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diff --git a/Documentation/git-p4import.txt b/Documentation/git-p4import.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..b8ff1e9bde --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/git-p4import.txt @@ -0,0 +1,165 @@ +git-p4import(1) +=============== + +NAME +---- +git-p4import - Import a Perforce repository into git + + +SYNOPSIS +-------- +`git-p4import` [-q|-v] [--authors <file>] [-t <timezone>] <//p4repo/path> <branch> + +`git-p4import` --stitch <//p4repo/path> + +`git-p4import` + + +DESCRIPTION +----------- +Import a Perforce repository into an existing git repository. When +a <//p4repo/path> and <branch> are specified a new branch with the +given name will be created and the initial import will begin. + +Once the initial import is complete you can do an incremental import +of new commits from the Perforce repository. You do this by checking +out the appropriate git branch and then running `git-p4import` without +any options. + +The standard p4 client is used to communicate with the Perforce +repository; it must be configured correctly in order for `git-p4import` +to operate (see below). + + +OPTIONS +------- +-q:: + Do not display any progress information. + +-v:: + Give extra progress information. + +\--authors:: + Specify an authors file containing a mapping of Perforce user + ids to full names and email addresses (see Notes below). + +\--stitch:: + Import the contents of the given perforce branch into the + currently checked out git branch. + +\--log:: + Store debugging information in the specified file. + +-t:: + Specify that the remote repository is in the specified timezone. + Timezone must be in the format "US/Pacific" or "Europe/London" + etc. You only need to specify this once, it will be saved in + the git config file for the repository. + +<//p4repo/path>:: + The Perforce path that will be imported into the specified branch. + +<branch>:: + The new branch that will be created to hold the Perforce imports. + + +P4 Client +--------- +You must make the `p4` client command available in your $PATH and +configure it to communicate with the target Perforce repository. +Typically this means you must set the "$P4PORT" and "$P4CLIENT" +environment variables. + +You must also configure a `p4` client "view" which maps the Perforce +branch into the top level of your git repository, for example: + +------------ +Client: myhost + +Root: /home/sean/import + +Options: noallwrite clobber nocompress unlocked modtime rmdir + +View: + //public/jam/... //myhost/jam/... +------------ + +With the above `p4` client setup, you could import the "jam" +perforce branch into a branch named "jammy", like so: + +------------ +$ mkdir -p /home/sean/import/jam +$ cd /home/sean/import/jam +$ git init-db +$ git p4import //public/jam jammy +------------ + + +Multiple Branches +----------------- +Note that by creating multiple "views" you can use `git-p4import` +to import additional branches into the same git repository. +However, the `p4` client has a limitation in that it silently +ignores all but the last "view" that maps into the same local +directory. So the following will *not* work: + +------------ +View: + //public/jam/... //myhost/jam/... + //public/other/... //myhost/jam/... + //public/guest/... //myhost/jam/... +------------ + +If you want more than one Perforce branch to be imported into the +same directory you must employ a workaround. A simple option is +to adjust your `p4` client before each import to only include a +single view. + +Another option is to create multiple symlinks locally which all +point to the same directory in your git repository and then use +one per "view" instead of listing the actual directory. + + +Tags +---- +A git tag of the form p4/xx is created for every change imported from +the Perforce repository where xx is the Perforce changeset number. +Therefore after the import you can use git to access any commit by its +Perforce number, eg. git show p4/327. + +The tag associated with the HEAD commit is also how `git-p4import` +determines if their are new changes to incrementally import from the +Perforce repository. + +If you import from a repository with many thousands of changes +you will have an equal number of p4/xxxx git tags. Git tags can +be expensive in terms of disk space and repository operations. +If you don't need to perform further incremental imports, you +may delete the tags. + + +Notes +----- +You can interrupt the import (eg. ctrl-c) at any time and restart it +without worry. + +Author information is automatically determined by querying the +Perforce "users" table using the id associated with each change. +However, if you want to manually supply these mappings you can do +so with the "--authors" option. It accepts a file containing a list +of mappings with each line containing one mapping in the format: + +------------ + perforce_id = Full Name <email@address.com> +------------ + + +Author +------ +Written by Sean Estabrooks <seanlkml@sympatico.ca> + + +GIT +--- +Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite + |