Symbolic link to Git-controlled file

Symbolic link to Git-controlled file

[jonetsu]

Hello,

Out of curiosity, why is emacs asking before using a symlink that
represents a file that's under git control ?  Everything works fine,
just curious.

Cheers.

Re: Symbolic link to Git-controlled file

[Tassilo Horn]

jonetsu <jonetsu@teksavvy.com> writes:

Hi!

> Out of curiosity, why is emacs asking before using a symlink that
> represents a file that's under git control ?  Everything works fine,
> just curious.

Let's have a look what the docs say (C-h v vc-follow-symlinks RET):

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
vc-follow-symlinks is a variable defined in ‘vc-hooks.el’.

Its value is ‘ask’

What to do if visiting a symbolic link to a file under version control.
Editing such a file through the link bypasses the version control system,
which is dangerous and probably not what you want.

If this variable is t, VC follows the link and visits the real file,
telling you about it in the echo area.  If it is ‘ask’, VC asks for
confirmation whether it should follow the link.  If nil, the link is
visited and a warning displayed.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

How did I find that documentation?  Using M-x apropos-variable RET
symlink RET.

HTH,
Tassilo

Re: Symbolic link to Git-controlled file

[jonetsu]

On Thu, 19 May 2022 15:29:55 +0200
Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org> wrote:

> How did I find that documentation?  Using M-x apropos-variable RET
> symlink RET.

Thanks.  And thanks for the reminder about the available help !

Cheers.