Files

Helix Server's primary task is to version files, so Swarm makes it easy to browse the depotA file repository hosted on the server. A depot is the top-level unit of storage for versioned files (depot files or source files) within a Helix Core Server. It contains all versions of all files ever submitted to the depot. There can be multiple depots on a single installation.. Start browsing by clicking the Files link in the top toolbar.

• Swarm displays a list of breadcrumb links to help you quickly navigate to higher level directories quickly.

  

• Links with folder icons represent directories of files within the depot. Click a directory link to display the contents of that directory.
• Click the .. link with the up-arrow icon , when it appears, to navigate to the current directory's parent.
• Links with dog-eared page icons represent individual files within the depot. See File display for more information.

• Click the Commits tab to display the list of changes made to files in the current directory, or any directories it contains. See Commits for more information.

  

Swarm creates links for files and directories wherever they appear in the Swarm UI.

Download files as a ZIP archive

The Download .zip button is used to download the selected files or folders in the Helix Server as a ZIP archive. This makes it easy to get a copy of files without having to setup a client.

When you click the Download .zip button, Swarm performs the following steps:

1. Scans the files/folders:
   • Checks that you have permission to access their contents, according to the Helix Core Server protections.
   • Checks that the total file size is small enough to be processed by Swarm.
2. Syncs the file contents to the Swarm server from the Helix Core Server.
3. Creates the ZIP archive by compressing the file content.
4. Starts a download of the generated ZIP archive.

Browsing deleted files and folders

When the Show Deleted Files button is clicked, Swarm toggles the inclusion of deleted folders and files in the file display.

Deleted folders and files are presented slightly muted compared to non-deleted entries.

File display

When Swarm is asked to display a file, if the file is a type that Swarm can display, Swarm presents the file's contents. Clicking the Open button displays the file content with no surrounding page markup. Clicking the Download button causes the file to be downloaded.

When a file is opened it will by default be truncated to 1 MB in size. This limit can be increased (or removed) via the Swarm configurables. See Files configuration for details. This limit does not apply to downloaded files.

Along with the file's name, Swarm displays the version number for the currently displayed file. For example, this heading indicates that version 2 of logo-lg.png is being displayed:

Every version of a file is available on the Commits tab.

If the version of a file being previewed has been deleted, the version number appears in red:

Text files

Swarm displays the contents of text files (including the Helix Server filetypes unicode and UTF16) with line numbers. When possible, syntax highlighting is applied to make identification of various elements within the file easier.

For more information on Helix Server filetypes, see File Types in P4 Command Reference.

Click Blame to add a column to the display that identifies the userid responsible for each line of the file.

Each userid presented is a link that, when clicked, displays the changelist that provided the associated text. Muted userids indicate that the associated text is from the same changelist as the line above. For example, the userid allison.c is responsible for lines 1, 10, and 12 in the screenshot above.

When you hover your pointer over a userid in the blame column, a tooltip appears displaying the associated changelist description.

When there are no lines displayed, for example when you are viewing empty or shelved files, the Blame button is disabled.

Images

Swarm displays web-safe images.

The checkerboard background in this example is not part of the logo; it helps identify where transparency exists.

Many browsers can display SVG images with no additional plugins, so Swarm attempts to display SVG images rather than displaying the image's definition. When you use a browser that cannot natively display SVG images, you see the broken image icon.

When imagick (an optional module that integrates ImageMagick into PHP) is installed, Swarm can also display the following image formats: BMP, EPS, PSD, TGA, TIFF.

3D models

Swarm 2014.1 includes support for displaying select 3D model file types in the browser:

Supported file types include:

• DAE - including any referenced web-safe texture images.
• STL - both binary and ASCII versions of the format.
• OBJ - including any referenced MTL files, and web-safe texture images.

When Swarm can display a 3D model, it renders a generic grid stage and places the model in the center, scaled to make viewing straightforward. A toggle control appears in the top right: when enabled, you can control the view with the mouse, and when not enabled, permits auto-rotation to occur (when possible).

1. Click and hold the left mouse button to begin rotating the view. Drag while holding the left mouse button to rotate the view.
2. Click and hold the right mouse button to begin panning the view. Drag while holding the right mouse button to pan the view.
3. Roll the mouse wheel up or down to adjust the magnification of the view.

When possible, a second control appears allowing you to toggle between showing the model with surfaces, or just showing the model's wireframe.

Other file types

It is possible to view other file types in Swarm, through the addition of additional modules, or by installing LibreOffice on the Swarm host.

When the file is a type that Swarm cannot display, Swarm presents the file's history, along with the Download button.