Perforce 2003.2 User's Guide
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Table of Contents


Preface: About This Manual

Administering Perforce?

Please Give Us Feedback

Chapter 1: Product Overview

Perforce Server and Perforce Client Programs
Moving files between the clients and the server
File conflicts
Labeling groups of files
Branching files
Job tracking
Change notification
Protections

Other Perforce Clients
P4Win
P4Web

Merge Tools
P4 resolve
P4WinMerge
Other merge utilities

Defect Tracking Systems
Perforce jobs
P4DTI integrations with third-party defect trackers

Plug-Ins, reporting and tool integrations
IDE Plug-ins
P4Report and P4SQL
P4OFC

Chapter 2: Connecting to the Perforce Server

Before you begin

Setting up your environment to use Perforce
Telling Perforce clients where the server is
Verifying the connection to the Perforce server

Chapter 3: Perforce Basics: Quick Start

Underlying concepts
File configurations used in the examples

Setting up a client workspace
Naming the client workspace
Describing the client workspace to the Perforce server

Copying depot files into your workspace

Updating the depot with files from your workspace
Adding files to the depot
Editing files in the depot
Deleting files from the depot
Submitting with multiple operations

Backing out: reverting files to their unopened states

Basic reporting commands

Chapter 4: Perforce Basics: The Details

Description of the Client Workspace

Wildcards
Wildcards and "p4 add"

Mapping the Depot to the Client Workspace
Multiple depots
Using views
Wildcards in views
Types of mappings

Editing Existing Client Specifications
Deleting an existing client specification
Client specification options
Multiple workspace roots for cross-platform work
Line-ending conventions (CR/LF translation)

Referring to Files on the Command Line
Local syntax
Perforce syntax
Providing files as arguments to commands
Wildcards and Perforce syntax

Name and String Limitations
Illegal characters in filenames and Perforce objects
Name and description lengths

Specifying Older File Revisions
Using revision specifications without filenames

Revision Ranges

File Types
Base file types

Forms and Perforce Commands
Reading forms from standard input; Writing forms to standard output

General Reporting Commands

Chapter 5: Perforce Basics: Resolving File Conflicts

RCS Format: How Perforce Stores File Revisions
Only the differences between revisions are stored
Use of "diff" to determine file revision differences

Scheduling Resolves of Conflicting Files

Why "p4 sync" to Schedule a Resolve?

How Do I Know When a Resolve is Needed?

Performing Resolves of Conflicting Files
File revisions used and generated by "p4 resolve"
Types of conflicts between file revisions
How the merge file is generated
The "p4 resolve" options

Using Flags with Resolve to Automatically Accept Particular Revisions
Binary files and "p4 resolve"

Locking Files to Minimize File Conflicts
Preventing multiple resolves with p4 lock
Preventing multiple checkouts with +l files

Resolves and Branching

Resolve Reporting

Chapter 6: Perforce Basics: Miscellaneous Topics

Reconfiguring the Perforce Environment with $P4CONFIG

Perforce Passwords

Command-Line Flags Common to All Perforce Commands

Working Detached
Finding changed files with "p4 diff"
Using "p4 diff" to update the depot

Refreshing files

Recommendations for Organizing the Depot

Renaming Files
Revision histories and renamed files

Chapter 7: Changelists

Working with the Default Changelist

Creating Numbered Changelists Manually

Working With Numbered Changelists

Automatic Creation and Renumbering of Changelists
When submit of the default changelist fails, the changelist is assigned a number

Perforce May Renumber a Changelist upon Submission

Deleting Changelists

Changelist Reporting

Chapter 8: Labels

Why not just use changelist numbers?

Using labels
Creating a new label
Labeling all revisions in your workspace
Tagging specific files and revisions with p4 labelsync
Untagging files with p4 labelsync
Previewing labelsync's results
Preventing inadvertent tagging and untagging of files
Listing files tagged by a label
Using label views
Referring to files using a label
Deleting labels

Details: How p4 labelsync works

Label Reporting

Chapter 9: Branching

What is Branching?

When to Create a Branch

Perforce's Branching Mechanisms: Introduction

Branching and Merging, Method 1: Branching with File Specifications
Creating branched files
Propagating changes between branched files
Propagating changes from branched files to the original files

Branching and Merging, Method 2: Branching with Branch Specifications

Branch Specification Usage Notes

Integration Usage Notes

Deleting Branches

Advanced Integration Functions
Integrating specific file revisions
Re-integrating and re-resolving files

How Integrate Works
The yours, theirs, and base files
The integration algorithm
Integrate's actions

Integration Reporting

For More Information

Chapter 10: Job Tracking

Job Usage Overview
Creating and editing jobs using the default job specification
Creating and editing jobs with custom job specifications

Viewing jobs by content with jobviews
Finding jobs containing particular words
Finding jobs by field values
Using and escaping wildcards in jobviews
Negating the sense of a query
Using dates in jobviews
Comparison operators and field types

Linking Jobs to Changelists
Linking jobs to changelists with the JobView: field
Linking jobs to changelists with p4 fix
Linking jobs to changelists from within the submit form
Automatic update of job status
What if there's no status field?

Deleting Jobs

Integrating with External Defect Tracking Systems

Job Reporting Commands

Chapter 11: Reporting and Data Mining

Files
File metadata
Relationships between client and depot files
File contents

Changelists
Viewing changelists that meet particular criteria
Files and jobs affected by changelists

Labels

Branch and Integration Reporting

Job Reporting
Basic job information
Jobs, fixes, and changelists

Reporting for Daemons

System Configuration

Special Reporting Flags

Reporting with Scripting
Comparing the change content of two file sets

Appendix A: Installing Perforce

Getting Perforce

Installing Perforce on UNIX
Download the files and make them executable
Creating a Perforce server root directory
Telling the Perforce server which port to listen to
Starting the Perforce server
Stopping the Perforce server
Telling Perforce clients which port to talk to

Installing Perforce on Windows
Terminology note: Windows services and servers
Starting and stopping Perforce on Windows

Appendix B: Environment Variables

Setting and viewing environment variables

Appendix C: Glossary

Index


This manual copyright 1997-2003 Perforce Software.

All rights reserved.

Perforce software and documentation is available from http://www.perforce.com. You may download and use Perforce programs, but you may not sell or redistribute them. You may download, print, copy, edit, and redistribute the documentation, but you may not sell it, or sell any documentation derived from it. You may not modify or attempt to reverse engineer the programs.

Perforce programs and documents are available from our Web site as is. No warranty or support is provided. Warranties and support, along with higher capacity servers, are sold by Perforce Software.

Perforce Software assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this book.

By downloading and using our programs and documents you agree to these terms.

Perforce and Inter-File Branching are trademarks of Perforce Software. Perforce software includes software developed by the University of California, Berkeley and its contributors.

All other brands or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or organizations.


Perforce 2003.2 User's Guide
Table of Contents
Index
Perforce on the Web
Next Chapter >>
About This Manual
Please send comments and questions about this manual to [email protected].
Copyright 1997-2003 Perforce Software. All rights reserved.
Last updated: 12/12/03