git - how to remove empty folder and push that change?

Question

How can I remove an empty folder locally and also have that happen for other collaborators that share the remote via pull-push? I know that folders aren't 'tracked' in that sense by git but the question remains.

e.g. I moved a file to another folder and committed the change (of the move).

But I can't git rm name the folder as I get "doesn't match" git rmdir name doesn't exist.

I can do a git clean -f folder but how does that get pushed up?

I can directly rm the file but how do I get that directory removal done correctly and pushed to the repository and then out to others when they pull so that their existing folder gets deleted?

Solution 1

The short answer: You can't push changes to directories (added, removed, etc.) because Git does not track directories on their own.

According to the FAQ:

Currently the design of the git index (staging area) only permits files to be listed, and nobody competent enough to make the change to allow empty directories has cared enough about this situation to remedy it.

Directories are added automatically when adding files inside them. That is, directories never have to be added to the repository, and are not tracked on their own.

So as far as Git is concerned, your empty directory doesn't exist anymore.

I have found that getting in the habit of using git clean -fd removes the need for pushing the removal of directories. However, git clean can remove items you may not want removed (including any new files you have not yet committed) so I tend to first use git clean -fdn to see what will be removed if I use the command.

It looks like you may be forced to talk to your fellow developers in order to clean up that directory.

Solution 2

git add --all
git clean -f -d
git commit -m "trying to remove folders"
git push

Comments

[igniteflow]

This approach does in fact work, but on the second step you want to delete the folder containing the file rm -rf name and then commit the change, the folder will now be gone

[Daniel Sokolowski]

Mercurial has a saner approach here - the directory is remove if empty: stackoverflow.com/a/3917322/913223 and superuser.com/questions/81204/…

[Andry]

This answer is incomplete. The git svn fetch does maintain empty folders. Even git svn rebase recreate empty folders if simply remove one.

[alpha_989]

@DanielSokolowski, is that the same approach in git, atleast when cloning a repo. I found that when cloning a repo containing a empty directory, git doesn't create the empty directory. Is this not a big issue, because now I have to check that the directory exists for writing files?

[joel]

creates unnecessary commits

[Aaron Franke]

Or just use git clean -fd

[Benjamin John]

Is there a way of achieving this without the need to commit and push changes?

[Izhar Aazmi]

You do not need to commit. The last 2 commands are not required

[StaNov]

I think this is actually the correct answer. OP wants the directory to disappear for all others without them running commands on their machines other than pull.

[user2987828]

git clean -i -d would be nicer.