File type modifiers

The file type modifiers are:

Modifier	Description	Comments
`+w`	File is always writable on client
`+x`	Execute bit set on client	Used for executable files, such as a shell script.
`+k`	RCS keyword expansion	Expands RCS (Revision Control System) keywords. RCS keywords are case-sensitive. When using keywords in files, a colon after the keyword (for instance, $Id:$ ) is optional. UTC keywords are better suited to describe events in globally distributed installations. Supported keywords are as follows: $Id$ $Header$ $Date$ Date of submission $DateUTC$ Date of submission in UTC time zone $DateTime$ Date and time of submission $DateTimeUTC$ Date and time of submission in UTC time zone. $DateTimeTZ$ Date and time of submission in the server’s time zone, but including the actual time zone in the result. $Change$ $File$ $Revision$ $Author$
+ko	RCS keyword expansion of ID and Header only
`+l`	Exclusive open (locking)	If set, only one user at a time will be able to open a file for editing. Useful for binary file types (such as graphics) where merging of changes from multiple authors is meaningless.
`+C`	Perforce stores the full compressed version of each file revision	Default storage mechanism for `binary` files and newly-added `text`, `unicode`, and `utf16` files larger than 10MB.
`+D`	Perforce stores deltas in RCS format	Prior to 2022.1, RCS format was the default storage mechanism for text files. Since 2022.1 the lbr.autocompress configurable defaults to `1`, and all new files are stored as compressed. To override this default and make a specific file store its deltas in RCS format, specify the `+D` filetype modifier. See Examples for p4 add.
`+F`	Perforce stores full file per revision, uncompressed	Useful for large binaries, or for long ASCII files that are not read by users as text, such as PostScript files. In a depot of type graph, binary+F is valid for Git Large File Storage (LFS).
`+S`	Only the head revision is stored	Older revisions are purged from the depot upon submission of new revisions. Useful for executable or `.obj` files.
`+Sn`	Only the most recent `n` revisions are stored, where `n` is a number from 1 to 10, or 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, or 512.	Older revisions are purged from the depot upon submission of more than `n` new revisions, or if you change an existing `+Sn` file’s `n` to a number less than its current value. Earlier revisions unaffected. For details, see Usage Notes.
`+m`	Preserve original modtime	The file’s timestamp on the local filesystem is preserved upon submission and restored upon sync. Useful for third-party DLLs in Windows environments.
`+X`	Archive trigger required	The Perforce service runs an `archive` trigger to access the file. See Triggering to affect archiving in the Helix Core Server Administrator Guide.

Overriding file type with the -t option

A file’s type is normally preserved between revisions, but can be overridden or changed with the -t option during add, edit, or reopen operations:

p4 add -t filetype filespec adds the files as the specified type.
p4 edit -t filetype filespec opens the file for edit as the specified type. The file’s type is changed to the specified filetype only after it is submitted to the depot.
p4 reopen -t filetype filespec changes the type of a file already open for add or edit.

The filetype argument is specified as [basetype] +modifiers. For example, to change script.sh's type to executable text with RCS keyword expansion, use p4 edit -t text+kx script.sh.

Partial filetypes are also acceptable. For example, to change an existing text file to text+x, use p4 reopen -t +x script.sh. Most partial filetype modifiers are added to the filetype, but the storage modifiers (+C, +D, and +F) replace the file’s storage method. To remove a modifier, you must specify the full filetype.