Doing a git add '' will add more files then expected

Hello,

I first asked on stackoverflow (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/26933761/python-sh-module-and-git-try-to-add-more-files-then-in-command/26934517#26934517) about this behaviour.

Then on the conversation that happened on the git-users mailing list other agreed that this behaviour is probably not as intended.

Steps to reproduce: In bash (not sure this is bash specific) do: git add '' (that's to apostrophes, an empty argument)

Results same as doing git add .

Expected no files added or error about not finding file ''

Hope this helps. Guilherme

Guilherme <guibufolo@gmail.com> writes:

The argument to git add is a pathspec, and the empty pathspec matches all files.

Andreas.

Andreas Schwab <schwab@linux-m68k.org> writes:

Err, why does the empty pathspec match all files? Isn't that a bug?

Matthieu Moy <Matthieu.Moy@grenoble-inp.fr> writes:

That is debatable.

    cd Documentation
    git add "a"

would be equivalent to typing

    git add Documentation/"a"

so

    cd Documentation
    git add ""

would be equivalent to typing

    git add Documentation/""

And doing the same from the top-level of the working tree can be argued to be a natural extension.

IMO, if you put an empty string "" you would be implying the same as with a dot (git add . ).

The important thing is that "git add" without a pathspec returns an error, as it has always done, mainly because it people tend to work without gitignoring all the files they should, and allowing such behaviour would make things harder.