Git

Git is not in XTree or ZTreeWin, so it starts off: turn it on with F12 (page 1, “Git commands”) or git = true under [options] in the configuration. It needs the git program.

The Git menu (Ctrl+G)

Ctrl+G opens the Git menu in the footer; the next letter chooses:

• Status, Log, Diff (against HEAD: staged and unstaged together, with colors) and Blame open in the viewer, with search;
• Graph: git log --graph --decorate --oneline --all, the last 1000 commits of every branch, in Git’s own colors (one per branch line), also in the viewer;
• Add and Unstage;
• Commit opens Git’s own editor, as git commit does.

The commands act on the tagged files of the list, otherwise on the current file; in the tree, on the current directory. Status and Graph always cover the whole repository. For push, pull and other commands that use the network, use eXecute (X), e.g. git push.

Status in the file list

The file list shows each file’s status before its name, with the two letters of git status --short: M staged, M changed but not staged, A added, ?? untracked, R renamed. Unchanged files show blanks. The status is read again after Xylem’s own operations, after F3, and every 10 seconds (to catch commits made in another terminal).

Diff in the viewer

In the viewer, D shows what changed in the file since the last commit (its git diff HEAD, with colors) and D again goes back to the file, at the same place. “Diff” appears in the footer only for files with changes; E still edits the file, and the diff is updated on return.

Repositories you did not create

A repository’s .git can name commands for Git to run, and a downloaded or extracted folder comes with its .git (a git clone does not bring it). So the file markers and Status, Log, Graph, Diff and Blame run none of them: no hooks, core.fsmonitor, external diffs, text conversions or signature checks. What this costs:

• A repository that defines its own filters, as git-crypt does, gets no markers, Status, Diff or Blame here, with a message saying why. Log and Graph work. Filters in your global configuration, such as Git LFS, are trusted.
• A submodule with changed files but no new commit does not show as changed.

Add, Unstage and Commit are things you ask for, and follow the repository’s configuration: they can run what it names.

Trusted folders

Nothing is trusted by default: every repository is treated as hostile. To let the repositories of a folder work with all of their configuration, such as git-crypt or a diff tool of your own, add the folder under Trusted Git folders (K on page 1 of F12), with ; between folders:

~/projects; /work/code

In the file, it is a list: git_trusted = ["~/projects", "/work/code"]. A folder is a full path or one under ~, and it covers everything below it. A link pointing out of it does not carry the trust along.

Danger: inside a trusted folder, just walking into a repository lets Git run what it names, with your permissions. Never extract or download anything from others into one, and do not trust ~ or /, which hold what you download.