Practical Perforce

Laura Wingerd formed her early opinions of software configuration management during a decade of wrangling builds and source code for the Sybase and Ingres database products. She joined Perforce Software the day the company moved out of its founder's garage and has since acquired quite a bit of SCM expertise from the very Perforce customers she purports to advise. Every now and then, she comes up with an idea of her own and spews forth in a white paper or a speaking engagement. Laura is currently vice president of product technology at Perforce Software, dividing her time between promoting sound SCM practices and investigating new and better ways to put Perforce to use.

• Preface 1. Files in the Depot The Perforce Filespec Syntax Browsing Depot Files File Types at a Glance 2. Working with Files An Overview Creating a Workspace Synchronizing a Workspace Local Syntax,Wildcard Expansion,and Special Characters Working with Local Files Working with Pending Changelists and Submitting Files Removing and Restoring Files Useful Recipes 3. Resolving and Merging Files Resolving:When,What,and How How Perforce Merges Text Files Reconciling Structural Changes Tips for Smoother Collaboration The Arcana of Merging 4. Branching and Integration The Classic Case for a Branch Creating Branches Integrating Changes from Branch to Branch Reconciling Structural Changes The Arcana of Integration 5. Labels and Jobs Saving Important Configurations Using Labels Using Jobs Jobs as Changelist Markers 6. Controlling and Automating Activity Depot and File Access Accessing Files in Other Domains Saving and Restoring Specs Change Notification and Change Monitoring Scripting Tips Behind-the-Scenes Version Control 7. How Software Evolves The Story of Ace Engineering The Mainline Model Ace Engineering Revisited Containerizing 8. Basic Codeline Management Organizing Your Depot General Care and Feeding of Codelines Nightly Builds Is Bug X Fixed in Codeline Y? 9. Release Codelines Creating a Release Codeline Working in a Release Codeline Integrating Changes into the Mainline Making a Release Distributing Releases Breaking the Rules Retiring a Release Codeline Task Branches and Patch Branches 10. Development Codelines Creating a Development Codeline Working in a Development Codeline Keeping a Development Codeline Up to Date Working with Third-Party Software Delivering Completed Development Work The Soft Codelines 11. Staging Streams and Web Content Staging Web Content Visual Content Development Bug Fixes and Staging Streams Major Web Development A. Setting Up a Perforce Test Environment B. Perforce Terminology and P4 Commands Bibliography Glossary Index

"It is an indispensable companion for any Perforce user who wants to get it right. Highly recommended." - Mike James, - VSJ, September 2006