Perforce 2009.2: Command Reference

p4 change

Synopsis

Create or edit a changelist specification.

Syntax

p4 [g-opts] change [ -s ] [ -f | -u ] [ changelist# ]
p4 [g-opts] change -d [ -f -s ] changelist#
p4 [g-opts] change -o [ -s ] [ changelist# ]
p4 [g-opts] change -i [ -s ] [ -f | -u ]

Description

When files are opened with p4 add, p4 delete, p4 edit, or p4 integrate, the files are listed in a changelist. Edits to the files are kept in the local client workspace until the changelist is sent to the depot with p4 submit. By default, files are opened within the default changelist, but multiple changelists can be created and edited with the p4 change command.

p4 change brings up a form for editing or viewing in the editor defined by the environment or registry variable P4EDITOR. When no arguments are provided, this command creates a new, numbered changelist. (All files open in the default changelist are moved to the new changelist.)

Changelist numbers are assigned in sequence; Perforce may renumber changelists automatically on submission in order to keep the numeric order of submitted changelists identical to the chronological order.

To edit the description of a pending changelist, or to view the fields of a submitted changelist, use p4 change changelist.

If p4 submit of the default changelist fails, a numbered changelist is created in its place. The changelist must be referred to by number from that point forward.

The command p4 changelist is an alias for p4 change.

Form Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
Change:	Read-only	Contains the changelist number if editing an existing changelist, or new if creating a new changelist.
Client:	Read-only	Name of current client workspace.
Date:	Read-only	Date the changelist was last modified.
User:	Read-only	Name of current Perforce user. The owner of an empty pending changelist (that is, a pending changelist without any files in it) can transfer ownership of the changelist to another existing user.
Status:	Read-only	pending, submitted, or new. Not editable by the user. The status is new when the changelist is created, pending when it has been created but has not yet been submitted to the depot with p4 submit, and submitted when its contents have been stored in the depot with p4 submit.
Description:	Writable, mandatory	Textual description of changelist. This value must be changed before submission.
Jobs:	List	A list of jobs that are fixed by this changelist. The list of jobs that appears when the form is first displayed is controlled by the p4 user form's JobView: setting. Jobs can be deleted from or added to this list.
Files:	List	The list of files being submitted in this changelist. Files can be deleted from this list, and files that are found in the default changelist can be added.

Options

-d	Delete the changelist. This is usually allowed only with pending changelists that contain no files or pending fixes, but the superuser can delete changelists under other circumstances with the addition of the -f flag.
-f	Force flag. Allows the description, modification date, or user of a submitted changelist to be edited. Editing a submitted changelist requires admin or super access. Superusers and administrators can also overwrite read-only fields when using the -f flag.
-f -d	Forcibly delete a previously submitted changelist. Only a Perforce administrator or superuser can use this command, and the changelist must have had all of its files removed from the system with p4 obliterate.
-o	Write a changelist description to standard output.
-i	Read a changelist description from standard input. Input must be in the same format used by the p4 change form.
-s	Allows jobs to be assigned arbitrary status values on submission of the changelist, rather than the default status of closed. To leave a job unchanged, use the special status of same. On new changelists, the fix status is displayed as the special status ignore. (If the status is left unchanged, the job is not fixed by the submission of the changelist.) This option works in conjunction with the -s option to p4 fix, and is intended for use in conjunction with defect tracking systems.
-u	Update a submitted changelist. Only the Jobs: and Description: fields can be updated, and only the submitter of the changelist can update the changelist. The -u and the -f flags are mutually exclusive.
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	open

•

You should create multiple changelists when editing files corresponding to different logical tasks. For example, if edits to files file1.c and file2.c fix a particular bug, and edits to file other.c add a new feature, file1.c and file2.c should be opened in one changelist, and other.c should be opened in a different changelist.

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p4 change changelist# edits the specification of an existing changelist, but does not display the files or jobs that are linked to the changelist. Use p4 opened -c changelist# to see a list of files linked to a particular changelist and p4 fixes -c changelist# to see a list of jobs linked to a particular changelist

•	To move a file from one changelist to another, use p4 reopen, or use p4 revert to remove a file from all pending changelists.

Examples

p4 change	Create a new changelist.
p4 change -f 25	Edit previously submitted changelist 25. Administrator or superuser access is required.
p4 change -d 29	Delete changelist 29. This succeeds only if changelist 29 is pending and contains no files.

Related Commands

To submit a changelist to the depot	p4 submit
To move a file from one changelist to another	p4 reopen
To remove a file from all pending changelists	p4 revert
To list changelists meeting particular criteria	p4 changes
To list opened files	p4 opened
To list fixes linked to particular changelists	p4 fixes
To link a job to a particular changelist	p4 fix
To remove a job from a particular changelist	p4 fix -d
To list all the files listed in a changelist	p4 opened -c changelist#
To obtain a description of files changed in a changelist	p4 describe changelist#