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gitcase-sensitive

Git shows status clean, but checkout complains about overwriting untracked files

Firstly: 

git status

Result is clean.

Secondly

 git checkout fb/booking_interaction
 error: The following untracked working tree files would be overwritten by checkout:
 web/sites/all/modules/contrib/ckeditor/images/buttons/blockQuote.png

Thirdly, try to clear the untracked files. In the specified directory: 

git clean -f .

Again, no changes and git checkout fails.

What is the problem?

Solution

  • The issue is due to case sensitivity of the file system.

    Looking at the problem. File listing: 

    > ls
imageButton.png
imagebutton.png

    Check that git is set to case-sensitive

    > vi .git/config
ignorecase = false

    This machine is case sensitive. The machine the change was made on must have been too. 

    > git log
removeformat.png - renamed from removeFormat.png.

    Since I have changed ignorecase, git status now shows the change. 

    > git status

Untracked files:
(use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)

blockQuote.png
bulletedList.png

    Git clean also works as expected

    git clean -f .
Removing blockQuote.png
Removing bulletedList.png

    I can checkout the other branch without problems.