Green folder on the UI. Can't drill down into the folder

Question

Github was working. Then when I commented and I went to github UI and I looked at the repo, for one of the folders I saw a green folder and I can't click on it to drill down. How do I fix this?

Even further when I check out the repo and I switch to the branch, there is nothing there. Where did the data go?

Answer 1

This is a submodule. Basically, this is a pointer to a specific commit of another repository.

One would usually rely on a submodule in the following (not exhaustive) list of situations

• avoid duplication of code
• state the dependency with another project at a very specific point in time

You can find more information about submodules by reading the following resources

• Pro Git book
• Git man page

Below, an example of how GitHub currently display a submodule. On the right of the name, you'll notice the abbreviated form of the commit sha (7a361e9) which is being referenced by this submodule.