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ignore

When you specify a recursive search as part of a files, tidy or copy action, you would sometimes like to exclude certain directories from the list of sub directories. In most cases you will want to do this on a per-command basis (see the pages for these actions separately), but you can also make a global ignore list. This can be accomplished by adding the directory to the ignore-list. The syntax is

  ignore:

     wildcards/directories/filenames

For example:

ignore:

   any::

      #
      # Prevent tidying .X11 directories in /tmp where
      # window managers write semaphores
      #

      .X11

      #
      # Don't tidy emacs locks
      #

      !*
      /local/lib/gnu/emacs/lock/
      /local/tmp
      /local/bin/top
      /local/lib/tex/fonts
      /local/etc
      /local/www
      /local/mutils/etc/finger.log


None of the above directories will be checked or entered during recursive descents unless a specific command is initiated to search those directories with their names as the top of the search tree.

A handy tip if you are tidying /tmp recursively is to include the directory .X11 here. This directory is used by the X-windows system and deleting it while a window manager has an open session can cause the user some trouble.

Ignore refers to all recursive searches in tidy, files, copy and links.