Perforce 2003.2 Command Reference
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p4 jobs

p4 job

Synopsis

Create or edit a defect, enhancement request, or other job specification.

Syntax

p4 [g-opts] job [ -f ] [ jobName ]
p4 [g-opts] job -d jobName
p4 [g-opts] job -o [ jobName ]
p4 [g-opts] job -i [ -f ]

Description

A job is a written-language description of work that needs to be performed on files in the depot. It might be a description of a bug (for instance, "the scroll mechanism isn't working correctly") or an enhancement request (for instance, "please add a flag that forces a certain operation to occur") or anything else requiring a change to some files under Perforce control.

Jobs are similar to changelist descriptions in that they both describe changes to the system as arbitrary text, but whereas changelist descriptions describe completed work, jobs tell developers what work needs to be done.

Jobs are created and edited in forms displayed by p4 job. The user enters the textual description of the job into the form, along with information such as the severity of the bug, the developer to whom the bug is assigned, and so on. Since the Perforce superuser can change the fields in the job form with p4 jobspec, the fields that make up a job may vary from one Perforce server to another.

When p4 job is called with no arguments, a new job named jobNNNNNN is created, where NNNNNN is a sequential six-digit number. You can change the job's name within the form before quitting the editor. If p4 job is called with a jobname argument, a job of that name is created; if that job already exists, it is edited.

Once a job has been created, you can link the job to the changelist(s) that fix the job with p4 fix, p4 change, or p4 submit. When a job is linked to a changelist, under most circumstances the job's status is set to closed. (See the Usage Notes below for more information).

Form Fields

These are the fields as found in the default job form. Since the fields that describe a job can be changed by the Perforce superuser, the form you see at your site may be very different.

Field Name
Type
Description

Job:

Writable

The job's name. For a new job, this is new. When the form is closed, this is replaced with the name jobNNNNNN, where NNNNNN is the next six-digit number in the job numbering sequence.

Alternately, you can name the job anything at all by replacing the text in this field.

Status:

Writable Value

The value of this field must be open, closed, or suspended. When the job is linked to a changelist, the value of this field is set to closed when the changelist is submitted.

User:

Writable

The name of the user who created the job.

Date:

Writable

The date the job was created.

Description:

Writable

An arbitrary text description of the job.

Options

-d jobname

Delete job jobname.

-f

Force flag. Allows Perforce administrators to edit read-only fields.

-i

Read the job form from standard input without invoking an editor.

-o

Write the job form to standard output without invoking an editor.

g-opts

See the Global Options section.

Usage Notes

Can File Arguments Use
Revision Specifier?

Can File Arguments Use
Revision Range?

Minimal Access Level Required

N/A

N/A

open

Examples

p4 job

Create a new job; by default, its name is of the form jobNNNNNN.

p4 job job000135

Edit job job000135.

Related Commands

To list all jobs, or a subset of jobs

p4 jobs

To attach a job to an existing changelist

p4 fix

To view a list of connections between jobs and changelists

p4 fixes

To add or delete a job from a pending changelist

p4 change

To change the format of jobs at your site (superuser only)

p4 jobspec

To read information about the format of jobs at your site

p4 jobspec -o


Perforce 2003.2 Command Reference
<< Previous Chapter
p4 integrated
Table of Contents
Index
Perforce on the Web
Next Chapter >>
p4 jobs
Please send comments and questions about this manual to [email protected].
Copyright 1999-2003 Perforce Software. All rights reserved.
Last updated: 12/12/03