How to Set Up Streams

Workspaces in Helix Core are used by developers to work on files. They are used with both classic Perforce and Perforce Steams.

With Streams, creating workspaces is easy. Once it is created, Streams automatically knows what files are available based on the stream it originated from. You can create multiple workspaces for your projects and quickly switch between them.

Your mainline stream will contain the code for your project. It is just one stream type. Create and name your mainline in accordance with your branching strategy.

1. Launch P4V and connect to the Helix Core server where you want your stream to reside.
2. Choose File > New > Stream.
3. In the dialog box, specify the name. You can use "main" or "mainline” depending on the size of your project. Then specify your depot and root folder. For stream type, choose "mainline". The mainline stream does not have a parent.
4. Click OK to save your stream specification.
5. Verify that your new mainline stream is displayed in the Streams tab. The mainline stream is not displayed in the Depot tab until you populate it with files.

Using Streams for component based development? You can specify an optional depth to keep your code organized.

Learn more about Stream Depth

Once you have created a workspace you can start adding files and making changes. You can populate your mainline stream using files or integrating files from existing depot locations.

1. Copy the desired files and folders to the root folder of the workspace you just created. This is the mainline stream.
2. In P4V, switch to the left-pane Workspace tab. Your files are displayed as plain file icons. This indicates that they are not in Helix Core yet.
3. Right-click the top-level folder and choose Mark for Add.
4. In the dialog box, click OK.
5. In the Pending Changelists tab, verify that your files are listed in the default changelist and have a red plus sign.
6. Right-click the default changelist and click Submit.
7. In the dialog box, makk a descriptive comment and click Submit.
8. To verify your files have been submitted, check the Log pane at the bottom of the screen and the left-pane Depot tab. If your submission succeeded, your files are listed in the mainline folder.

Now that you have a depot, a stream, and available files you can start working.

Get Branching Tips

Before you create a child stream, you need to set up a depot, mainline, and added files.

1. In the Streams tab, right-click on the stream and select Create New Stream from 'stream_name’.
2. In the dialog box, specify the name of your child stream. By default, the name you specify is used as the name of the folder under the stream depot folder. To override the default folder name, go to the Advanced tab.
3. Choose the stream type.
4. For release and development streams, choose the parent stream. By default, the stream inherits its parent’s stream view. To edit the view of the child stream, go to the Advanced tab. The Advanced tab options enable you to do the following:
   • Edit the inherited view.
   • Change the default locations of files mapped from the depot.
   • Lock the stream settings so that only the owner can edit them.
   • Restrict check-ins to the stream owner.
   • Allow to merge the stream’s content both up and down.
   • Specify file or folder patterns that you want ignored by the stream.
5. Select whether to Create a workspace for use with this stream.
6. Select whether to Branch files from parent on stream creation. If you choose not to branch files immediately, you can copy them later.
7. Click OK to save.
8. Verify that the new stream appears correctly in the Stream Graph. 

With Streams, you can see and do more. Use these other tools to see how code evolves over time.