darktable-org / darktable-org/darktable

Ignore macOS build artifacts and generated application files

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C
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Description

Description

The macOS build process generates several files and directories that are not part of the source tree and should not be tracked by Git.

These artifacts are created while compiling the project and packaging the generated macOS application bundle. They currently appear as untracked files after a build, making the working tree unnecessarily difficult to inspect.

For example, the build process may generate:

  • packaging/macosx/bin/
  • packaging/macosx/lib/
  • packaging/macosx/libexec/
  • packaging/macosx/share/
  • Generated .app bundles
  • Other temporary files produced by the macOS packaging scripts

Proposed change

Add the macOS build and packaging output directories to the repository's .gitignore file.

A possible entry could be:

# macOS build and packaging artifacts
packaging/macosx/bin/
packaging/macosx/lib/
packaging/macosx/libexec/
packaging/macosx/share/
packaging/macosx/*.app/

If appropriate, the generated backup file should also be ignored:

packaging/macosx/*_ORIGINAL

Alternatively, a broader pattern could be used if the entire packaging/macosx output structure is generated during the build and does not contain source files that need to be versioned.

Motivation

Ignoring these directories would:

  • Keep the working tree clean after a macOS build.
  • Prevent generated binaries and libraries from being accidentally committed.
  • Make it easier to identify actual source changes.
  • Avoid platform-specific build artifacts being included in pull requests.

The proposed patterns should be reviewed to ensure that only generated files are ignored and that any source or configuration files required by the build remain tracked.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Open the repository's .gitignore and inspect packaging/macosx to distinguish generated output from source and configuration files. Add ignore rules for the generated directories, .app bundles, and any confirmed backup files, then verify that a macOS build leaves those artifacts absent from Git's untracked-file list.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
macos
Domain
build-system
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
1/5
Estimated time
Under an hour
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
84/100

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