Git sparse checkout: adding directories to existing list is not recognized

Question

Situation

I managed to create a local git repository in my laptop by pulling a single subdirectory of the master branch in a remote repository. I have followed the instructions given in this post on https://stackoverflow.com/a/13738951/5459638. I use git version 2.22.0.

The path of the subdirectory, with respect to https://gitlab.com/<user>/<project>/tree/master as given in the project web page, is contained in the file .git/info/sparse-checkout, say

subdir1/subdir11/

The command

git pull mylaptop master

does create a local copy of the intended directories. This is confirmed with a tree -d. mylaptop was a name of choice for the local repository. This worked fine.

Issue

I then wanted to fetch a sibling directory and its child from the same remote too, say

subdir1/subdir12/

I added this path as a new line in the sparse-checkout file and run the git pull command above. However, the outcome is

From https://gitlab.com/<user>/<project>
* branch            master     -> FETCH_HEAD
Already up to date.

and I see no change in the local tree.

Research

Out of several suggestions I came across in Stackoverflow, I gave it a try to git update-index --skip-worktree, but to no avail. I did this out of intution and would avoid blind trials though. It is not a question of trailing slashes in the paths either.

Question

Apparently I am missing something that makes Git realize that the list has been extended. What could this be?

Try git checkout.

ElpieKay
– ElpieKay

2019-08-05 09:59:19 +00:00
Commented Aug 5, 2019 at 9:59 — ElpieKay
– ElpieKay, Commented Aug 5, 2019 at 9:59
@ElpieKay When? That is, after and before what?

XavierStuvw
– XavierStuvw

2019-08-05 14:19:35 +00:00
Commented Aug 5, 2019 at 14:19 — XavierStuvw
– XavierStuvw, Commented Aug 5, 2019 at 14:19

romor · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-16 21:13:58Z

2

After adding the new path to .git/info/sparse-checkout do

git checkout master

Thus, you do this instead of the initial git pull command.

answered Jan 16, 2021 at 21:13

romor

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Comments

Peter Nimmo · Accepted Answer · 2024-04-05 10:44:15Z

1

I was having trouble with this feature, and have since found the answer. It turns out that git sparse-checkout set is used to set one or more folders that you want to be able to pull down, it is used for setting a specific list of folders - if you perform it again with a different folder it will wipe out the previous list.

If you want do add an additional folder you use git sparse-checkout add

You don't seem to have to redo the pull the moment you update it it pulls down the files.

answered Apr 5, 2024 at 10:44

Peter Nimmo

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Comments

hasi90 · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-29 10:17:21Z

0

You will need to merge and update the files in the work tree.

Simply run:

git read-tree -mu HEAD

More information: git-read-tree

answered Nov 29, 2019 at 10:17

hasi90

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