NAME

       datalad create - create a new dataset from scratch.

SYNOPSIS

       datalad create [-h] [-f] [-D DESCRIPTION] [-d DATASET] [--no-annex] [--fake-dates] [-c PROC] [PATH] ...

DESCRIPTION

       This command initializes a new dataset at a given location, or the current directory. The new dataset can
       optionally  be  registered in an existing superdataset (the new dataset's path needs to be located within
       the superdataset for that, and the superdataset needs to be given explicitly via --dataset). It is recom‐
       mended to provide a brief description to label the dataset's nature *and* location, e.g. "Michael's music
       on black laptop". This helps humans to identify data locations in distributed scenarios.  By  default  an
       identifier comprised of user and machine name, plus path will be generated.

       This  command  only creates a new dataset, it does not add existing content to it, even if the target di‐
       rectory already contains additional files or directories.

       Plain Git repositories can be created via the --no-annex flag.  However, the result will not  be  a  full
       dataset, and, consequently, not all features are supported (e.g. a description).

       To create a local version of a remote dataset use the `install` command instead.

       NOTE   Power-user  info: This command uses git init and git annex init to prepare the new dataset. Regis‐
              tering to a superdataset is performed via a git submodule add operation in the  discovered  super‐
              dataset.

   Examples
       Create a dataset 'mydataset' in the current directory::

        % datalad create mydataset

       Apply the text2git procedure upon creation of a dataset::

        % datalad create -c text2git mydataset

       Create a subdataset in the root of an existing dataset::

        % datalad create -d . mysubdataset

       Create a dataset in an existing, non-empty directory::

        % datalad create --force

       Create a plain Git repository::

        % datalad create --no-annex

OPTIONS

       PATH   path  where the dataset shall be created, directories will be created as necessary. If no location
              is provided, a dataset will be created in the current working directory. Either  way  the  command
              will  error if the target directory is not empty. Use FORCE to create a dataset in a non-empty di‐
              rectory. Constraints: value must be a string, or Value must be a Dataset or a valid identifier  of
              a Dataset (e.g. a path)

       INIT OPTIONS
              options  to  pass to git init. Any argument specified after the destination path of the repository
              will be passed to git-init as-is. Note that not all options will lead to viable results. For exam‐
              ple '--bare' will not yield a repository where DataLad can adjust files in its worktree.

       -h, -\-help, -\-help-np
              show this help message. --help-np forcefully disables the use of a pager for displaying  the  help
              message

       -f, -\-force
              enforce creation of a dataset in a non-empty directory.

       -D DESCRIPTION, -\-description DESCRIPTION
              short description to use for a dataset location. Its primary purpose is to help humans to identify
              a dataset copy (e.g., "mike's dataset on lab server"). Note that when a dataset is published, this
              information becomes available on the remote side. Constraints: value must be a string

       -d DATASET, -\-dataset DATASET
              specify  the  dataset  to perform the create operation on. If a dataset is given, a new subdataset
              will be created in it. Constraints: Value must be a Dataset or a valid  identifier  of  a  Dataset
              (e.g. a path)

       -\-no-annex
              if set, a plain Git repository will be created without any annex.

       -\-fake-dates
              Configure  the  repository  to use fake dates. The date for a new commit will be set to one second
              later than the latest commit in the repository. This can be used to anonymize dates.

       -c PROC, -\-cfg-proc PROC
              Run cfg_PROC procedure(s) (can be specified multiple times) on the created dataset. Use run_proce‐
              dure --discover to get a list of available procedures, such as cfg_text2git.

AUTHORS

        datalad is developed by The DataLad Team and Contributors <team@datalad.org>.

datalad create 0.12.4                              2020-04-06                                  datalad create(1)