Merge branch 'maint'

[git.git] / Documentation / git-status.txt

diff --git a/Documentation/git-status.txt b/Documentation/git-status.txt
index d7015387b51d88f6bd6e3918b2bd40c4e9529f15..a1bb9bd8290777c41c99b1bfc3a0e6f111705a6d 100644 (file)
--- a/Documentation/git-status.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-status.txt
@@ -12,26 +12,39 @@ SYNOPSIS
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
-Examines paths in the working tree that has changes unrecorded
-to the index file, and changes between the index file and the
-current HEAD commit.  The former paths are what you _could_
-commit by running 'git add' before running 'git
-commit', and the latter paths are what you _would_ commit by
-running 'git commit'.
-
-If there is no path that is different between the index file and
-the current HEAD commit, the command exits with non-zero
-status.
+Displays paths that have differences between the index file and the
+current HEAD commit, paths that have differences between the working
+tree and the index file, and paths in the working tree that are not
+tracked by git (and are not ignored by gitlink:gitignore[5]). The first
+are what you _would_ commit by running `git commit`; the second and
+third are what you _could_ commit by running `git add` before running
+`git commit`.
 
 The command takes the same set of options as `git-commit`; it
 shows what would be committed if the same options are given to
 `git-commit`.
 
+If there is no path that is different between the index file and
+the current HEAD commit (i.e., there is nothing to commit by running
+`git-commit`), the command exits with non-zero status.
+
+If any paths have been touched in the working tree (that is,
+their modification times have changed) but their contents and
+permissions are identical to those in the index file, the command
+updates the index file. Running `git-status` can thus speed up
+subsequent operations such as `git-diff` if the working tree
+contains many paths that have been touched but not modified.
+
 
 OUTPUT
 ------
 The output from this command is designed to be used as a commit
-template comments, and all the output lines are prefixed with '#'.
+template comment, and all the output lines are prefixed with '#'.
+
+The paths mentioned in the output, unlike many other git commands, are
+made relative to the current directory if you are working in a
+subdirectory (this is on purpose, to help cutting and pasting). See
+the status.relativePaths config option below.
 
 
 CONFIGURATION
@@ -42,11 +55,13 @@ mean the same thing and the latter is kept for backward
 compatibility) and `color.status.<slot>` configuration variables
 to colorize its output.
 
-As for gitlink:git-add[1], the configuration variable
-'core.excludesfile' can indicate a path to a file containing patterns
-of file names to exclude, in addition to patterns given in
-'info/exclude' and '.gitignore'.
+If the config variable `status.relativePaths` is set to false, then all
+paths shown are relative to the repository root, not to the current
+directory.
 
+See Also
+--------
+gitlink:gitignore[5]
 
 Author
 ------
@@ -60,4 +75,3 @@ Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel
 GIT
 ---
 Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
-