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p4 edit

Synopsis

Opens file(s) in a client workspace for edit

Syntax

p4 [g-opts] edit [-c changelist#] [-t type] file...

Description

p4 edit opens files for editing within the client workspace. The specified file(s) are linked to a changelist; the files are not actually changed within the depot until the changelist is sent to the server with p4 submit.

Perforce controls the local OS file permissions; when p4 edit is run, the OS write permission is turned on for the specified files.

When a file that has been opened for edit with p4 edit is submitted to the depot, the file revision that exists in the depot is not replaced; instead, the new file revision is assigned the next revision number in sequence, and previous revisions are still accessible. By default, the newest revision (the head revision) will be used by all commands that refer to the file.

By default, the specified files are added to the default changelist. Use -c to specify a different changelist.

If p4 edit is run on any files that are already opened for edit, these files are simply moved into the specified changelist, which must have a status of pending.

Options

-c change# Opens the files for edit within the specified changelist. If this flag is not provided, the files are linked to the default changelist.
-t type Stores the new file revision as the specified type, overriding the file type of the previous revision of the same file. File type must be one of text, ltext, xtext, binary, xbinary, ktext, kxtext, symlink, or resource.
g_opts See global options.

Usage Notes

Can File Arg Use
Revision Specifier?

Can File Arg
Use Revision Range?

Minimal
Access Level Required

No No open

Since p4 edit turns local OS write permissions on for the specified files, this command should be given before the file is actually edited. The process is:

  1. use p4 edit to open the file in the client workspace;
  2. edit the file with any text editor;
  3. submit the file to the depot with p4 submit.

To edit an older revision of a file, use p4 sync to retrieve the previously stored file revision into the client workspace, and then p4 edit the file. Since this file revision is not the head revision, p4 resolve must be performed before the file can be stored in the depot with p4 submit.

Perforce does not prevent users from opening already-open files; its default scheme is to allow multiple users to edit the file simultaneously, and then resolve file conflicts with p4 resolve. To prevent someone else from opening a file once you've opened it, use p4 lock. To determine whether or not another user already has a particular file opened, use p4 opened -a file.

Examples

p4 edit -t ktext doc/*.txt Opens all files ending in .txt within the current directory's doc subdirectory for edit. These files are linked to the default changelist; these files are stored as type ktext.
p4 edit -c 14 ... Opens all files anywhere within the current working directory's file tree for edit. These files are examined to determine whether they are text or binary, and are linked to changelist 14.

Related Commands

To open a file for add

p4 add
To open a file for deletion p4 delete
To copy all open files to the depot p4 submit
To read files from the depot into the client workspace p4 sync
To create or edit a new changelist p4 change

To list all opened files

p4 opened
To revert a file to its unopened state p4 revert
To move an open file to a different changelist p4 reopen

AKA

In older versions of Perforce, this command was known as
p4 open.



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Last updated: 06/14/98