Documentation

P4Web is documented in "How to Use P4Web" and in embedded help files.

Requirements

• P4Web works with a Perforce Server at Release 99.2 or higher.

• P4Web works with most web browsers. Some older browsers do not provide the authentication support needed by P4Web; those browsers can be used only when P4Web is running as a read-only "Viewer".

• The 03.2+ versions of P4Web use limited javascript, but will still function even if javascript is turned off. However, this version makes ample use of CSS style sheets and html tables. Therefore, it is HIGHLY recommended that users upgrade to newer versions of their favorite browsers if they encounter rendering and/or performance issues when using P4Web. The 03.2+ versions of P4Web are not supported using Netscape browser versions older than 7.1.

• On Windows and Unix, you must have P4, the Perforce Command-Line Client, installed in order to interactively resolve files from within P4Web.

• On Macintosh, Unix, and Windows, P4Web can launch an editor. Which editor it launches is determined by the startup environment of the p4web executable, as described in "How to Use P4Web." You must set P4EDITOR before running p4web to control which editor is launched.

Latest Changes

Minor New Functionality in Release 2003.2

• P4Web has a new look! The page layout and menu organization have undergone an overhaul to improve usability. Icons, menu organization and tool bars are now more consistent with the other Perforce graphical user interfaces.

• P4Web has extended support for diff to allow line endings to be ignored. This support is only available with 2003.2+ Perforce Servers.

• P4Web has extended support for integration when used with 2003.2+ Perforce Servers. Specifically, P4Web provides options for re-branching source over deleted targets, and for deleting modified targets if source files were deleted.

• All Preview result pages have a button at the bottom to allow the user to perform the previewed action. This capability exists for Sync, Remove from Workspace, Add/Replace files in Label, Revert, Resolve and Integrate pages.

• The P4Web Settings page provides the capability to change or set the current user's password.

• The "View Fixes" page has been retired. "View Changelist" now incorporates the changelist and fixes onto one page.

• P4Web now incorporates server, P4Web and browser information on one Information page.

• When used with javascript-enabled browsers, P4Web does not require button activation to select items from the subnavigation menus.

Bugs fixed in 2003.2

#64799

P4Web is more robust when parsing invalid URLs. Specifically, if a request requires form data, P4Web should no longer crash if form data does not exist. This scenario can only occur if the user manually enters random values into the URLs. (Bug #14963)

2003.2/60355

#60355

The P4Web Viewer no longer crashes when trying to change configuration settings. (Bug #14464)

2003.2/54243

#54233

The Submitted Changelists page no longer erroneously displays pending numbered changelists in addition to submitted changelists when the current path is //. (Bug #13465)

2003.2/53528

#53516

The result page from the "Sync to Head" shortcut no longer displays the title "Unknown Command Status". (Bug #13272)

#53513

Changelist descriptions are now displayed using a fixed-width font instead of a variable-width font so that any columnar data will line up correctly. (Bug #12981)

#53510

Hyperlinks from P4Web containing colons are no longer incorrectly truncated. (Bug #13135)

#53503

P4Web now correctly generates links to files and directories which contain high-order ASCII characters. (Bug #13296, #4582)

2003.2/51929

#51653

All fields of the Job Specification page now use the same font. In previous 03.2 beta releases, the font used to display the Description field differed from the rest of the fields on the page. (Bug #12921)

#51641

All text fields in the Job Specification page now have their original formatting preserved. Previously word wrapping and and paragraph filling were enabled in all text fields except for fields 105 (Description), 115 and 117. (Bug #12833)

#51547

Now http URLs embedded in the Description fields of changelists and jobs are treated as hyperlinks. (Bug #10850, #12790)

2003.2/51425

#51423

P4Web now properly displays an error on the Depot Tree View when the user does not enter the correct password. This bug was only present in the 03.2 beta version of P4Web. (Bug #12846)

#51403

The ability to view changed unopened files has been restored to the 03.2 release of P4Web. This menu option was missing only from the 03.2 beta version of P4Web. Now this menu option is in the File Filter of the Depot Tree View. (Bug #12832)

2003.2/51318

#50688

The Sync to Head menu items have been removed from the Depot Tree and File View submenus because it was too easy to accidentally sync when using a javascript-enabled browser. Now users can still easily perform that task using the "Sync..." menu option or the Sync toolbar button. (Bug #12568)

2003.2/50527

#50163

Job names with embedded spaces are now handled correctly. (Bug #11876)

#49877

The User Specification page now has an Edit button when displaying the specification for the current user. The Client Specification page also has an Edit button when displaying the specification for the current client. (Bug #7218, #12298)

#49871

P4Web no longer crashes or shows incorrect results when trying to access a label, branch, job, changelist, user or client in workspace mode when the entity's name matches a root directory on the machine running P4Web. (Bug #12321)

#48925

P4Web now generates Revision History on files in workspace mode by default if the file is in the depot. (Bug #12003)

#48527

P4Web no longer ignores the "use integrated changelists" option when filtering submitted changelists by user or client. (Bug #11892)

#48508

P4Web's Setting page now allows the user to enable the browser to cache its pages. (Bug #11860)

#48389

P4Web now uses icons and toolbar buttons which are more consistent with the other Perforce graphical user interfaces. (Bug #5220, #7030, #11468)

#47240

Button placement has been improved. The buttons on the subnavigation menus are displayed as expected (to the right of the select menus). Buttons on forms are displayed at the bottom of the page. (Bug #3422)

#47023

The Depot View (formerly Path Browser) page now displays a file filter. This filter may be used to set various options previously available only via the Settings page (such as Show deleted files). Also, this filter is used to select a subset of files from the current directory (such as unsynced files, opened files, etc). (Bug #9463, #10289)

#46922

The Revision History (formerly File Browser) page now displays its links in a less confusing manner. (Bug #11794)

#46149

The Run, Show and Goto menus in P4Web have been replaced by a new menu structure. The main categories roughly match those used by P4Win and P4V, and are implemented as tabs. Each tab may have additional subnavigation selection menus as needed. (Bug #3419, #4427, #4441, #11468, #10289)

#45686

P4Web's Information pane at the top of each page now incorporates the current path, links to edit the current client and current user, and a link to a new Information page. (Bug #10286, #11468)

#45126

Launching the editor from P4Web would cause the browser to hang (i.e. not finish painting the page) until the editor exited. This has been fixed. (Bug #11221)

#45067

P4Web no longer elicits "too many rows scanned" errors at the top of a depot tree display with extremely large depots. (Bug #9099, #9252)

Minor New Functionality in Release 2003.1

• The new Cancel button can be used to stop execution of the operation currently being processed by P4Web. With a Perforce Server at Release 2003.1 or later, Cancel will also halt server-side processing of the operation.

Bugs fixed in 2003.1

2003.1/48236

#48236

P4Web no longer crashes upon startup on Cygwin 1.3.2. (Bug #10274)

2003.1/47811

#47811

P4Web no longer crashes when trying to display a page that only contains an error message. (Bug #11767)

2003.1/44445

#43851

Documentation for installing P4Web on Mac OS 10.x has been clarified. (Bug #10466, #10939)

#43850

P4Web now always sends at least the HTTP status header line for every page it renders. (Bug #10661, #10898)

#43825

P4web now supports spec formatting changes internal to the 2003.1+ Perforce Server.

#43755

P4Web now provides the capability to stop a Perforce Server command when used with 2003.1+ Perforce Servers. (Bug #4548)

2003.1/42601

#42538

Tooltips on the file state icons and shortcut buttons now work correctly for all supported browsers and platforms except for Opera 5.0 on Linux. (Bug #7803, #10661)

Major New Functionality in Release 2002.2

• P4Web supports multiple client roots when used with 2002.2+ Perforce Servers. This support allows for access to client roots through multiple UNIX paths (using symlinks, or varying NFS mount points).

• P4Web has two new options for displaying annotated file text when used with 2002.2+ Perforce Servers. The "Show Annotated file text" page displays each line of a files head revision with the line number where it was introduced. The "Show Fully annotated file text" page also displays deleted lines, and shows the range of revisions for each line.

• P4Web has extended support for integration when used with 2002.2+ Perforce Servers. Specifically, P4Web allows you to use indirect integration history when seeking the base for merging. Formerly both source and target had to be directly related by branching.

• P4Web has extended support for diff and resolve to allow whitespace and whitespace-only changes to be ignored. This support is only available with 2002.2+ Perforce Servers.

Bugs fixed in 2002.2

2002.2/42083

#42083

The Branch or Integrate page no longer provides an option to use indirect history to determine the base for merging. Now this option is only available by using branch with the 'indirect' option set.

2002.2/38427

#38012

Documentation regarding browsers supported by P4Web has been clarified. (Bug #9480)

2002.2/37867

#37867

P4Web now renders the Recent Activity pane more quickly when users are viewing the root directory. (Bug #9499)

2002.2/37442

#37097

P4Web now correctly renders content based on mime type for compiled html help files on Microsoft Internet Explorer. This change partially fixes job009397. (Bug #9397)

2002.2/36727

#36648

P4Web now correctly renders content based on mime type for MS Word template files. (Bug #8961)

2002.2/36307

#36213

The Revert page from the path browser now has a Preview Revert button. This functionality is only available for 2002.2+ Perforce Servers. (Bug #9154)

#36211

P4Web now issues an error if the user tries to go to workspace mode while using a null client root. (Bug #7941)

#36209

P4Web now supports the "p4 annotate" command to show file text with revision information per line. This functionality is only available for 2002.2+ Perforce Servers. (Bug #9141)

#36188

P4Web now allows users to perform diffs and resolves using the new Ignore Whitespace options. This functionality is only available for 2002.2+ Perforce Servers. (Bug #9143, #9144)

#36120

P4Web allows the user to specify the indirect option when creating or editing a branch spec. This option provides the ability to use indirect integration history for determining the base for merging. This functionality is only available for 2002.2+ Perforce Servers. (Bug #9126)

#36111

P4Web provides an option on the Branch or Integrate page for the integrate -i option. Specifically, this option supports using indirect integration history to determine the base for merging. This functionality is only available for 2002.2+ Perforce Servers. (Bug #9125)

#36106

P4Web now provides support for multiple client roots. This functionality is only available for 2002.2+ Perforce Servers. (Bug #9108)

Major New Functionality in Release 2002.1

• P4Web supports jobs. Functionality includes the ability to list jobs (including the ability to filter and select visible fields), to display job details, to create/edit/delete jobs, and to display job fixes.

• P4Web has extended support for labels. In addition to listing labels and displaying their details, functionality includes the ability to list files currently in the label, to create/edit/delete labels, to run labelsync, and to sync a workspace to a label.

• P4Web has extended support for branches. In addition to listing branch specs and displaying their details, functionality includes the ability to create/edit/delete branch specs, to integrate using a branch spec, and to compare file contents branched through a branch spec.

• Additional Browser support. P4Web supports Opera, iCab, and Mozilla 5.x Browsers. NOTE: P4Web is tested against the actual Mozilla browser; Mozilla-compliant browsers, such as Konqueror, are not tested and, therefore, not specifically supported.

• P4Web's Viewer mode now supports user authentication. See Passwords and Authorization for more information.

Bugs fixed in 2002.1

2002.1/34618

#33822

The P4Web helper on MAC OSX generates an error if the browser is not running on the same machine as the helper. (No job filed)

#33446

The Run menu now has a Label option instead of a Create Label option. The new Label option allows the user to choose whether to create, edit or labelsync using a specific label. (Bug #7769)

#33074

The Labelsync page now has an option to labelsync to the head revision. The option to labelsync to a specific revision number was removed because this option is not useful when applied to multiple files. (Bug #7750)

#33057

P4Web no longer generates duplicate "client unknown" errors when the client has not been defined. Also, the Path Browser page does not generate additional directory links after that error has been reported. (Bug #7794)

#33025

The "Branch or Integrate" page, formerly called the Integrate page, now has a link to the Branches list page. (Bug #4571)

#32959

The Jobs page now has a link at the top of the page to the form at the bottom of the page. (Bug #7728)

# 32878

The Delete label, branch and job confirmation pages now include links to the appropriate detail pages. (Bug #7795)

#32859

The forms in the Run menu do not present redundant file selection options when the current path is at the head of the depot tree. (Bug #7064)

#32798

The Sync page now contains a separate option to sync to a changelist. Now the Sync menu options from the Path Browser, Label Detail and Changelist Detail pages display the same Sync form with the appropriate options selected based on context. (Bug #7734)

#32626

P4Web now provides a more useful error and a link to retry the connection when the user fails to connect due to a username/password error. (Bug #7791)

#32599

P4Web now correctly renders content based on mime type for Visio and MS Project files. (Bug #7833)

#32575

The "Show Depot File in Browser" and the revision links on the File Browser page now render files containing more than one period using the correct mime type. (Bug #7834)

2002.1/32489

#32345

The P4Web viewer generates a password error when the password used by the viewer is missing or incorrect. (Bug #7773)

#31457

The default selection for most Run menu forms is now "Selected Files" instead of "Files in path". Only the Sync form still uses "Files in path". This helps protect the user from unintentionally performing an operation on all files in a path. (Bug #7631)

#31333

The integrate form allows the user to prevent automatic sync to head revision. This option is only available with 2002.1 Perforce Servers (and beyond). (Bug #7630)

#31122

Paths in workspace mode are now displayed correctly with Opera 6.0 when P4Web is running on NT. (Bug #7532)

#31104

The -P option to set the password now generates a warning when used incorrectly. The -P flag can only be used when P4Web is invoked without authentication (ie with the -b flag). (Bug #7587)

#30823

The Path and File Browser pages no longer erroneously display the "not in client view" icon when a file is opened for branch from a remote depot. Now they correctly display the "opened for branch" icon. (Bug #7523)

#30768

The Path and File Browser pages no longer erroneously display the "not in sync" icon when a file is unmapped. Now it correctly displays the "not in client view" icon. (Bug #7523)

#30627

The Submitted Changelists form now unsets the pattern value correctly when the user clears the field. (Bug #7517)

#30623

Removing all files (with 'rmdir' set in the clientspec) from a directory in workspace mode and switching back to the path browser now shows the path to the missing directory so you can navigate out of it. This feature didn't always work on non-NT systems. (Bug #7399)

#30616

Submit now provides the option to reopen files after they have been submitted. (Bug #7509)

#30600

The Submitted Changelists form no longer loads the "changelists up to" text box with the highest changelist by default, as this behavior interferes with setting a useful bookmark. (Bug #7497)

#29981

Launch editor on Unix does not automatically launch an xterm instance with the editor when the DISPLAY environment is set. (Bug #7201)

#29928

Launch editor now works correctly when the P4EDITOR variable has more than one word. (Bug #7322)

#29663

The Integrate form from the Path Browser no longer appends "/..." to the path unless it is required. (Bug #7223)

#29596

Files opened for add that were deleted at the head revision are now visible in the path browser even when the Show Deleted Files setting is turned off. (Bug #7235)

#29593

The Open for Add form now includes files deleted at the head revision in the list of files to add. (Bug #7196)

#29275

The Submitted Changelists form allows the user to filter changelists by user and/or by client. This feature is only available if the Perforce Server is 2002.1 or later. (Bug #6948)

#29112

The Changelist Detail page now has menu options to sync all files to changelist, sync only files in changelist, and show fixes in changelist. (Bug #5787)

#29092

The Show button on the Submitted Changelists page now works correctly with all supported browsers. (Bug #7123)

#29076

In workspace mode on the Mac, files no longer are displayed as directories. (Bug #7007)

#28656

To improve performance, files selected in the Selected Files field of the Run menu forms are sent to the Perforce Server using client syntax. (Bug #7011)

#28510

The File Browser page shows all three file mappings when used with a 2002.1 or later Perforce Server. (Bug #3383)

#28469

Show the user@client that has a file opened in the path browser only if the file is opened in the current client by a different user. (Bug #5282, #6018)

#28443

P4Web allows the user to suppress the display of opened files in the path browser. (Bug #5796)

#28157

The File Browser page now shows the user who has the file locked if the file is locked by another user. This feature is only available if the Perforce Server is 2002.1 or later. (Bug #6577)

#28123

P4Web now has improved mime type detection for displaying file content. (Bug #4090, #4446, #5071)

#28046

Pressing the Redisplay button on the Edit Pending Changelist form does not cause the Opera 5.12 browser to hang. (Bug #6624)

#27976

The "Open for add" Run menu option is now always available from the File Browser page. (Bug #5513)

#27268

Redisplay buttons on forms now work correctly on Netscape when user is in workspace mode. (Bug #6632)

#27083

Labels List now allows users to show labels with files in the current path. (Bug #4897)

#26195

Edit Pending Changelist and Submit forms now have ability to allow user to check or uncheck all files in the list. (Bug #3432)

#26055

Action is now displayed for each file in the Revert form. (Bug #5476)

#25895

Forms from the Run menu now give user the ability to check or uncheck all files in the list. (Bug #3432)

#25658

The default page content limit is now displayed in the Settings page. (Bug #5436)

#25524

File Browser now shows depot path of file when in Workspace mode. (Bug #5772)

#25490

P4Web no longer generates spurious Perforce Server error messages in the log. (Bug #6085)

#25297

Forms which present choices relevant to the current user now correctly check case of user name, based on Perforce Server case sensitivity. (Bug #6017)

Major New Functionality in Release 2001.1

• A P4Web Helper can now show you your actual Perforce client workspace path hierarchy, as well as the depot path hierarchy. Use "Go To->Workspace root" or "Go To->Settings" to initiate workspace path browsing. See Settings and Preferences for more information.

• You can now set a Back-in-Time Browsing® point to see what your Perforce depot looked like at that time. See Back-in-Time Browsing® for more information.

• Users are no longer allowed to switch Perforce ports. After a P4Web Helper starts up, it always uses the same Perforce user and port. Only users who know the password stored in the Perforce Server at the startup port can connect to a P4Web Helper. See Passwords and Authorization for more information.

• You can now set a limit to the size of the pages displayed by P4Web. This feature helps users whose browsers are easily swamped by large pages. See Settings and Preferences for more information.

Bugs fixed in 2001.1

2001.1/25842

#25842

Files displayed or run by browser are exempt from page content limit. (Bug #6439)

#23813

Support for "integrate -t" added. (Bug #5848)

#23767

No longer attempts to run xterm on Mac OS. (Bug #5819)

#23419

Support for changing current client in Viewer restored. (Bug #5755)

#23409

Workspace browsing available via "Go To", not "Go To->Settings." (Bug #5614)

#23296

"Resolve preview" window no longer closes instantly. (Bug #5668)

#23061

Fixed "Launch editor" warnings. (Bug #5631)

#22960

"Launch editor" now can create new file. (Bug #5615)

#22934

Files opened for add appear in the Path Browser even if directories haven't been created yet. (No Job)

#22860

Workspace mode shows only current path contents instead of "phantom" new files in subdirectories. (Bug #5564)

#22466

Corrected "Add" page for unmapped paths. (Bug #5524)

#22444

Corrected help file link on "Open File for Add" page. (Bug #5523)

#22443

Submitted Changelists fixed for workspace mode. (Bug #5519)

#22388

Empty workspace root no longer causes error. (Bug #5495)

#22333

The File Browser page no longer displays a link to workspace files that don't exist. (Bug #5483)

#22326

Displaying empty file content doesn't cause browser errors. (Bug #5471)

#21436

"Show deleted files" preference works with directories containing only deleted files. (Bug #5196)

#21773

Directories with only deleted files no longer appear in a P4Web Viewer's Path Browser unless "Show deleted files" is in effect. (Bug #5240)

#21336

Attempts to add previously deleted file no longer cause error. (Bug #5142)

#21808

"Launch Editor" doesn't crash when attempting to edit file that doesn't exist. (Bug #5298)

#19642

"Pending changelist" page shows only the files opened by the current user so that files opened by another user won't be included in a "Submit." (Bug #4689, #4705)

#21823

Edit Pending Changelist and Submit Default Changelist now use same form. (Bug #5278)

#21530

Revert buttons on Submit/Edit Pending Changelist forms now work correctly with default changelist. (Bug #5143)

#21066

Can now revert changelists (Bug #4786)

#22218

The "Entire depot/Client view" preference is no longer listed in the Show menu, because it's now available in "Go To->Settings" and in a shortcut button. (Bug #5418)

#21380

P4Web Viewer now allows "Client view only" preference. (Bug #4864)

#20087

Client view page now has a link to make that client the current client. (Bug #4058)

#20101

Client edit form has a larger views field. (Bug #4597)

#21863

Client syntax can be used in a Path Browser URL. (Bug #5238)

#21203

Submitted changelists page now accepts user-selectable changelist range and file matching pattern. (Bug #4022, #4404)

#21440

P4Web now shuts down properly when "Shut Down" is chosen from the "Special" menu on the Mac. (Bug #5156)

#22078

The Mac doesn't crash after waking up from sleep while running P4Web. (Bug #3646)

#21258

On the Mac, P4Web no longer includes "invisible" system-generated files (e.g. "icon " and ".DS_Store") when listing files to open for add. (Bug #4945)

#21435

P4Web now accommodates "%" and other special characters in filenames passed in URLs. (Bug #4993)

#20780

file@rev1,@rev2 in URL can be used to show a Submitted Changelists page for that file and revision range. (Bug #4891)

#21576

Interactive resolve now works correctly when selecting individual files. (Bug #5202)

#21914

Filelog page now gives links to file text at each revision. (Bug #4681)

#20190

Filelog page now gives links to File Browser page for files integrated to/from the current file. (Bug #4057)

#20735

Path browser at depot root level now shows all depots, including depots that do not contain any files. (Bug #4472)

#21268

P4Web displays improved error message at startup when P4Web port is already in use. (Bug #5153)

Unsupported Operations

This release of P4Web does not support:

• Doing single-file or single-directory operations from Path Browser page.
• Diffing non-consecutive file revisions.
• Changing user name from a P4Web page. (2957)
• Showing unintegrated file state in Path Browser and File Browser.
• Showing pending changelists for client workspaces other than the current one. (5429)
• Showing submitted changelists that have no associated files. (5431)
• Operations that require Perforce superuser, admin or review privileges.

Limitations and Known Problems

• This release of P4Web uses little Javascript and no frames. Consequently, it might not look as sophisticated as other web-based applications. However, it is equally as usable in browsers that don't support Javascript or frames as it is in browsers that do.

• The 03.2+ versions of P4Web perform best when used with newer versions of our supported browsers. Netscape users should please note that the 03.2+ versions of P4Web are only supported with browser versions 7.1 and above.

• Using Internet Explorer on Macintosh Classic platforms (MacOS 9.x and below) causes P4Web performance problems. P4Web users on Mac Classic can try Netscape instead.

• On Mac and Windows, the "launch" commands are only available when your browser and your P4Web Helper are running on the same host machine.

• Neither the "Revert" button nor the "Revert if unchanged" operation work on files opened for branch or add. Revert those files with "Revert even though changed." (3400)

Please Send Us Your Feedback

Your feedback will help us improve P4Web. Please email your enhancement requests and bug reports to [email protected]. Be prepared to tell us:

• The version ID of the P4Web and the browser you were using. (Cut and paste this information from any P4Web page.)
• For bug reports, the URL of the P4Web page in question.