I'd like all files under the repo's root folder except .hg/, .hgignore, .hgtags, etc. Is there a mercurial built-in or existing extension to do this?
I have implemented a non-hg script with hard-code "mercurial files", but I'd like a programmatic method of excluding the mercurial related files.
I'm trying to mirror a non-mercurial configuration management server (Starteam) by periodically deleting all files, doing a clean checkout from Starteam and then running hg addremove, then checkin.
For each version you pull from Starteam, I'd suggest creating a new directory.
In this directory, do a hg clone -U from your previous directory. This will clone the repository, but not checkout any files. After which, copy your Starteam files and then do an hg addremove.
It's not exactly what you're looking for but hg update -r null takes your to the revision before the first changeset, which obviously contains no files. That'll leave your .hg in place but .hgtags and .hgignore will be-gone. However, they're tracked files so they'll come back with a hg update the same as any other files.