Edit .gitignore file through terminal

Setup

  1. Download the CSV file wetlands_seasonal_bird_diversity.csv from our shared drive.

  2. In the workbench 1 server, inside your EDS-220/eds220-in-class/ directory, create a new directory called data.

  3. Using the file navigation panel, upload the wetlands_seasonal_bird_diversity.csv file to the data directory.

In the terminal

  1. Verify you are in the eds220-in-class/ directory by using pwd. Your output should look like this:
/Users/your-username/MEDS/EDS-220/eds220-in-class
  1. Run git status. At the end of the output you’ll see:
Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        data/

This means git has detected that the data directory exists but it is not yet tracking changes in it. We are in charge of deciding whether we want to track changes in it or not!

  1. Run ls to see the files in the directory. Your output will look like this, notice the .gitignore file is not listed:
README.md  week1-lesson1-python-review.ipynb
data       week1-lesson3-pandas-subsetting.ipynb
  1. Run ls -a to see all files in the directory, including hidden files (those that start with a period .). At this point, your output will look like this:
.                   README.md
..                  data
.git                week1-lesson1-python-review.ipynb
.gitignore          week1-lesson3-pandas-subsetting.ipynb
.ipynb_checkpoints

  1. Run nano .gitignore. This will open the .gitignore file in the nano editor.

  2. Add the data folder to the .gitignore file by adding this text at the top of the file:

# Ignore the 'data' directory
data/

  1. Once you have made your changes, save the file:

    • In nano, press CTRL + O (the letter O, not zero) to save.
    • Press Enter to confirm the file name (.gitignore).

  2. Exit the editor by pressing CTRL + X.

  3. Run less .gitignore to scroll through the .gitignore file and verify the changes are there:

    • Use the arrow keys or Page Up/Page Down to scroll through the file.
    • Press q to exit.

  4. Run git status and check the output. The data directory will no longer be listed! You will see your .gitignore having changes ready for commit.

  5. Commit and push your changes to the .gitignore.

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