Thread: want to clean up project to post on github

I've been working on a PHP module (i.e., written in C to extend PHP). It's been a rather torturous process but I finally have some code that seems to be working reasonably well. I want to post it on github so that people can review and contribute, but I want to avoid posting any files that should not be there or would otherwise pollute and complicate the project. I want it to be nice and clean.

I searched around and found this sample .gitignore file on github but it barely scratches the surface of the files I've got in my directory. I'm hoping someone can tell me
a) what should be in my .gitignore file?
b) can I delete any of these types of files without breaking my project?

The directory contains files with these suffixes:

Code:

==extensions==
.dsp
.orig -- i use this to distinguish a couple of original files before I was maintainer
.php
.lo
.m4
.la
.h
.txt
.in
.awk
.so
.lai
.o
.w32
.nice
.guess
.status
.c
.global
.objects
.sh
.fragments
.deps
.sub
.log
.dsw
==

Should any of these be excluded in .gitignore? Or removed?

there also appear to be a variety of makefiles:

Code:

==makefiles==
./build/scan_makefile_in.awk
./Makefile
./Makefile.global
./Makefile.objects
./Makefile.fragments
==

and finally, some files have no extension

Code:

==files without any extension==
./build/shtool
./mkinstalldirs
./install-sh
./missing
./configure
./libtool
./Makefile
==

I'm guessing I need Makefile and that most of these are required, but should they go into a git repo? Also, the file mkinstalldirs is completely empty.

Any help/guidance would be much appreciated! I really want to get this out the door.

Hi laserlight! I forget that you are also here. Hope you'll forgive me for also posting this on PHPB.

I found a couple of .gitignore files in these PECL projects on php.net. Any comments you might have would be welcome.
72.52.91.13 Git - pecl/languages/v8js.git/tree
72.52.91.13 Git - pecl/networking/ssh2.git/tree

Sorry if this question is uber primitive. I am so rusty at C it's not even funny. The good news is that my serializer module seems to be serializing. Now I just have to do the unserializing. Hoping to get some specific input after posting to github.

Originally Posted by Salem

Does your local git repository contain for example .orig files checked in at older revisions?
Whilst such files aren't immediately visible, they will be taking up archive space.

As of yet there is no git repo at all.

Originally Posted by Salem

The .gitignore file only works going forward. It doesn't automatically purge your repo of any files of that type at older revisions.

Understood, but thank you for the clarification.

Originally Posted by Salem

If you've got no interest in letting the world know all the grubby historic details of your solo development, you might consider just making all the current files "revision 1" in a new repository (cp -r old new ; cd new ; git init). Then make your history "read only" just for your own reference.

This is along the lines I'm thinking, although I was imagining I would create a repo on github, clone it to some local directory on my workstation, copy all my source files into the resulting directory, and then commit everything to the master branch.

What do you mean by "make your history read only" ?

Originally Posted by sneakyimp

This is along the lines I'm thinking, although I was imagining I would create a repo on github, clone it to some local directory on my workstation, copy all my source files into the resulting directory, and then commit everything to the master branch.

The beauty of Git is that you can create a repository on your computer first and then share it later. I usually work on code in a local repository first, create an empty repository on Github, and then push my local repository to that new repository.

Originally Posted by christop

The beauty of Git is that you can create a repository on your computer first and then share it later. I usually work on code in a local repository first, create an empty repository on Github, and then push my local repository to that new repository.

I like this idea a lot, but have not yet caught the hang of remotes and such. Also, I sometimes want to work privately and avoid posting my embarrassing changes to something as public as github.

Originally Posted by whiteflags

OK. I don't want to pile on here but you might not need a remote. Especially if you only have one project at a time. When you clone a repository from github, "origin" remotes are set up for you.

Yes but if you already have a local repo that was created before the repo on github, you have to figure out how to take your local repo's remote and set it to the git hub repo -- or you have to qualify your push statements with where you want to push, etc.

Originally Posted by sneakyimp

I like this idea a lot, but have not yet caught the hang of remotes and such.

There's a bit to learn with Git, but it's not really that difficult. In fact, Github even gives you the right commands to add your Github repository as a remote in your local repository.

Also, I sometimes want to work privately and avoid posting my embarrassing changes to something as public as github.

I know what you mean--I don't like to publish my "dirty laundry" either, so to speak. When you are ready to publish your code, you can create an "orphan" branch that does not contain any commit history. Or you can edit the history to "squash" out only the embarrassing commits, but that's slightly more involved than creating an "orphan" branch.