 0;
300 padding-bottom: 0;
303 .comment {
304 background: yellow;
307 .footnote, .footnoteref {
308 font-size: 0.8em;
311 span.footnote, span.footnoteref {
312 vertical-align: super;
315 #footnotes {
316 margin: 20px 0 20px 0;
317 padding: 7px 0 0 0;
320 #footnotes div.footnote {
321 margin: 0 0 5px 0;
324 #footnotes hr {
325 border: none;
326 border-top: 1px solid silver;
327 height: 1px;
328 text-align: left;
329 margin-left: 0;
330 width: 20%;
331 min-width: 100px;
334 div.colist td {
335 padding-right: 0.5em;
336 padding-bottom: 0.3em;
337 vertical-align: top;
339 div.colist td img {
340 margin-top: 0.3em;
343 @media print {
344 #footer-badges { display: none; }
347 #toc {
348 margin-bottom: 2.5em;
351 #toctitle {
352 color: #527bbd;
353 font-size: 1.1em;
354 font-weight: bold;
355 margin-top: 1.0em;
356 margin-bottom: 0.1em;
359 div.toclevel0, div.toclevel1, div.toclevel2, div.toclevel3, div.toclevel4 {
360 margin-top: 0;
361 margin-bottom: 0;
363 div.toclevel2 {
364 margin-left: 2em;
365 font-size: 0.9em;
367 div.toclevel3 {
368 margin-left: 4em;
369 font-size: 0.9em;
371 div.toclevel4 {
372 margin-left: 6em;
373 font-size: 0.9em;
376 span.aqua { color: aqua; }
377 span.black { color: black; }
378 span.blue { color: blue; }
379 span.fuchsia { color: fuchsia; }
380 span.gray { color: gray; }
381 span.green { color: green; }
382 span.lime { color: lime; }
383 span.maroon { color: maroon; }
384 span.navy { color: navy; }
385 span.olive { color: olive; }
386 span.purple { color: purple; }
387 span.red { color: red; }
388 span.silver { color: silver; }
389 span.teal { color: teal; }
390 span.white { color: white; }
391 span.yellow { color: yellow; }
393 span.aqua-background { background: aqua; }
394 span.black-background { background: black; }
395 span.blue-background { background: blue; }
396 span.fuchsia-background { background: fuchsia; }
397 span.gray-background { background: gray; }
398 span.green-background { background: green; }
399 span.lime-background { background: lime; }
400 span.maroon-background { background: maroon; }
401 span.navy-background { background: navy; }
402 span.olive-background { background: olive; }
403 span.purple-background { background: purple; }
404 span.red-background { background: red; }
405 span.silver-background { background: silver; }
406 span.teal-background { background: teal; }
407 span.white-background { background: white; }
408 span.yellow-background { background: yellow; }
410 span.big { font-size: 2em; }
411 span.small { font-size: 0.6em; }
413 span.underline { text-decoration: underline; }
414 span.overline { text-decoration: overline; }
415 span.line-through { text-decoration: line-through; }
417 div.unbreakable { page-break-inside: avoid; }
421 * xhtml11 specific
423 * */
425 div.tableblock {
426 margin-top: 1.0em;
427 margin-bottom: 1.5em;
429 div.tableblock > table {
430 border: 3px solid #527bbd;
432 thead, p.table.header {
433 font-weight: bold;
434 color: #527bbd;
436 p.table {
437 margin-top: 0;
439 /* Because the table frame attribute is overridden by CSS in most browsers. */
440 div.tableblock > table[frame="void"] {
441 border-style: none;
443 div.tableblock > table[frame="hsides"] {
444 border-left-style: none;
445 border-right-style: none;
447 div.tableblock > table[frame="vsides"] {
448 border-top-style: none;
449 border-bottom-style: none;
454 * html5 specific
456 * */
458 table.tableblock {
459 margin-top: 1.0em;
460 margin-bottom: 1.5em;
462 thead, p.tableblock.header {
463 font-weight: bold;
464 color: #527bbd;
466 p.tableblock {
467 margin-top: 0;
469 table.tableblock {
470 border-width: 3px;
471 border-spacing: 0px;
472 border-style: solid;
473 border-color: #527bbd;
474 border-collapse: collapse;
476 th.tableblock, td.tableblock {
477 border-width: 1px;
478 padding: 4px;
479 border-style: solid;
480 border-color: #527bbd;
483 table.tableblock.frame-topbot {
484 border-left-style: hidden;
485 border-right-style: hidden;
487 table.tableblock.frame-sides {
488 border-top-style: hidden;
489 border-bottom-style: hidden;
491 table.tableblock.frame-none {
492 border-style: hidden;
495 th.tableblock.halign-left, td.tableblock.halign-left {
496 text-align: left;
498 th.tableblock.halign-center, td.tableblock.halign-center {
499 text-align: center;
501 th.tableblock.halign-right, td.tableblock.halign-right {
502 text-align: right;
505 th.tableblock.valign-top, td.tableblock.valign-top {
506 vertical-align: top;
508 th.tableblock.valign-middle, td.tableblock.valign-middle {
509 vertical-align: middle;
511 th.tableblock.valign-bottom, td.tableblock.valign-bottom {
512 vertical-align: bottom;
517 * manpage specific
519 * */
521 body.manpage h1 {
522 padding-top: 0.5em;
523 padding-bottom: 0.5em;
524 border-top: 2px solid silver;
525 border-bottom: 2px solid silver;
527 body.manpage h2 {
528 border-style: none;
530 body.manpage div.sectionbody {
531 margin-left: 3em;
534 @media print {
535 body.manpage div#toc { display: none; }
539 </style>
540 <script type="text/javascript">
541 /*<![CDATA[*/
542 var asciidoc = { // Namespace.
544 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
545 // Table Of Contents generator
546 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
548 /* Author: Mihai Bazon, September 2002
549 * http://students.infoiasi.ro/~mishoo
551 * Table Of Content generator
552 * Version: 0.4
554 * Feel free to use this script under the terms of the GNU General Public
555 * License, as long as you do not remove or alter this notice.
558 /* modified by Troy D. Hanson, September 2006. License: GPL */
559 /* modified by Stuart Rackham, 2006, 2009. License: GPL */
561 // toclevels = 1..4.
562 toc: function (toclevels) {
564 function getText(el) {
565 var text = "";
566 for (var i = el.firstChild; i != null; i = i.nextSibling) {
567 if (i.nodeType == 3 /* Node.TEXT_NODE */) // IE doesn't speak constants.
568 text += i.data;
569 else if (i.firstChild != null)
570 text += getText(i);
572 return text;
575 function TocEntry(el, text, toclevel) {
576 this.element = el;
577 this.text = text;
578 this.toclevel = toclevel;
581 function tocEntries(el, toclevels) {
582 var result = new Array;
583 var re = new RegExp('[hH]([1-'+(toclevels+1)+'])');
584 // Function that scans the DOM tree for header elements (the DOM2
585 // nodeIterator API would be a better technique but not supported by all
586 // browsers).
587 var iterate = function (el) {
588 for (var i = el.firstChild; i != null; i = i.nextSibling) {
589 if (i.nodeType == 1 /* Node.ELEMENT_NODE */) {
590 var mo = re.exec(i.tagName);
591 if (mo && (i.getAttribute("class") || i.getAttribute("className")) != "float") {
592 result[result.length] = new TocEntry(i, getText(i), mo[1]-1);
594 iterate(i);
598 iterate(el);
599 return result;
602 var toc = document.getElementById("toc");
603 if (!toc) {
604 return;
607 // Delete existing TOC entries in case we're reloading the TOC.
608 var tocEntriesToRemove = [];
609 var i;
610 for (i = 0; i < toc.childNodes.length; i++) {
611 var entry = toc.childNodes[i];
612 if (entry.nodeName.toLowerCase() == 'div'
613 && entry.getAttribute("class")
614 && entry.getAttribute("class").match(/^toclevel/))
615 tocEntriesToRemove.push(entry);
617 for (i = 0; i < tocEntriesToRemove.length; i++) {
618 toc.removeChild(tocEntriesToRemove[i]);
621 // Rebuild TOC entries.
622 var entries = tocEntries(document.getElementById("content"), toclevels);
623 for (var i = 0; i < entries.length; ++i) {
624 var entry = entries[i];
625 if (entry.element.id == "")
626 entry.element.id = "_toc_" + i;
627 var a = document.createElement("a");
628 a.href = "#" + entry.element.id;
629 a.appendChild(document.createTextNode(entry.text));
630 var div = document.createElement("div");
631 div.appendChild(a);
632 div.className = "toclevel" + entry.toclevel;
633 toc.appendChild(div);
635 if (entries.length == 0)
636 toc.parentNode.removeChild(toc);
640 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
641 // Footnotes generator
642 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
644 /* Based on footnote generation code from:
645 * http://www.brandspankingnew.net/archive/2005/07/format_footnote.html
648 footnotes: function () {
649 // Delete existing footnote entries in case we're reloading the footnodes.
650 var i;
651 var noteholder = document.getElementById("footnotes");
652 if (!noteholder) {
653 return;
655 var entriesToRemove = [];
656 for (i = 0; i < noteholder.childNodes.length; i++) {
657 var entry = noteholder.childNodes[i];
658 if (entry.nodeName.toLowerCase() == 'div' && entry.getAttribute("class") == "footnote")
659 entriesToRemove.push(entry);
661 for (i = 0; i < entriesToRemove.length; i++) {
662 noteholder.removeChild(entriesToRemove[i]);
665 // Rebuild footnote entries.
666 var cont = document.getElementById("content");
667 var spans = cont.getElementsByTagName("span");
668 var refs = {};
669 var n = 0;
670 for (i=0; i<spans.length; i++) {
671 if (spans[i].className == "footnote") {
672 n++;
673 var note = spans[i].getAttribute("data-note");
674 if (!note) {
675 // Use [\s\S] in place of . so multi-line matches work.
676 // Because JavaScript has no s (dotall) regex flag.
677 note = spans[i].innerHTML.match(/\s*\[([\s\S]*)]\s*/)[1];
678 spans[i].innerHTML =
679 "[<a id='_footnoteref_" + n + "' href='#_footnote_" + n +
680 "' title='View footnote' class='footnote'>" + n + "</a>]";
681 spans[i].setAttribute("data-note", note);
683 noteholder.innerHTML +=
684 "<div class='footnote' id='_footnote_" + n + "'>" +
685 "<a href='#_footnoteref_" + n + "' title='Return to text'>" +
686 n + "</a>. " + note + "</div>";
687 var id =spans[i].getAttribute("id");
688 if (id != null) refs["#"+id] = n;
691 if (n == 0)
692 noteholder.parentNode.removeChild(noteholder);
693 else {
694 // Process footnoterefs.
695 for (i=0; i<spans.length; i++) {
696 if (spans[i].className == "footnoteref") {
697 var href = spans[i].getElementsByTagName("a")[0].getAttribute("href");
698 href = href.match(/#.*/)[0]; // Because IE return full URL.
699 n = refs[href];
700 spans[i].innerHTML =
701 "[<a href='#_footnote_" + n +
702 "' title='View footnote' class='footnote'>" + n + "</a>]";
708 install: function(toclevels) {
709 var timerId;
711 function reinstall() {
712 asciidoc.footnotes();
713 if (toclevels) {
714 asciidoc.toc(toclevels);
718 function reinstallAndRemoveTimer() {
719 clearInterval(timerId);
720 reinstall();
723 timerId = setInterval(reinstall, 500);
724 if (document.addEventListener)
725 document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", reinstallAndRemoveTimer, false);
726 else
727 window.onload = reinstallAndRemoveTimer;
731 asciidoc.install();
732 /*]]>*/
733 </script>
734 </head>
735 <body class="manpage">
736 <div id="header">
737 <h1>
738 gitsubmodules(7) Manual Page
739 </h1>
740 <h2>NAME</h2>
741 <div class="sectionbody">
742 <p>gitsubmodules -
743 Mounting one repository inside another
744 </p>
745 </div>
746 </div>
747 <div id="content">
748 <div class="sect1">
749 <h2 id="_synopsis">SYNOPSIS</h2>
750 <div class="sectionbody">
751 <div class="literalblock">
752 <div class="content">
753 <pre><code>.gitmodules, $GIT_DIR/config</code></pre>
754 </div></div>
755 <div class="listingblock">
756 <div class="content">
757 <pre><code>git submodule
758 git &lt;command&gt; --recurse-submodules</code></pre>
759 </div></div>
760 </div>
761 </div>
762 <div class="sect1">
763 <h2 id="_description">DESCRIPTION</h2>
764 <div class="sectionbody">
765 <div class="paragraph"><p>A submodule is a repository embedded inside another repository.
766 The submodule has its own history; the repository it is embedded
767 in is called a superproject.</p></div>
768 <div class="paragraph"><p>On the filesystem, a submodule usually (but not always - see FORMS below)
769 consists of (i) a Git directory located under the <code>$GIT_DIR/modules/</code>
770 directory of its superproject, (ii) a working directory inside the
771 superproject&#8217;s working directory, and a <code>.git</code> file at the root of
772 the submodule&#8217;s working directory pointing to (i).</p></div>
773 <div class="paragraph"><p>Assuming the submodule has a Git directory at <code>$GIT_DIR/modules/foo/</code>
774 and a working directory at <code>path/to/bar/</code>, the superproject tracks the
775 submodule via a <code>gitlink</code> entry in the tree at <code>path/to/bar</code> and an entry
776 in its <code>.gitmodules</code> file (see <a href="gitmodules.html">gitmodules(5)</a>) of the form
777 <code>submodule.foo.path = path/to/bar</code>.</p></div>
778 <div class="paragraph"><p>The <code>gitlink</code> entry contains the object name of the commit that the
779 superproject expects the submodule&#8217;s working directory to be at.</p></div>
780 <div class="paragraph"><p>The section <code>submodule.foo.*</code> in the <code>.gitmodules</code> file gives additional
781 hints to Git&#8217;s porcelain layer. For example, the <code>submodule.foo.url</code>
782 setting specifies where to obtain the submodule.</p></div>
783 <div class="paragraph"><p>Submodules can be used for at least two different use cases:</p></div>
784 <div class="olist arabic"><ol class="arabic">
785 <li>
787 Using another project while maintaining independent history.
788 Submodules allow you to contain the working tree of another project
789 within your own working tree while keeping the history of both
790 projects separate. Also, since submodules are fixed to an arbitrary
791 version, the other project can be independently developed without
792 affecting the superproject, allowing the superproject project to
793 fix itself to new versions only when desired.
794 </p>
795 </li>
796 <li>
798 Splitting a (logically single) project into multiple
799 repositories and tying them back together. This can be used to
800 overcome current limitations of Git&#8217;s implementation to have
801 finer grained access:
802 </p>
803 <div class="ulist"><ul>
804 <li>
806 Size of the Git repository:
807 In its current form Git scales up poorly for large repositories containing
808 content that is not compressed by delta computation between trees.
809 For example, you can use submodules to hold large binary assets
810 and these repositories can be shallowly cloned such that you do not
811 have a large history locally.
812 </p>
813 </li>
814 <li>
816 Transfer size:
817 In its current form Git requires the whole working tree present. It
818 does not allow partial trees to be transferred in fetch or clone.
819 If the project you work on consists of multiple repositories tied
820 together as submodules in a superproject, you can avoid fetching the
821 working trees of the repositories you are not interested in.
822 </p>
823 </li>
824 <li>
826 Access control:
827 By restricting user access to submodules, this can be used to implement
828 read/write policies for different users.
829 </p>
830 </li>
831 </ul></div>
832 </li>
833 </ol></div>
834 </div>
835 </div>
836 <div class="sect1">
837 <h2 id="_the_configuration_of_submodules">The configuration of submodules</h2>
838 <div class="sectionbody">
839 <div class="paragraph"><p>Submodule operations can be configured using the following mechanisms
840 (from highest to lowest precedence):</p></div>
841 <div class="ulist"><ul>
842 <li>
844 The command line for those commands that support taking submodules
845 as part of their pathspecs. Most commands have a boolean flag
846 <code>--recurse-submodules</code> which specifies whether to recurse into submodules.
847 Examples are <code>grep</code> and <code>checkout</code>.
848 Some commands take enums, such as <code>fetch</code> and <code>push</code>, where you can
849 specify how submodules are affected.
850 </p>
851 </li>
852 <li>
854 The configuration inside the submodule. This includes <code>$GIT_DIR/config</code>
855 in the submodule, but also settings in the tree such as a <code>.gitattributes</code>
856 or <code>.gitignore</code> files that specify behavior of commands inside the
857 submodule.
858 </p>
859 <div class="paragraph"><p>For example an effect from the submodule&#8217;s <code>.gitignore</code> file
860 would be observed when you run <code>git status --ignore-submodules=none</code> in
861 the superproject. This collects information from the submodule&#8217;s working
862 directory by running <code>status</code> in the submodule while paying attention
863 to the <code>.gitignore</code> file of the submodule.</p></div>
864 <div class="paragraph"><p>The submodule&#8217;s <code>$GIT_DIR/config</code> file would come into play when running
865 <code>git push --recurse-submodules=check</code> in the superproject, as this would
866 check if the submodule has any changes not published to any remote. The
867 remotes are configured in the submodule as usual in the <code>$GIT_DIR/config</code>
868 file.</p></div>
869 </li>
870 <li>
872 The configuration file <code>$GIT_DIR/config</code> in the superproject.
873 Git only recurses into active submodules (see "ACTIVE SUBMODULES"
874 section below).
875 </p>
876 <div class="paragraph"><p>If the submodule is not yet initialized, then the configuration
877 inside the submodule does not exist yet, so where to
878 obtain the submodule from is configured here for example.</p></div>
879 </li>
880 <li>
882 The <code>.gitmodules</code> file inside the superproject. A project usually
883 uses this file to suggest defaults for the upstream collection
884 of repositories for the mapping that is required between a
885 submodule&#8217;s name and its path.
886 </p>
887 <div class="paragraph"><p>This file mainly serves as the mapping between the name and path of submodules
888 in the superproject, such that the submodule&#8217;s Git directory can be
889 located.</p></div>
890 <div class="paragraph"><p>If the submodule has never been initialized, this is the only place
891 where submodule configuration is found. It serves as the last fallback
892 to specify where to obtain the submodule from.</p></div>
893 </li>
894 </ul></div>
895 </div>
896 </div>
897 <div class="sect1">
898 <h2 id="_forms">FORMS</h2>
899 <div class="sectionbody">
900 <div class="paragraph"><p>Submodules can take the following forms:</p></div>
901 <div class="ulist"><ul>
902 <li>
904 The basic form described in DESCRIPTION with a Git directory,
905 a working directory, a <code>gitlink</code>, and a <code>.gitmodules</code> entry.
906 </p>
907 </li>
908 <li>
910 "Old-form" submodule: A working directory with an embedded
911 <code>.git</code> directory, and the tracking <code>gitlink</code> and <code>.gitmodules</code> entry in
912 the superproject. This is typically found in repositories generated
913 using older versions of Git.
914 </p>
915 <div class="paragraph"><p>It is possible to construct these old form repositories manually.</p></div>
916 <div class="paragraph"><p>When deinitialized or deleted (see below), the submodule&#8217;s Git
917 directory is automatically moved to <code>$GIT_DIR/modules/&lt;name&gt;/</code>
918 of the superproject.</p></div>
919 </li>
920 <li>
922 Deinitialized submodule: A <code>gitlink</code>, and a <code>.gitmodules</code> entry,
923 but no submodule working directory. The submodule&#8217;s Git directory
924 may be there as after deinitializing the Git directory is kept around.
925 The directory which is supposed to be the working directory is empty instead.
926 </p>
927 <div class="paragraph"><p>A submodule can be deinitialized by running <code>git submodule deinit</code>.
928 Besides emptying the working directory, this command only modifies
929 the superproject&#8217;s <code>$GIT_DIR/config</code> file, so the superproject&#8217;s history
930 is not affected. This can be undone using <code>git submodule init</code>.</p></div>
931 </li>
932 <li>
934 Deleted submodule: A submodule can be deleted by running
935 <code>git rm &lt;submodule-path&gt; &amp;&amp; git commit</code>. This can be undone
936 using <code>git revert</code>.
937 </p>
938 <div class="paragraph"><p>The deletion removes the superproject&#8217;s tracking data, which are
939 both the <code>gitlink</code> entry and the section in the <code>.gitmodules</code> file.
940 The submodule&#8217;s working directory is removed from the file
941 system, but the Git directory is kept around as it to make it
942 possible to checkout past commits without requiring fetching
943 from another repository.</p></div>
944 <div class="paragraph"><p>To completely remove a submodule, manually delete
945 <code>$GIT_DIR/modules/&lt;name&gt;/</code>.</p></div>
946 </li>
947 </ul></div>
948 </div>
949 </div>
950 <div class="sect1">
951 <h2 id="_active_submodules">ACTIVE SUBMODULES</h2>
952 <div class="sectionbody">
953 <div class="paragraph"><p>A submodule is considered active,</p></div>
954 <div class="olist arabic"><ol class="arabic">
955 <li>
957 if <code>submodule.&lt;name&gt;.active</code> is set to <code>true</code>
958 </p>
959 <div class="paragraph"><p>or</p></div>
960 </li>
961 <li>
963 if the submodule&#8217;s path matches the pathspec in <code>submodule.active</code>
964 </p>
965 <div class="paragraph"><p>or</p></div>
966 </li>
967 <li>
969 if <code>submodule.&lt;name&gt;.url</code> is set.
970 </p>
971 </li>
972 </ol></div>
973 <div class="paragraph"><p>and these are evaluated in this order.</p></div>
974 <div class="paragraph"><p>For example:</p></div>
975 <div class="literalblock">
976 <div class="content">
977 <pre><code>[submodule "foo"]
978 active = false
979 url = https://example.org/foo
980 [submodule "bar"]
981 active = true
982 url = https://example.org/bar
983 [submodule "baz"]
984 url = https://example.org/baz</code></pre>
985 </div></div>
986 <div class="paragraph"><p>In the above config only the submodules <em>bar</em> and <em>baz</em> are active,
987 <em>bar</em> due to (1) and <em>baz</em> due to (3). <em>foo</em> is inactive because
988 (1) takes precedence over (3)</p></div>
989 <div class="paragraph"><p>Note that (3) is a historical artefact and will be ignored if the
990 (1) and (2) specify that the submodule is not active. In other words,
991 if we have a <code>submodule.&lt;name&gt;.active</code> set to <code>false</code> or if the
992 submodule&#8217;s path is excluded in the pathspec in <code>submodule.active</code>, the
993 url doesn&#8217;t matter whether it is present or not. This is illustrated in
994 the example that follows.</p></div>
995 <div class="literalblock">
996 <div class="content">
997 <pre><code>[submodule "foo"]
998 active = true
999 url = https://example.org/foo
1000 [submodule "bar"]
1001 url = https://example.org/bar
1002 [submodule "baz"]
1003 url = https://example.org/baz
1004 [submodule "bob"]
1005 ignore = true
1006 [submodule]
1007 active = b*
1008 active = :(exclude) baz</code></pre>
1009 </div></div>
1010 <div class="paragraph"><p>In here all submodules except <em>baz</em> (foo, bar, bob) are active.
1011 <em>foo</em> due to its own active flag and all the others due to the
1012 submodule active pathspec, which specifies that any submodule
1013 starting with <em>b</em> except <em>baz</em> are also active, regardless of the
1014 presence of the .url field.</p></div>
1015 </div>
1016 </div>
1017 <div class="sect1">
1018 <h2 id="_workflow_for_a_third_party_library">Workflow for a third party library</h2>
1019 <div class="sectionbody">
1020 <div class="literalblock">
1021 <div class="content">
1022 <pre><code># Add a submodule
1023 git submodule add &lt;URL&gt; &lt;path&gt;</code></pre>
1024 </div></div>
1025 <div class="literalblock">
1026 <div class="content">
1027 <pre><code># Occasionally update the submodule to a new version:
1028 git -C &lt;path&gt; checkout &lt;new-version&gt;
1029 git add &lt;path&gt;
1030 git commit -m "update submodule to new version"</code></pre>
1031 </div></div>
1032 <div class="literalblock">
1033 <div class="content">
1034 <pre><code># See the list of submodules in a superproject
1035 git submodule status</code></pre>
1036 </div></div>
1037 <div class="literalblock">
1038 <div class="content">
1039 <pre><code># See FORMS on removing submodules</code></pre>
1040 </div></div>
1041 </div>
1042 </div>
1043 <div class="sect1">
1044 <h2 id="_workflow_for_an_artificially_split_repo">Workflow for an artificially split repo</h2>
1045 <div class="sectionbody">
1046 <div class="literalblock">
1047 <div class="content">
1048 <pre><code># Enable recursion for relevant commands, such that
1049 # regular commands recurse into submodules by default
1050 git config --global submodule.recurse true</code></pre>
1051 </div></div>
1052 <div class="literalblock">
1053 <div class="content">
1054 <pre><code># Unlike most other commands below, clone still needs
1055 # its own recurse flag:
1056 git clone --recurse &lt;URL&gt; &lt;directory&gt;
1057 cd &lt;directory&gt;</code></pre>
1058 </div></div>
1059 <div class="literalblock">
1060 <div class="content">
1061 <pre><code># Get to know the code:
1062 git grep foo
1063 git ls-files --recurse-submodules</code></pre>
1064 </div></div>
1065 <div class="admonitionblock">
1066 <table><tr>
1067 <td class="icon">
1068 <div class="title">Note</div>
1069 </td>
1070 <td class="content"><code>git ls-files</code> also requires its own <code>--recurse-submodules</code> flag.</td>
1071 </tr></table>
1072 </div>
1073 <div class="literalblock">
1074 <div class="content">
1075 <pre><code># Get new code
1076 git fetch
1077 git pull --rebase</code></pre>
1078 </div></div>
1079 <div class="literalblock">
1080 <div class="content">
1081 <pre><code># Change worktree
1082 git checkout
1083 git reset</code></pre>
1084 </div></div>
1085 </div>
1086 </div>
1087 <div class="sect1">
1088 <h2 id="_implementation_details">Implementation details</h2>
1089 <div class="sectionbody">
1090 <div class="paragraph"><p>When cloning or pulling a repository containing submodules the submodules
1091 will not be checked out by default; you can instruct <code>clone</code> to recurse
1092 into submodules. The <code>init</code> and <code>update</code> subcommands of <code>git submodule</code>
1093 will maintain submodules checked out and at an appropriate revision in
1094 your working tree. Alternatively you can set <code>submodule.recurse</code> to have
1095 <code>checkout</code> recurse into submodules (note that <code>submodule.recurse</code> also
1096 affects other Git commands, see <a href="git-config.html">git-config(1)</a> for a complete list).</p></div>
1097 </div>
1098 </div>
1099 <div class="sect1">
1100 <h2 id="_see_also">SEE ALSO</h2>
1101 <div class="sectionbody">
1102 <div class="paragraph"><p><a href="git-submodule.html">git-submodule(1)</a>, <a href="gitmodules.html">gitmodules(5)</a>.</p></div>
1103 </div>
1104 </div>
1105 <div class="sect1">
1106 <h2 id="_git">GIT</h2>
1107 <div class="sectionbody">
1108 <div class="paragraph"><p>Part of the <a href="git.html">git(1)</a> suite</p></div>
1109 </div>
1110 </div>
1111 </div>
1112 <div id="footnotes"><hr /></div>
1113 <div id="footer">
1114 <div id="footer-text">
1115 Last updated
1116 2024-02-08 15:45:59 PST
1117 </div>
1118 </div>
1119 </body>
1120 </html>