Document omitting files starting with . or _ better

pekkaklarck · pekkaklarck · commit c5b4eca80138 · 2020-10-05T15:45:42.000+03:00
Fixes robotframework#3691
diff --git a/doc/userguide/src/ExecutingTestCases/BasicUsage.rst b/doc/userguide/src/ExecutingTestCases/BasicUsage.rst
@@ -61,17 +61,17 @@ are illustrated in the examples below. Note that in these examples, as
 well as in other examples in this section, only the ``robot`` script
 is used, but other execution approaches could be used similarly.
 
-__ `Test case files`_
-__ `Test suite directories`_
-__ `Setting the name`_
-__ `Test suite name and documentation`_
-
 ::
 
    robot tests.robot
    robot path/to/my_tests/
    robot c:\robot\tests.robot
 
+.. note:: When executing a directory__, all files and directories starting with
+          a dot (:file:`.`) or an underscore (:file:`_`) are ignored and,
+          by default, only files with the :file:`.robot` extension executed.
+          See the `Selecting files to parse`_ section for more details.
+
 It is also possible to give paths to several test case files or
 directories at once, separated with spaces. In this case, Robot
 Framework creates the top-level test suite automatically, and
@@ -87,6 +87,12 @@ example below::
    robot my_tests.robot your_tests.robot
    robot --name Example path/to/tests/pattern_*.robot
 
+__ `Test case files`_
+__ `Test suite directories`_
+__ `Setting the name`_
+__ `Test suite name and documentation`_
+__ `Test suite directories`_
+
 Using command line options
 --------------------------
 
diff --git a/doc/userguide/src/ExecutingTestCases/ConfiguringExecution.rst b/doc/userguide/src/ExecutingTestCases/ConfiguringExecution.rst
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Selecting files to parse
 ------------------------
 
 When executing a single file, Robot Framework tries to parse and run it
-regardless the file extension. The file is expected to use the `plain text
+regardless the name or the file extension. The file is expected to use the `plain text
 format`__ or, if it has :file:`.rst` or :file:`.rest` extension,
 the `reStructuredText format`_::
 
@@ -26,10 +26,11 @@ the `reStructuredText format`_::
 
 __ `Supported file formats`_
 
-When executing a directory, Robot Framework only parses files with the
-:file:`.robot` extension by default. If files have other extensions,
-the :option:`--extension (-F)` option must be used to explicitly tell the
-framework to parse also them. If there is a need to parse more
+When executing a directory__, Robot Framework ignores all files and directories
+starting with a dot (:file:`.`) or an underscore (:file:`_`) and, by default,
+only parses files with the :file:`.robot` extension. If files use other
+extensions, the :option:`--extension (-F)` option must be used to explicitly
+tell the framework to parse also them. If there is a need to parse more
 than one kind of files, it is possible to use a colon `:` to separate
 extensions. Matching extensions is case insensitive and the leading `.`
 can be omitted::
@@ -46,6 +47,8 @@ would mean that other files in that format are skipped.
           parsed by default. Starting from Robot Framework 3.2 HTML files
           are not supported at all.
 
+__ `Test suite directories`_
+
 Selecting test cases
 --------------------
 
