p4 flush

Update the have list An internal list indicates which files and revisions the client workspace has sync'd from the depot. See 'p4 have' in Helix Core Command-Line (P4) Reference. of a client workspace without copying any files.

Syntax

p4 [g-opts] flush [-f -L -n -q] [FileSpec[revSpec]]

Syntax conventions

Description

The p4 flush command performs only Step 2 of p4 sync FileSpec two-step operation:

Step 1: The file revisions in the FileSpec are copied from the depot to the client workspace.

Step 2: The have list of the client workspace is updated to reflect the new client workspace contents.

Under most circumstances, the have list of a client workspace reflects the contents of that workspace. However, if the workspace’s contents do not match the have list, p4 flush might make the have list match the actual contents. Because p4 flush performs no actual file transfers, this command is much faster than the alternative of running p4 sync.

Options

-f	Force the flush. Helix Core Server performs the flush even if the client workspace already has the file at the specified revision.
-L	For scripting purposes, perform the flush on a list of valid file arguments in full depot syntax with a valid revision number.
-n	Display what the results of the flush would be without actually performing the flush. This preview can help you avoid unwanted surprises.
-q	Quiet operation: suppress normal output messages. Messages regarding errors or exceptional conditions are not suppressed.
g-opts	See Global options.

Usage notes

Can File Arguments Use Revision Specifier?	Can File Arguments Use Revision Range?	Minimal Access Level Required	Command Alias
Yes	Yes	read	p4 sync -k.

• Because p4 flush updates the have list without copying files, and p4 sync -f updates the client workspace to match the have list, p4 flush files followed by p4 sync -f is almost equivalent to the p4 sync files command. This means that a bad flush can be partially fixed by following it with a p4 sync -f of the same file revisions that were originally flushed. However, this is not a complete fix because any file revisions that were deleted from the have list by p4 flush remain in the client workspace even after p4 sync -f has run. In such a case, manually remove deleted file revisions from the client workspace.

Examples

• Ten users at the same site need to set up new, identical client workspaces from the same depot at a remote location over a slow link. Typically, each user would run identical p4 sync commands, which means the command would be run a total of ten times. However, if bandwidth is limited, this process can save time:

  1. One user runs p4 sync files from the client workspace firstworkspace.
  2. The other users copy the newly-synced files from the first user’s client workspace into their own client workspaces using their local OS file-copying commands.

  3. The other users run p4 flush files@firstworkspace, which quickly brings their client workspaces' have lists into sync with the files copied into the client workspaces in Step 2. Because p4 flush moves no files across the slow link, this is much faster then running the same p4 sync command ten separate times.

• Joe has a client workspace called joe that has a Root: of
  /usr/joe/project1/subproj
  and a View: of
  //depot/joe/proj1/subproj/... //joe/...
  Joe decides that all the files under /usr/joe/project1 need to be included in the workspace, and uses p4 client to change the Root: to /usr/joe/project1
  and the View: to //depot/joe/proj1/... //joe/....

  This keeps his current client workspace files in the same place while extending the scope of the workspace to include other files. But when Joe runs his next p4 sync, he is surprised to see that Helix Core Server deletes every non-open file in the client workspace and replaces it with an identical copy of the same file!

  Helix Core Server behaves this way because:

  • the have list describes each file’s location relative to the client root
  • the physical location of each file is determined when each Helix Core Server command is run.

  Therefore:

  • Helix Core Server thinks that each file has been relocated
  • p4 sync deletes the file from its "old" location and copies it into its "new" location

  The efficient solution in this case is to use p4 flush #have to update the client workspace’s have list to reflect the "new" locations of the files without actually copying any files.

  Related commands

  p4 flush is an alias for p4 sync -k	p4 sync -k
  To copy files from the depot to the client workspace	p4 sync
  To bring the client workspace in sync with the have list after a bad p4 flush	p4 sync -f