CODEWITHSUNDEEP
azure-devopsazure-pipelinesazure-pipelines-yaml
Adam
Adam

Reputation: 1414

Exclude file types in CI triggers on Azure Devops Pipelines Builds

I'm having trouble with setting up a build where commits with only changes to markdown files do not trigger the build.

On the build, I have continuous integration enabled with "include" branch filters.

To exclude changes to markdown files I setup a single "exclude" path filters to **/*.md, which from my understanding of file matching patterns should recursively match all files that end in .md. However, when I push just a change to a markdown file, the build is still triggered.

I considered adding an "include" path filter with /, but the builds are still being triggered without it.

How do I specify specify to not build when only a certain file type was changed?

Upvotes: 13

Views: 13560

Answers (2)

Krzysztof Madej
Krzysztof Madej

Reputation: 40779

The newest update from 08/09/2021 made possible to use wild cards in path filter.

Wild cards can be used when specifying inclusion and exclusion branches for CI or PR triggers in a pipeline YAML file. However, they cannot be used when specifying path filters. For instance, you cannot include all paths that match src/app//myapp*. This has been pointed out as an inconvenience by several customers. This update fills this gap. Now, you can use wild card characters (, *, or ?) when specifying path filters.

So now it should be possible to ave triggers as follows:

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - master
  paths:
    include:
      - src/
    exclude:
      - '/**/*.md'

Upvotes: 12

Josh Gust
Josh Gust

Reputation: 4445

As of now, wild cards are not supported for these file path filters.

You're going to be forced into a different convention to bypass the trigger for these files.

Putting .md files in an explicit structure (ex: /docs) that you can exclude with the "pattern" given in the examples you linked exclude: docs/.

Illustration:

Given the following director structure:

(repo)
\src
   |\d1
   |   \md
   |
    \d2
       \md

Try ** as recursive inclusion prefix

With the following trigger specification to attempt an include on a directory using double wildcard syntax:

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - master
  paths:
    include:
      - /src/**/md/

When a change is made inside the /md directory, then the trigger is not invoked.

Try ** as recursive exclusion prefix

With the following trigger specification to attempt to exclude a directory using double wildcard syntax:

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - master
  paths:
    include:
      - src/
    exclude:
      - src/**/md/

When a change is made to files in either .../md directory, the trigger is invoked.

Explicit path exclusion is successful

With the following trigger specification to attempt an exclude on a fully specified directory path (no wildcard syntax)

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - master
  paths:
    include:
      - src/
    exclude:
      - src/d1/md/

When changes are made to a file inside src/d1/md, then the trigger is not invoked. When changes are made to files inside src/d1 or any other part of the structure, then the trigger is invoked.

Illustration with file names

This same behavior holds true for your specific desire to try and call out a group of files using *.md.

Given each directory has a [variant]_README.md file in it, the following is true:

Try * wildcard as file name

With the following trigger specification to attempt exclusion of any .md file under src/d1/md/ from causing invocation, when changes are made to src/d1/md/f1_README.md, then the trigger is invoked.

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - master
  paths:
    include:
      - src/
    exclude:
      - src/d1/md/*.md

Try * as file name prefix wildcard

With the following trigger specification to attempt to exclude any file ending in README.md under src/d1/md from causing invocation, when changes are made to src/d1/md/f1_README.md, then the trigger is invoked.

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - master
  paths:
    include:
      - src/
    exclude:
      - src/d1/md/*README.md

Try ** and * as recursive any file extension exclusion

With the following trigger specification to attempt exclusion of any .md file anywhere in the repository from causing invocation, when changes are made to src/d1/md/f1_README.md or any other .md file, then the trigger is invoked.

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - master
  paths:
    include:
      - src/
    exclude:
      - /**/*.md

With the following trigger specification to attempt to exclude any .md file in the repository from causing an invocation, when changes are made to src/d1/md/f1_README.md or any other .md file, the trigger is invoked.

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - master
  paths:
    include:
      - src/
    exclude:
      - /*.md

Full file path is successful

CI is NOT triggered when changes are made to src/d1/md/f1_README.md

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - master
  paths:
    include:
      - src/
    exclude:
      - src/d1/md/f1_README.md

Upvotes: 19

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