Git ignore file for VB.NET projects

Question

I wan to place a VB.NET project under Git control in Windows (was previously under Visual Source Safe - long sad story of repository corruption, etc.). How should I set up the ignore file? The exclusions I'm thinking of using are:

• *.exe
• *.pdb
• *.manifest
• *.xml
• *.log (is Git case sensitive on Windows? Should I exclude *.l og as well?)
• *.scc (I gather these were left over from Visual Source Safe - maybe I should delete them?)

Is this a sensible list? Should I be excluding directories?

Answer 1

Found this to be extremely comprehensive...

https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/master/VisualStudio.gitignore

As of 3/27/2018

## Ignore Visual Studio temporary files, build results, and
## files generated by popular Visual Studio add-ons.
##
## Get latest from https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/master/VisualStudio.gitignore

# User-specific files
*.suo
*.user
*.userosscache
*.sln.docstates

# User-specific files (MonoDevelop/Xamarin Studio)
*.userprefs

# Build results
[Dd]ebug/
[Dd]ebugPublic/
[Rr]elease/
[Rr]eleases/
x64/
x86/
bld/
[Bb]in/
[Oo]bj/
[Ll]og/

# Visual Studio 2015/2017 cache/options directory
.vs/
# Uncomment if you have tasks that create the project's static files in wwwroot
#wwwroot/

# Visual Studio 2017 auto generated files
Generated\ Files/

# MSTest test Results
[Tt]est[Rr]esult*/
[Bb]uild[Ll]og.*

# NUNIT
*.VisualState.xml
TestResult.xml

# Build Results of an ATL Project
[Dd]ebugPS/
[Rr]eleasePS/
dlldata.c

# Benchmark Results
BenchmarkDotNet.Artifacts/

# .NET Core
project.lock.json
project.fragment.lock.json
artifacts/
**/Properties/launchSettings.json

# StyleCop
StyleCopReport.xml

# Files built by Visual Studio
*_i.c
*_p.c
*_i.h
*.ilk
*.meta
*.obj
*.pch
*.pdb
*.pgc
*.pgd
*.rsp
*.sbr
*.tlb
*.tli
*.tlh
*.tmp
*.tmp_proj
*.log
*.vspscc
*.vssscc
.builds
*.pidb
*.svclog
*.scc

# Chutzpah Test files
_Chutzpah*

# Visual C++ cache files
ipch/
*.aps
*.ncb
*.opendb
*.opensdf
*.sdf
*.cachefile
*.VC.db
*.VC.VC.opendb

# Visual Studio profiler
*.psess
*.vsp
*.vspx
*.sap

# Visual Studio Trace Files
*.e2e

# TFS 2012 Local Workspace
$tf/

# Guidance Automation Toolkit
*.gpState

# ReSharper is a .NET coding add-in
_ReSharper*/
*.[Rr]e[Ss]harper
*.DotSettings.user

# JustCode is a .NET coding add-in
.JustCode

# TeamCity is a build add-in
_TeamCity*

# DotCover is a Code Coverage Tool
*.dotCover

# AxoCover is a Code Coverage Tool
.axoCover/*
!.axoCover/settings.json

# Visual Studio code coverage results
*.coverage
*.coveragexml

# NCrunch
_NCrunch_*
.*crunch*.local.xml
nCrunchTemp_*

# MightyMoose
*.mm.*
AutoTest.Net/

# Web workbench (sass)
.sass-cache/

# Installshield output folder
[Ee]xpress/

# DocProject is a documentation generator add-in
DocProject/buildhelp/
DocProject/Help/*.HxT
DocProject/Help/*.HxC
DocProject/Help/*.hhc
DocProject/Help/*.hhk
DocProject/Help/*.hhp
DocProject/Help/Html2
DocProject/Help/html

# Click-Once directory
publish/

# Publish Web Output
*.[Pp]ublish.xml
*.azurePubxml
# Note: Comment the next line if you want to checkin your web deploy settings,
# but database connection strings (with potential passwords) will be unencrypted
*.pubxml
*.publishproj

# Microsoft Azure Web App publish settings. Comment the next line if you want to
# checkin your Azure Web App publish settings, but sensitive information contained
# in these scripts will be unencrypted
PublishScripts/

# NuGet Packages
*.nupkg
# The packages folder can be ignored because of Package Restore
**/[Pp]ackages/*
# except build/, which is used as an MSBuild target.
!**/[Pp]ackages/build/
# Uncomment if necessary however generally it will be regenerated when needed
#!**/[Pp]ackages/repositories.config
# NuGet v3's project.json files produces more ignorable files
*.nuget.props
*.nuget.targets

# Microsoft Azure Build Output
csx/
*.build.csdef

# Microsoft Azure Emulator
ecf/
rcf/

# Windows Store app package directories and files
AppPackages/
BundleArtifacts/
Package.StoreAssociation.xml
_pkginfo.txt
*.appx

# Visual Studio cache files
# files ending in .cache can be ignored
*.[Cc]ache
# but keep track of directories ending in .cache
!*.[Cc]ache/

# Others
ClientBin/
~$*
*~
*.dbmdl
*.dbproj.schemaview
*.jfm
*.pfx
*.publishsettings
orleans.codegen.cs

# Including strong name files can present a security risk 
# (https://github.com/github/gitignore/pull/2483#issue-259490424)
#*.snk

# Since there are multiple workflows, uncomment next line to ignore bower_components
# (https://github.com/github/gitignore/pull/1529#issuecomment-104372622)
#bower_components/

# RIA/Silverlight projects
Generated_Code/

# Backup & report files from converting an old project file
# to a newer Visual Studio version. Backup files are not needed,
# because we have git ;-)
_UpgradeReport_Files/
Backup*/
UpgradeLog*.XML
UpgradeLog*.htm
ServiceFabricBackup/

# SQL Server files
*.mdf
*.ldf
*.ndf

# Business Intelligence projects
*.rdl.data
*.bim.layout
*.bim_*.settings
*.rptproj.rsuser

# Microsoft Fakes
FakesAssemblies/

# GhostDoc plugin setting file
*.GhostDoc.xml

# Node.js Tools for Visual Studio
.ntvs_analysis.dat
node_modules/

# Visual Studio 6 build log
*.plg

# Visual Studio 6 workspace options file
*.opt

# Visual Studio 6 auto-generated workspace file (contains which files were open etc.)
*.vbw

# Visual Studio LightSwitch build output
**/*.HTMLClient/GeneratedArtifacts
**/*.DesktopClient/GeneratedArtifacts
**/*.DesktopClient/ModelManifest.xml
**/*.Server/GeneratedArtifacts
**/*.Server/ModelManifest.xml
_Pvt_Extensions

# Paket dependency manager
.paket/paket.exe
paket-files/

# FAKE - F# Make
.fake/

# JetBrains Rider
.idea/
*.sln.iml

# CodeRush
.cr/

# Python Tools for Visual Studio (PTVS)
__pycache__/
*.pyc

# Cake - Uncomment if you are using it
# tools/**
# !tools/packages.config

# Tabs Studio
*.tss

# Telerik's JustMock configuration file
*.jmconfig

# BizTalk build output
*.btp.cs
*.btm.cs
*.odx.cs
*.xsd.cs

# OpenCover UI analysis results
OpenCover/

# Azure Stream Analytics local run output 
ASALocalRun/

# MSBuild Binary and Structured Log
*.binlog

# NVidia Nsight GPU debugger configuration file
*.nvuser

Answer 2

maintained here: https://github.com/github/gitignore

# Build and Object Folders
bin/
obj/

#User Specific Files
*.user
*.suo

## Ignore Visual Studio temporary files, build results, and
## files generated by popular Visual Studio add-ons.

# User-specific files
*.suo
*.user
*.sln.docstates

# Build results
[Dd]ebug/
[Rr]elease/
x64/
*_i.c
*_p.c
*.ilk
*.meta
*.obj
*.pch
*.pdb
*.pgc
*.pgd
*.rsp
*.sbr
*.tlb
*.tli
*.tlh
*.tmp
*.vspscc
*.vssscc
.builds

# Visual C++ cache files
ipch/
*.aps
*.ncb
*.opensdf
*.sdf

# Visual Studio profiler
*.psess
*.vsp

# Guidance Automation Toolkit
*.gpState

# ReSharper is a .NET coding add-in
_ReSharper*

# NCrunch
*.ncrunch*
.*crunch*.local.xml

# Installshield output folder 
[Ee]xpress

# DocProject is a documentation generator add-in
DocProject/buildhelp/
DocProject/Help/*.HxT
DocProject/Help/*.HxC
DocProject/Help/*.hhc
DocProject/Help/*.hhk
DocProject/Help/*.hhp
DocProject/Help/Html2
DocProject/Help/html

# Click-Once directory
publish

# Publish Web Output
*.Publish.xml

# Others
[Bb]in
[Oo]bj
sql
TestResults
[Tt]est[Rr]esult*
*.Cache
ClientBin
[Ss]tyle[Cc]op.*
~$*
*.dbmdl
Generated_Code #added for RIA/Silverlight projects

# Backup & report files from converting an old project file to a newer
# Visual Studio version. Backup files are not needed, because we have git ;-)
_UpgradeReport_Files/
Backup*/
UpgradeLog*.XML

Answer 3

Don't forget to include [Pp]ublish/

Answer 4

We use the following, all of our shared stuff (dll, exe, bat, etc) are kept in a a folder named "lib", this way it stays clean and we can put anything we want in lib and it is excluded from the ignore rules.

[Bb]in/
[Oo]bj/
!/lib
*.user
*.suo
_ReSharper.*
*.sln.cache
*.xap
*.vspcc
*.vscc 
*.vssscc

BTW, yes .gitignore is case sensitive even in Windows, so yes you need to include multiple cases. Visual Studio will sometimes create a Bin folder instead of bin if you are working with Silverlight or WPF applications. The same applies for Obj. Some external tools will do that as well. The extension names, from what I have been able to tell, are lowercase in all cases, unless of course you modify it (another hack if you want to remove a single file from the git add . command, BTW).

Answer 5

Delete the existing .scc files. They're Source Safe junk.

You'll also want to exclude: .licx (license files,) .dll, .suo, .ncb, .vspcc, .vscc, and .vssscc files. The last three are generated by Visual Studio to keep track of source control bindings.

Answer 6

Here's what I have for my C# projects:

ProjectName/bin
ProjectName/obj
*.user
*.suo
_ReSharper.*
*.sln.cache

With the bin/obj directories gone, you don't need to exclude all EXEs, XML files etc - which is handy, as it means you still get to put in the ones you want :) (You might have sample XML files etc.)