P4CONFIG

Contains a file name without a path. The specified file is used to store other Helix Server environment variables.

The current working directory (returned by PWD) and its parents are searched for the file. If a file is found, the variable settings within the file are used. If additional files are found in parent directories, and they contain variable settings not already found in other files, those variable settings are also used.

Usage Notes

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

Value if not Explicitly Set

Operating System	Value
All	If not set, this variable is not used.

Example

1. Create a file, such as .p4config.txt in your client root directory.

2. Set P4CONFIG to use the file that you created: p4 set P4CONFIG=.p4config.txt

A sample P4CONFIG file might contain the following lines:

P4CLIENT=marias_client
P4USER=maria
P4PORT=ssl:ida:3548

Notes

P4CONFIG makes it easy to switch Helix Server settings when switching between different projects. If you place a configuration file in each of your client workspaces and set P4CONFIG to point to that file, your Helix Server settings change to the settings in the configuration files automatically when you move from directories in one workspace to another.

Common settings can be placed into a configuration file in a parent directory. These settings can be overridden by setting them in configuration files in child directories.

The file defined by P4ENVIRO contains the same kind of information as the P4CONFIG file. However,

• the P4CONFIG variable contains only the file name of a configuration file, and the system searches through successive parent directories
• the P4ENVIRO variable contains the exact location and name of a configuration file if it is not at its default location

Each line in the configuration file defines one variable. The definition takes the form variable=value.

You can use both P4CONFIG and P4ENVIRO files to define environment variables:

• use the P4CONFIG file for those variables that have different values for different workspaces

• use the P4ENVIRO file for those variables that remain constant for all projects.

Values set in a P4CONFIG file override those set in a P4ENVIRO file.

Common variables to set within a P4CONFIG file include:

P4CHARSET	P4CLIENT	P4DIFF
P4EDITOR	P4HOST	P4LANGUAGE
P4MERGE	P4PASSWD	P4PORT
P4TICKETS	P4USER

For a complete list of valid P4CHARSET values, issue the p4 help charset command.

Ignored lines

The follow types of lines are ignored:

• lines that begin with #, which can be used for comments

• duplicates of the same variable, such as P4PORT. Only the first occurrence is used.