P4IGNORE

Specify a list of files that contain lists of rules for ignoring files when adding files to the depot and reconciling workspaces.

Usage Notes

Used by Client?	Used by Server?	Command-Line Alternative	Can be set in P4CONFIG file?
Yes	No	None	Yes

Value if not Explicitly Set

Operating System	Value
All	none

Examples

.p4ignore
.p4ignore;$home/.myp4ignore

Notes

Note

You may use $home to set environment variables. For example

P4IGNORE=$home/myignorefile

The syntax for the contents of a P4IGNORE file is not the same as Helix Server syntax. Instead, it is similar to that used by other versioning systems:

Rules are specified using local filepath syntax. Unix style paths will work on Windows for cross platform file support.
A # character at the beginning of a line denotes a comment.

You can escape the # comment character with a backslash (\). This allows filenames beginning with # to be ignored.
A ! character at the beginning of a line line excludes the file specification. These exclusions override rules defined above it in the P4IGNORE file, but may be overridden by later rules.
A / (or \ on Windows) character at the beginning of a line causes the file specification to be considered relative to the P4IGNORE file. This is useful when the rule must apply to files at particular depots of the directory tree.
A / (or \ on Windows) character at the end of a line causes the file specification to only match directories, and not files of the same name.
The * wildcard matches substrings. Like the Helix Server wildcard equivalent, it does not match path separators; however, if it is not used as part of a path, the directory scanning nature of the rule may make it appear to perform like the Perforce "..." wildcard.
The ** wildcard matches substrings including path separators. It is equivalent to the Helix Server "..." wildcard, which is not permitted.

For example:

	# Ignore .p4ignore files
	.p4ignore

	# Ignore object files, shared libraries, executables
	*.dll
	*.so
	*.exe
	*.o

	# Ignore all HTML files except the readme file
	*.html
	!readme.html

	# Ignore the bin directory
	bin/

	# Ignore the build.properties file in this directory
	/build.properties

	# Ignore all text files in test directories
test/**.txt

The first match is used when figuring out what to ignore.

Use the p4 ignores command to get information about why a file is being ignored during add and reconcile operations. For example, the following command, lets you know which line of the P4IGNORE file is being used to ignore a file.

		$ p4 ignores -v -i mypath