Perforce 2009.1: Command Reference

p4 group

Synopsis

Add or delete users from a group, or set the maxresults, maxscanrows, maxlocktime, and timeout limits for the members of a group.

Syntax

p4 [g-opts] group [ -a ] groupname
p4 [g-opts] group -d [ -a ] groupname
p4 [g-opts] group -o groupname
p4 [g-opts] group -i [ -a ]

Description

A group is a list of Perforce users. Use groups to set access levels in the p4 protect form, limit the maximum amount of data that can be accessed from the server by particular users within a single command, and to set the timeout period for p4 login tickets.

To delete a group, use p4 group -d groupname, or call p4 group groupname and remove all the users from the resulting form.

Form Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
Group:	Read-only	The name of the group, as entered on the command line.
MaxResults:	Writable	The maximum number of results that members of this group can access from the server from a single command. The default value is unset. See the Usage Notes below for more details.
MaxScanRows:	Writable	The maximum number of rows that members of this group can scan from the server from a single command. The default value is unset. See the Usage Notes below for more details.
MaxLockTime	Writable	The maximum length of time (in milliseconds) that any one operation can lock any database table when scanning data. The default value is unset. See the Usage Notes below for more details.
Timeout:	Writable	The duration (in seconds) of the validity of a session ticket created by p4 login. The default value is 43200 seconds (12 hours). To create a ticket that does not expire, set the Timeout: field to unlimited.
Users:	Writable, multi-line	The Perforce usernames of the group members. Each user name must be typed on its own line, and should be indented.
Subgroups:	Writable, multi-line	Names of other Perforce groups. To add all users in a previously defined group to the group you're presently working with, include the group name in the Subgroups: field of the p4 group form. Note that user and group names occupy separate namespaces, and thus, groups and users can have the same names. Every member of any previously defined group you list in the Subgroups: field will be a member of the group you're now defining.
Owners:	Writable, multi-line	Names of other Perforce users. Group owners without super access are permitted to administer this group, provided that they use the -a flag. The owner of a group is automatically a member of the group.

Options

-a	Allow a (non-superuser) group owner to administer the group. The user must be listed in the Owner: field of the group.
-d groupname	Delete group groupname. The members of the group are affected only if their access level or maxresults value changes as a result of the group's deletion.
-i	Read the form from standard input without invoking the user's editor. The new group specification replaces the previous one.
-o	Write the form to standard output without invoking the user's editor.
g-opts	See the Global Options section.

Usage Notes

Can File Arguments Use Revision Specifier?	Can File Arguments Use Revision Range?	Minimal Access Level Required
N/A	N/A	super (list for p4 group -o or -a)

•

Ticket Timeout values for users who belong to multiple groups are calculated the same way as maxresults values: the largest timeout value for all the groups of which the user is a member (including unlimited, but ignoring unset). Users in no groups have the default timeout value of 43200. To create a ticket that does not expire, set the Timeout to unlimited.

•

As the number of files in the depot grows, certain commands can significantly slow down the server if called with no parameters, or if called with non-restrictive arguments. For example, p4 print //depot/... will print the contents of every file in the depot on the user's screen, and p4 filelog //depot/... will attempt to retrieve data on every file in the depot at every revision.

The Perforce superuser can limit the amount of data that the server returns to the client by setting the MaxResults value for groups of users. The superuser can also limit the amount of data scanned by the server (whether returned to the client or not) by setting the MaxScanRows value, and the length of time any database table can be locked in by any single operation by setting the MaxLockTime value.

If any of the MaxResults, MaxScanRows, or MaxLockTime limits are violated, the server request fails and the user is asked to limit his query.

If a user belongs to multiple groups, the server computes her MaxResults value to be the maximum of the MaxResults for all the groups of which the user is a member (removing the limit if it encounters a setting of unlimited, but ignoring any settings still at the default value of unset). If a particular user is not in any groups, her MaxResults value is unset. (The user's MaxScanRows and MaxLockTime limits are computed in the same way.)

The speed of most server hardware should make it unnecessary to ever set a MaxResults value below 10000, a MaxScanRows value below 50000, or a MaxLockTime value below 1000.

•	To display a group's maxresults, maxscanrows, maxlocktime, and timeout limits, use p4 groups -v groupname.

•	Use p4 help maxresults to obtain the list of commands that are affected by any of the three limiting values.

•	The owner of a group is automatically a member of the group. (If a username is inadvertently entered in both the Users: and Owners: field, the duplicate entry is automatically removed from the Owners: field upon form submission.)

Related Commands

To modify users' access levels	p4 protect
To view a list of existing groups	p4 groups