9305e099874b259d3aa3ebfd6c7f2a47b73948fc
1 git-p4(1)
2 =========
4 NAME
5 ----
6 git-p4 - Import from and submit to Perforce repositories
9 SYNOPSIS
10 --------
11 [verse]
12 'git p4 clone' [<sync options>] [<clone options>] <p4 depot path>...
13 'git p4 sync' [<sync options>] [<p4 depot path>...]
14 'git p4 rebase'
15 'git p4 submit' [<submit options>] [<master branch name>]
18 DESCRIPTION
19 -----------
20 This command provides a way to interact with p4 repositories
21 using git.
23 Create a new git repository from an existing p4 repository using
24 'git p4 clone', giving it one or more p4 depot paths. Incorporate
25 new commits from p4 changes with 'git p4 sync'. The 'sync' command
26 is also used to include new branches from other p4 depot paths.
27 Submit git changes back to p4 using 'git p4 submit'. The command
28 'git p4 rebase' does a sync plus rebases the current branch onto
29 the updated p4 remote branch.
32 EXAMPLE
33 -------
34 * Create an alias for 'git p4', using the full path to the 'git-p4'
35 script if needed:
36 +
37 ------------
38 $ git config --global alias.p4 '!git-p4'
39 ------------
41 * Clone a repository:
42 +
43 ------------
44 $ git p4 clone //depot/path/project
45 ------------
47 * Do some work in the newly created git repository:
48 +
49 ------------
50 $ cd project
51 $ vi foo.h
52 $ git commit -a -m "edited foo.h"
53 ------------
55 * Update the git repository with recent changes from p4, rebasing your
56 work on top:
57 +
58 ------------
59 $ git p4 rebase
60 ------------
62 * Submit your commits back to p4:
63 +
64 ------------
65 $ git p4 submit
66 ------------
69 COMMANDS
70 --------
72 Clone
73 ~~~~~
74 Generally, 'git p4 clone' is used to create a new git directory
75 from an existing p4 repository:
76 ------------
77 $ git p4 clone //depot/path/project
78 ------------
79 This:
81 1. Creates an empty git repository in a subdirectory called 'project'.
82 +
83 2. Imports the full contents of the head revision from the given p4
84 depot path into a single commit in the git branch 'refs/remotes/p4/master'.
85 +
86 3. Creates a local branch, 'master' from this remote and checks it out.
88 To reproduce the entire p4 history in git, use the '@all' modifier on
89 the depot path:
90 ------------
91 $ git p4 clone //depot/path/project@all
92 ------------
95 Sync
96 ~~~~
97 As development continues in the p4 repository, those changes can
98 be included in the git repository using:
99 ------------
100 $ git p4 sync
101 ------------
102 This command finds new changes in p4 and imports them as git commits.
104 P4 repositories can be added to an existing git repository using
105 'git p4 sync' too:
106 ------------
107 $ mkdir repo-git
108 $ cd repo-git
109 $ git init
110 $ git p4 sync //path/in/your/perforce/depot
111 ------------
112 This imports the specified depot into
113 'refs/remotes/p4/master' in an existing git repository. The
114 '--branch' option can be used to specify a different branch to
115 be used for the p4 content.
117 If a git repository includes branches 'refs/remotes/origin/p4', these
118 will be fetched and consulted first during a 'git p4 sync'. Since
119 importing directly from p4 is considerably slower than pulling changes
120 from a git remote, this can be useful in a multi-developer environment.
123 Rebase
124 ~~~~~~
125 A common working pattern is to fetch the latest changes from the p4 depot
126 and merge them with local uncommitted changes. Often, the p4 repository
127 is the ultimate location for all code, thus a rebase workflow makes
128 sense. This command does 'git p4 sync' followed by 'git rebase' to move
129 local commits on top of updated p4 changes.
130 ------------
131 $ git p4 rebase
132 ------------
135 Submit
136 ~~~~~~
137 Submitting changes from a git repository back to the p4 repository
138 requires a separate p4 client workspace. This should be specified
139 using the 'P4CLIENT' environment variable or the git configuration
140 variable 'git-p4.client'. The p4 client must exist, but the client root
141 will be created and populated if it does not already exist.
143 To submit all changes that are in the current git branch but not in
144 the 'p4/master' branch, use:
145 ------------
146 $ git p4 submit
147 ------------
149 To specify a branch other than the current one, use:
150 ------------
151 $ git p4 submit topicbranch
152 ------------
154 The upstream reference is generally 'refs/remotes/p4/master', but can
155 be overridden using the '--origin=' command-line option.
157 The p4 changes will be created as the user invoking 'git p4 submit'. The
158 '--preserve-user' option will cause ownership to be modified
159 according to the author of the git commit. This option requires admin
160 privileges in p4, which can be granted using 'p4 protect'.
163 OPTIONS
164 -------
166 General options
167 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
168 All commands except clone accept this option.
170 --git-dir <dir>::
171 Set the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable. See linkgit:git[1].
173 Sync options
174 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
175 These options can be used in the initial 'clone' as well as in
176 subsequent 'sync' operations.
178 --branch <branch>::
179 Import changes into given branch. If the branch starts with
180 'refs/', it will be used as is, otherwise the path 'refs/heads/'
181 will be prepended. The default branch is 'master'. If used
182 with an initial clone, no HEAD will be checked out.
183 +
184 This example imports a new remote "p4/proj2" into an existing
185 git repository:
186 ----
187 $ git init
188 $ git p4 sync --branch=refs/remotes/p4/proj2 //depot/proj2
189 ----
191 --detect-branches::
192 Use the branch detection algorithm to find new paths in p4. It is
193 documented below in "BRANCH DETECTION".
195 --changesfile <file>::
196 Import exactly the p4 change numbers listed in 'file', one per
197 line. Normally, 'git p4' inspects the current p4 repository
198 state and detects the changes it should import.
200 --silent::
201 Do not print any progress information.
203 --verbose::
204 Provide more progress information.
206 --detect-labels::
207 Query p4 for labels associated with the depot paths, and add
208 them as tags in git.
210 --import-local::
211 By default, p4 branches are stored in 'refs/remotes/p4/',
212 where they will be treated as remote-tracking branches by
213 linkgit:git-branch[1] and other commands. This option instead
214 puts p4 branches in 'refs/heads/p4/'.
216 --max-changes <n>::
217 Limit the number of imported changes to 'n'. Useful to
218 limit the amount of history when using the '@all' p4 revision
219 specifier.
221 --keep-path::
222 The mapping of file names from the p4 depot path to git, by
223 default, involves removing the entire depot path. With this
224 option, the full p4 depot path is retained in git. For example,
225 path '//depot/main/foo/bar.c', when imported from
226 '//depot/main/', becomes 'foo/bar.c'. With '--keep-path', the
227 git path is instead 'depot/main/foo/bar.c'.
229 --use-client-spec::
230 Use a client spec to find the list of interesting files in p4.
231 The client spec is discovered using 'p4 client -o' which checks
232 the 'P4CLIENT' environment variable and returns a mapping of
233 depot files to workspace files.
235 Clone options
236 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
237 These options can be used in an initial 'clone', along with the 'sync'
238 options described above.
240 --destination <directory>::
241 Where to create the git repository. If not provided, the last
242 component in the p4 depot path is used to create a new
243 directory.
245 --bare::
246 Perform a bare clone. See linkgit:git-clone[1].
248 -/ <path>::
249 Exclude selected depot paths when cloning.
251 Submit options
252 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
253 These options can be used to modify 'git p4 submit' behavior.
255 --verbose::
256 Provide more progress information.
258 --origin <commit>::
259 Upstream location from which commits are identified to submit to
260 p4. By default, this is the most recent p4 commit reachable
261 from 'HEAD'.
263 -M[<n>]::
264 Detect renames. See linkgit:git-diff[1]. Renames will be
265 represented in p4 using explicit 'move' operations.
267 --preserve-user::
268 Re-author p4 changes before submitting to p4. This option
269 requires p4 admin privileges.
272 DEPOT PATH SYNTAX
273 -----------------
274 The p4 depot path argument to 'git p4 sync' and 'git p4 clone' can
275 be one or more space-separated p4 depot paths, with an optional
276 p4 revision specifier on the end:
278 "//depot/my/project"::
279 Import one commit with all files in the '#head' change under that tree.
281 "//depot/my/project@all"::
282 Import one commit for each change in the history of that depot path.
284 "//depot/my/project@1,6"::
285 Import only changes 1 through 6.
287 "//depot/proj1@all //depot/proj2@all"::
288 Import all changes from both named depot paths into a single
289 repository. Only files below these directories are included.
290 There is not a subdirectory in git for each "proj1" and "proj2".
291 You must use the '--destination' option when specifying more
292 than one depot path. The revision specifier must be specified
293 identically on each depot path. If there are files in the
294 depot paths with the same name, the path with the most recently
295 updated version of the file is the one that appears in git.
297 See 'p4 help revisions' for the full syntax of p4 revision specifiers.
300 BRANCH DETECTION
301 ----------------
302 P4 does not have the same concept of a branch as git. Instead,
303 p4 organizes its content as a directory tree, where by convention
304 different logical branches are in different locations in the tree.
305 The 'p4 branch' command is used to maintain mappings between
306 different areas in the tree, and indicate related content. 'git p4'
307 can use these mappings to determine branch relationships.
309 If you have a repository where all the branches of interest exist as
310 subdirectories of a single depot path, you can use '--detect-branches'
311 when cloning or syncing to have 'git p4' automatically find
312 subdirectories in p4, and to generate these as branches in git.
314 For example, if the P4 repository structure is:
315 ----
316 //depot/main/...
317 //depot/branch1/...
318 ----
320 And "p4 branch -o branch1" shows a View line that looks like:
321 ----
322 //depot/main/... //depot/branch1/...
323 ----
325 Then this 'git p4 clone' command:
326 ----
327 git p4 clone --detect-branches //depot@all
328 ----
329 produces a separate branch in 'refs/remotes/p4/' for //depot/main,
330 called 'master', and one for //depot/branch1 called 'depot/branch1'.
332 However, it is not necessary to create branches in p4 to be able to use
333 them like branches. Because it is difficult to infer branch
334 relationships automatically, a git configuration setting
335 'git-p4.branchList' can be used to explicitly identify branch
336 relationships. It is a list of "source:destination" pairs, like a
337 simple p4 branch specification, where the "source" and "destination" are
338 the path elements in the p4 repository. The example above relied on the
339 presence of the p4 branch. Without p4 branches, the same result will
340 occur with:
341 ----
342 git config git-p4.branchList main:branch1
343 git p4 clone --detect-branches //depot@all
344 ----
347 PERFORMANCE
348 -----------
349 The fast-import mechanism used by 'git p4' creates one pack file for
350 each invocation of 'git p4 sync'. Normally, git garbage compression
351 (linkgit:git-gc[1]) automatically compresses these to fewer pack files,
352 but explicit invocation of 'git repack -adf' may improve performance.
355 CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
356 -----------------------
357 The following config settings can be used to modify 'git p4' behavior.
358 They all are in the 'git-p4' section.
360 General variables
361 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
362 git-p4.user::
363 User specified as an option to all p4 commands, with '-u <user>'.
364 The environment variable 'P4USER' can be used instead.
366 git-p4.password::
367 Password specified as an option to all p4 commands, with
368 '-P <password>'.
369 The environment variable 'P4PASS' can be used instead.
371 git-p4.port::
372 Port specified as an option to all p4 commands, with
373 '-p <port>'.
374 The environment variable 'P4PORT' can be used instead.
376 git-p4.host::
377 Host specified as an option to all p4 commands, with
378 '-h <host>'.
379 The environment variable 'P4HOST' can be used instead.
381 git-p4.client::
382 Client specified as an option to all p4 commands, with
383 '-c <client>'. This can also be used as a way to find
384 the client spec for the 'useClientSpec' option.
385 The environment variable 'P4CLIENT' can be used instead.
387 Clone and sync variables
388 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
389 git-p4.syncFromOrigin::
390 Because importing commits from other git repositories is much faster
391 than importing them from p4, a mechanism exists to find p4 changes
392 first in git remotes. If branches exist under 'refs/remote/origin/p4',
393 those will be fetched and used when syncing from p4. This
394 variable can be set to 'false' to disable this behavior.
396 git-p4.branchUser::
397 One phase in branch detection involves looking at p4 branches
398 to find new ones to import. By default, all branches are
399 inspected. This option limits the search to just those owned
400 by the single user named in the variable.
402 git-p4.branchList::
403 List of branches to be imported when branch detection is
404 enabled. Each entry should be a pair of branch names separated
405 by a colon (:). This example declares that both branchA and
406 branchB were created from main:
407 -------------
408 git config git-p4.branchList main:branchA
409 git config --add git-p4.branchList main:branchB
410 -------------
412 git-p4.useClientSpec::
413 Specify that the p4 client spec to be used to identify p4 depot
414 paths of interest. This is equivalent to specifying the option
415 '--use-client-spec'. The variable 'git-p4.client' can be used
416 to specify the name of the client.
418 Submit variables
419 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
420 git-p4.detectRenames::
421 Detect renames. See linkgit:git-diff[1].
423 git-p4.detectCopies::
424 Detect copies. See linkgit:git-diff[1].
426 git-p4.detectCopiesHarder::
427 Detect copies harder. See linkgit:git-diff[1].
429 git-p4.preserveUser::
430 On submit, re-author changes to reflect the git author,
431 regardless of who invokes 'git p4 submit'.
433 git-p4.allowMissingP4Users::
434 When 'preserveUser' is true, 'git p4' normally dies if it
435 cannot find an author in the p4 user map. This setting
436 submits the change regardless.
438 git-p4.skipSubmitEdit::
439 The submit process invokes the editor before each p4 change
440 is submitted. If this setting is true, though, the editing
441 step is skipped.
443 git-p4.skipSubmitEditCheck::
444 After editing the p4 change message, 'git p4' makes sure that
445 the description really was changed by looking at the file
446 modification time. This option disables that test.
448 git-p4.allowSubmit::
449 By default, any branch can be used as the source for a 'git p4
450 submit' operation. This configuration variable, if set, permits only
451 the named branches to be used as submit sources.
453 git-p4.skipUserNameCheck::
454 If the user running 'git p4 submit' does not exist in the p4
455 user map, 'git p4' exits. This option can be used to force
456 submission regardless.
459 IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS
460 ----------------------
461 * Changesets from p4 are imported using git fast-import.
462 * Cloning or syncing does not require a p4 client; file contents are
463 collected using 'p4 print'.
464 * Submitting requires a p4 client, which is not in the same location
465 as the git repository. Patches are applied, one at a time, to
466 this p4 client and submitted from there.
467 * Each commit imported by 'git p4' has a line at the end of the log
468 message indicating the p4 depot location and change number. This
469 line is used by later 'git p4 sync' operations to know which p4
470 changes are new.