Exclude reference directory workaround

I just wanted to put this up since there have been a lot of threads recently discussing how to exclude directories and still access the code in them...the short answer is you can't.  ;\


My solution is as follows.  Note: I'm using Github to track my projects[paid account for 5 private repositories].

My repository structure is as follows:
Repository: Clients

Branch: Master : empty repository to serve as a model

build,deploy,docs,libs,sites,tests,tmp,config

config/phpstorm : empty

Exclude: cache/, administrator/cache/, .idea/

Branch: Joomla Projects: almost empty repository to serve as a model

build,deploy,docs,libs,sites,tests,tmp,config

config/phpstorm : empty

libs/joomla-platform : submodule uses the Joomla org's read only platform rep link

libs/joomla-cms : submodule uses the Joomla org's read only cms rep link

Exclude: cache/, administrator/cache/, .idea/

Branch: <Clientname>: client code

build,deploy,docs,libs,sites,tests,tmp,config

config/phpstorm : periodic copy of the contents of .idea

libs/joomla-platform : submodule uses the Joomla org's read only platform rep link

libs/joomla-cms : submodule uses the Joomla org's read only cms rep link

sites/clientsite : client website that I'm working on

Git Exclude: sites/clientsite/cache/, sites/clientsite/administrator/cache/, sites/clientsite/tmp, .idea/

PHPStorm configuration:
Project is opened/created in the repository directory which is switched to the project branch
I copy anything in config/phpstorm to .idea - setting my default configuration for the project

Content Root: project root,

Exclude: libs

Test Sources: tests

Resource Root: sites

Next I configure PHPStorm for this project:

Directories: build,deploy,docs,libs,sites,tests,tmp,config *nochange*

Subdirs: config/phpstorm, libs/joomla-platform,libs/joomla-cms,sites/clientsite *nochange*

Git Exclude: sites/clientsite/cache/, sites/clientsite/administrator/cache/, sites/clientsite/tmp, .idea/ *nochange*

Content Root: project root,

PHPStorm Exclude: libs

PHPStorm Test Sources: tests

PHPStorm Resource Root: sites

With this done, I copy everything in .idea to config/phpstorm.  This allows me to keep a copy of my IDE configuration, without constantly updating it with minor config file changes.  That way when I want to work on a different system, I can checkout the entire project, copy over the config information and everything is setup as I want it.  Note: this means that in general, if given a choice between making a scope "shared" or not, always choose shared... shared places it in the .idea directory, not shared places it in my users/[username]/.WebIDE40 directory!

With that done, I now create 2 ADDITIONAL PHP projects.  Project 1 is opened in the directory [project root]/libs/joomla-platform and project 2 is opened in the directory [project root]/libs/joomla-cms


When working, I use 3 instances of PHPStorm.  One instance for the master project.  One instance for Joomla-Platform.  One instance for Joomla-CMS.  If I want to check on one of the library sources to see how something is done there[or perhaps snag some updated code for the website] I switch to the other project.  It's not as convenient as running a single instance, but it works.


I also use SmartGit in addition to PHPStorm's built in repository tools.   Most of the time, PHPStorm works fine, but every now and then I just need a bit more functionality in order to deal with the submodules.