Issuing P4 Commands
This chapter provides basic information about p4 commands, including command-line syntax, arguments, and options. For full details about command syntax, refer to the P4 Command Reference.
Certain commands require administrator or superuser permission. For details, consult the Perforce Server Administrator's Guide: Fundamentals
Command-line syntax
The basic syntax for commands is as follows:
p4 [global options
] command
[command-specific options
] [command
arguments
]
The following options can be used with all p4 commands.
Global options |
Description and Example |
---|---|
|
Specifies the client workspace associated with the command.
Overrides p4 -c bruno_ws edit //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase |
|
Specifies the client workspace's character set. Overrides
p4 -C utf8 sync |
|
Specifies the current directory, overriding the environment
variable p4 -d ~c:\bruno_ws\dev\main\jam\Jambase Jamfile |
|
Format all output as marshaled Python dictionary objects (for scripting with Python). p4 -G info |
|
Specifies the hostname of the client workstation, overriding
p4 -H deneb print //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase |
|
Specify that progress indicators, if available, are desired.
This option is not compatible with the At present, the progress indicator is only supported by two commands: submitting a changelist with p4 -I submit and "quietly" syncing files with p4 -I sync -q. |
|
Specifies the language to use for error messages from the
Perforce service. Overrides
p4 -L |
|
Specifies the protocol, host and port number used to connect to
the Perforce service, overriding p4 -p ssl:deneb:1818 clients |
|
Supplies a Perforce password, overriding
p4 -u earl -P secretpassword job |
|
Specifies the number of times to retry a command (notably, p4 sync) if the network times out. |
|
Specifies the character set to use for command input and output;
if you have set p4 -Q utf32 -C utf8 sync |
|
Prepend a tag to each line of output (for scripting purposes). p4 -s info |
|
Specifies a Perforce user, overriding p4 -u bill user |
|
Read arguments, one per line, from the specified file. To read
arguments from standard input, specify p4 -x myargs.txt |
|
To facilitate scripting, displays the output of reporting commands in the format as that generated by p4 fstat. p4 -z tag info |
|
Quiet mode; suppress all informational message and report only warnings or errors. |
|
Displays the version of the p4 executable. |
To display the options for a specific command, issue the p4 help command. For example:
$ p4 help add add -- Open a new file to add it to the depot p4 add [ -c changelist# ] [ -d -f -I -n ] [ -t filetype ] file ... Open a file for adding to the depot. If the file exists on the client, it is read to determine if it is text or binary. If it does not exist, it is assumed to be text. To be added, the file must not already reside in the depot, or it must be deleted at the current head revision. Files can be deleted and re-added. […]
For the full list of global options, commands, and command-specific options, see the P4 Command Reference.
Specifying filenames on the command line
Much of your everyday use of Perforce consists of managing files. You can specify filenames in p4 commands as follows:
-
Local syntax: the file's name as specified in your local shell or operating system.
Filenames can be specified using an absolute path (for example,
c:\bruno_ws\dev\main\jam\fileos2.c
) or a path that is relative to the current directory (for example,.\jam\fileos2.c
).Relative components (
.
or..
) cannot be specified following fixed components. For example,mysub/mydir/./here/file.c
is invalid, because the dot (.
) follows the fixedmysub/mydir
components. -
Depot syntax: use the following format:
//
, specifying the pathname of the file relative to the depot root directory. Separate the components of the path using forward slashes. For example:depotname
/file_path
//depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase
. -
Client syntax: use the following format:
//
, specifying the pathname of the file relative to the client root directory. Separate the components of the path using forward slashes. For example:workspacename
/file_path
//ona-agave/dev/main/jam/Jambase
.
Example 11. Using different syntaxes to refer to the same file
Local syntax: p4 delete c:\bruno_ws\dev\main\jam\Jambase
Depot syntax: p4 delete //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase
Client syntax: p4 delete //bruno_ws/dev/main/jam/Jambase
Perforce wildcards
For commands that operate on sets of files, Perforce supports two wildcards.
Wildcard |
Description |
---|---|
|
Matches anything except slashes. Matches only within a single directory. Case sensitivity depends on your platform. |
|
Matches anything including slashes. Matches recursively (everything in and below the specified directory). |
Perforce wildcards can be used with local or Perforce syntax, as in the following examples.
Expression |
Matches |
---|---|
|
Files in the current directory starting with
|
|
All files called |
|
All files under the current directory and its subdirectories. |
|
All files under the current directory and its subdirectories,
that end in |
|
All files under |
|
All files in the workspace or depot that is named
|
|
All files in the depot named |
|
All files in all depots. |
The *
wildcard is expanded locally by the operating
system before the command is sent to the Perforce service. To prevent
the local operating system from expanding the *
wildcard, enclose it in quotes or precede it with a backslash.
Note
The "...
" wildcard cannot be used with the
p4 add command. The "...
"
wildcard is expanded by the Perforce service, and, because the service
cannot determine which files are being added, it can't expand the
wildcard. The *
wildcard can be used with
p4 add, because it is expanded by the operating
system shell and not by Perforce.
Restrictions on filenames and identifiers
Spaces in filenames, pathnames, and identifiers
Use quotation marks to enclose files or directories that contain spaces. For example:
"//depot/dev/main/docs/manuals/recommended
configuration.doc"
If you specify spaces in names for other Perforce objects, such as branch names, client names, label names, and so on, the spaces are automatically converted to underscores by the Perforce service.
Length limitations
Names assigned to Perforce objects such as branches, client workspaces, and so on, cannot exceed 1,024 characters.
Reserved characters
By default, the following reserved characters are not allowed in Perforce identifiers or names of files managed by Perforce.
Reserved Character |
Reason |
---|---|
|
File revision specifier for date, label name, or changelist number |
|
File revision numbers |
|
Wildcard |
|
Wildcard (recursive) |
|
Wildcard (positional) |
|
Separator for pathname components |
These characters have conflicting and secondary uses. Conflicts include the following:
-
UNIX separates path components with
/
, but many DOS commands interpret/
as a command-line switch. -
Most UNIX shells interpret
#
as the beginning of a comment. -
Both DOS and UNIX shells automatically expand
*
to match multiple files, and the DOS command line uses%
to refer to variables.
To specify these characters in filenames or paths, use the ASCII expression of the character's hexadecimal value, as shown in the following table.
Character |
ASCII |
---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Specify the filename literally when you add it; then use the ASCII
expansion to refer to it thereafter. For example, to add a file called
[email protected]
, issue the following
command:
p4 add -f //depot/dev/main/docs/manuals/[email protected]
When you submit the changelist, the characters are automatically expanded and appear in the change submission form as follows:
//depot/dev/main/docs/manuals/recommended%40configuration.doc
After you submit the changelist with the file's addition, you must use the ASCII expansion to sync the file to your workspace or to edit it within your workspace. For example:
p4 sync //depot/dev/main/docs/manuals/recommended%40configuration.doc
The requirement to escape the special characters @
,
#
, *
, or %
also applies if you attempt to use them in the
Root:
or AltRoots:
fields of
your client workspace specification; escape them with
%40
, %23
,
%2A
, or %25
respectively.
Filenames containing extended (non-ASCII) characters
Non-ASCII characters are allowed in filenames and Perforce
identifiers, but entering them from the command line might require
platform-specific solutions. If you are using Perforce in unicode
mode, all users must have P4CHARSET
set properly. For
details about setting P4CHARSET
, see the
P4
Command Reference and the
Internationalization
Notes.
In international environments, use a common code page or locale setting to ensure that all filenames are displayed consistently across all machines in your organization. To set the code page or locale:
-
Windows: use the
applet in the -
UNIX: set the
LOCALE
environment variable
Specifying file revisions
Each time you submit a file to the depot, its revision number is
incremented. To specify revisions prior to the most recent, use the
#
revision specifier to specify a revision number,
or@
to specify a date, changelist, client workspace,
or label corresponding to the version of the file you are working on.
Revision specifications can be used to limit the effect of a command to
specified file revisions.
Warning
Some operating system shells treat the Perforce revision character
#
as a comment character if it starts a word. If
your shell is one of these, escape the #
when you
use it in p4 commands.
The following table describes the various ways you can specify file revisions.
Revision needed |
Syntax and example |
---|---|
Revision number |
Example: p4 sync //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase#3
Refers to revision 3 of file |
The revision submitted as of a specified changelist |
Examples: p4 sync //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase@126
Refers to the version of p4 sync //depot/...@126 Refers to the state of the entire depot at changelist 126 (numbered changelists are explained in Managing changelists). |
The revision in a specified label |
Example: p4 sync //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase@beta
The revision of |
The revision last synced to a specified client workspace |
Example: p4 sync //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase@bruno_ws
The revision of |
Remove the file |
Example: p4 sync //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase#none
Removes |
The most recent version of the file |
Example: p4 sync //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase#head Same as p4 sync //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase (If you omit the revision specifier, the head revision is synced.) |
The revision last synced to your workspace |
Example: p4 files //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase#have |
The head revision of the file in the depot on the specified date |
Example: p4 sync //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase@2011/05/18
The head revision of |
The head revision of the file in the depot on the specified date at the specified time |
Example: p4 sync //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase@"2011/05/18"
Specify dates in the format
Separate the date and the time by a single space or a colon. (If you use a space to separate the date and time, you must also enclose the entire date-time specification in double quotes.) |
Example 12. Retrieving files using revision specifiers
Bruno wants to retrieve all revisions that existed at changelist number 30. He types:
p4 sync //depot/dev/main/jam/Jambase@30
Another user can sync their workspace so that it contains the same file revisions Bruno has synced by specifying Bruno's workspace, as follows:
p4 sync @bruno_ws
Example 13. Removing all files from the client workspace
p4 sync ...#none
The files are removed from the workspace but not from the depot.
Date and time specifications
Date and time specifications are obtained from the time zone of the machine that hosts the Perforce service. To display the date, time, offset from GMT, and time zone in effect, issue the p4 info command. The versioning service stores times as the number of seconds since 00:00:00 GMT Jan. 1, 1970), so if you move across time zones, the times stored in the service are correctly reported in the new time zone.
Revision ranges
Some commands can operate on a range of file revisions. To specify a
revision range, specify the start and end revisions separated by a
comma, for example, #3,4
.
The commands that accept revision range specifications are:
-
p4 annotate
-
p4 changes
-
p4 dirs
-
p4 filelog
-
p4 files
-
p4 fixes
-
p4 grep
-
p4 integrate
-
p4 interchanges
-
p4 jobs
-
p4 labels
-
p4 labelsync
-
p4 list
-
p4 merge
-
p4 print
-
p4 sizes
-
p4 sync
-
p4 tag
For the preceding commands:
-
If you specify a single revision, the command operates on revision #1 through the revision you specify (except for p4 sync, p4 print, and p4 files, which operate on the highest revision in the range).
-
If you omit the revision range entirely, the command affects all file revisions.
Example 14. Listing changes using revision ranges
A release manager needs to see a quick list of all changes made to the jam project in July 2010. He types:
p4 changes //depot/dev/main/jam/...@2010/7/1,2010/8/1
The resulting list of changes looks like this:
Change 673 on 2010/07/31 by bruno@bruno_ws 'Final build for QA' Change 633 on 2010/07/1 by bruno@bruno_ws 'First build w/bug fix' Change 632 on 2010/07/1 by bruno@bruno_ws 'Started work'
Reporting commands
The following table lists some useful reporting commands.
To display |
Use this command |
---|---|
A list of p4 commands with a brief description |
p4 help commands |
Detailed help about a specific
|
p4 help |
Command line options common to all Perforce commands |
p4 help usage |
Details about Perforce view syntax |
p4 help views |
All the arguments that can be specified for the p4 help command |
p4 help |
The Perforce settings configured for your environment |
p4 info |
The file revisions in the client workspace |
p4 have |
Preview the results of a p4 sync (to see which files would be transferred) |
p4 sync -n |
Preview the results of a p4 delete (to see which files would be marked for deletion) |
p4 delete -n |
Using Perforce forms
Some Perforce commands, for example p4 client and
p4 submit, use a text editor to display a form into
which you enter the information that is required to complete the command
(for example, a description of the changes you are submitting). After you
change the form, save it, and exit the editor, Perforce parses the form
and uses it to complete the command. (To configure the text editor that is
used to display and edit Perforce forms, set P4EDITOR
.)
When you enter information into a Perforce form, observe the following rules:
-
Field names (for example,
View:
) must be flush left (not indented) and must end with a colon. -
Values (your entries) must be on the same line as the field name, or indented with tabs on the lines beneath the field name.
Some field names, such as the Client:
field in the
p4 client form, require a single value; other fields,
such as Description:
, take a block of text; and others,
like View:
, take a list of lines.
Certain values, like Client:
in the client workspace
form, cannot be changed. Other fields, like
Description:
in p4 submit,
must be changed. If you don't change a field that
needs to be changed, or vice versa, Perforce displays an error. For
details about which fields can be modified, see the
P4
Command Reference or use p4 help
command
.