doc: make the gitfile syntax easier to discover

index 1a2ef4c150..949cd8a31e 100644 --- a/Documentation/gitrepository-layout.txt +++ b/Documentation/gitrepository-layout.txt @@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ A Git repository comes in two different flavours: *Note*: Also you can have a plain text file `.git` at the root of your working tree, containing `gitdir: <path>` to point at the real -directory that has the repository. This mechanism is often used for +directory that has the repository. +This mechanism is called a 'gitfile' and is usually managed via the +`git submodule` and `git worktree` commands. It is often used for a working tree of a submodule checkout, to allow you in the containing superproject to `git checkout` a branch that does not have the submodule. The `checkout` has to remove the entire

index 5a537268e2..3f912e7bb2 100644 --- a/Documentation/glossary-content.txt +++ b/Documentation/glossary-content.txt @@ -184,6 +184,8 @@ current branch integrates with) obviously do not work, as there is no [[def_gitfile]]gitfile:: A plain file `.git` at the root of a working tree that points at the directory that is the real repository. + For proper use see linkgit:git-worktree[1] or linkgit:git-submodule[1]. + For syntax see linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5]. [[def_grafts]]grafts:: Grafts enables two otherwise different lines of development to be joined