About Perforce and P4OFC
Perforce is a software configuration management tool. The documents managed by Perforce reside in a depot. To work on documents, you open and edit them in your client workspace. When you're done, you check in changed documents, using the Perforce menu options. The depot keeps track of all the current and previous revisions of a file.

P4OFC provides the Perforce menu, which allows you to manage multiple revisions of the following types of Microsoft® Office documents:

•	Microsoft® Word
•	Microsoft® Excel
•	Microsoft® PowerPoint
If you would like more information about Perforce, see the Perforce User's Guide, which can be found at www.perforce.com.

Getting started with Perforce
To start using Perforce, you need to configure your client computer to access the Perforce server. For more information, see the Perforce User's Guide.

P4OFC offers access to a number of Perforce commands from a Microsoft® Office document. Use the Perforce menu to:

•	Add documents to the Perforce depot. 
•	Check documents into and out of the Perforce depot.
•	Compare different versions of a document.
•	Lock a document while you have it checked out, preventing others from modifying it.
•	Undo or revert your add or check out.
•	View detailed Perforce and document information, including revision history, document status, and connection information.
To learn more about these commands, see the Perforce menu overview.

NOTE: P4OFC cannot copy (sync) depot files to your computer unless a version of that file already exists in your workspace. To sync files from the depot, you must use a Perforce client such as P4Win or the Perforce command-line. 

To uninstall P4OFC, use Add/Remove Programs in the Windows Control Panel.
Getting more help
For more information about using Perforce, consult the following sources:

	For information about using Perforce: See the Perforce User's Guide, available at our website: http://www.perforce.com/perforce/technical.html.
	For information about maintaining your Perforce installation: Refer to the Perforce System Administrator's Guide.
If you cannot find the answers to your question in this help system, call (510) 864-7400 or send e-mail to support@perforce.com.

Please send any comments about Perforce technical documentation, including this help system, to manual@perforce.com.

Perforce menu overview
The Perforce menu contains the following items:

	Add to Perforce. Adds the document that you are currently working on to Perforce. For more information, see Adding documents to Perforce.
	Check Out. Checks a document out of Perforce. For more information, see Checking documents out of Perforce.
	Check In... Checks documents in to Perforce. For more information, see Checking documents in to Perforce.
	Lock/Unlock document. Prevents other users from checking in the same file while you have it open.
	Undo Add/Check Out. Discards any changes that you have made to the document in your workspace. P4OFC displays a prompt to ensure that this is what you want to do in Perforce. This operation is known as reverting a file.

	Results of Last Command... Displays the results of last Perforce command that you performed.
	Document Status... Displays the status of the current document, including the file name and path, as well as Perforce information.
	Document History... Displays the current document's name and path, as well as the past revisions of the document, and the changelists associated with it. The Document History dialog contains document comparison options.
	Checked-out Documents... Displays a list of all of the documents that you currently have checked out of Perforce.
	Perforce Information... Displays your Perforce connection information. For more information about these fields, see the Perforce User's Guide, available at www.perforce.com.

	Options... Enables you to set Perforce options. For more information on these options, see Changing Options in P4OFC.
	Help... Displays the online help.
	About P4OFC... Displays information about the version of P4OFC that you are running.

Adding documents to Perforce
To add a document to Perforce, the document that you want to add must be in your client workspace. If the document is not in your client workspace, P4OFC displays an error message and the document is not added.
	To add a document to Perforce:
1.	Choose Perforce > Add to Perforce. The document is added and, depending on your options settings, you see dialog boxes verifying that you want to proceed. Click OK when appropriate. You may be prompted to check the document into Perforce. If so, you are then prompted to enter in a description of your changes. 
2.	Type a brief description of your work on this document and click Submit. P4OFC affirms that your document has been successfully added.

Note that you must type something into this window before clicking Submit. If you do not enter a description and you click Submit, Perforce prompts you for your description.
3.	Click OK.
4.	If P4OFC prompts you to check out the document, click OK.

For troubleshooting help, see Troubleshooting: Adding documents.

Checking documents out of Perforce
To work on a document that has been checked into Perforce, you must check the document out. There are two ways to check a document out of Perforce: automatically and manually.
	Automatically checking a document out of Perforce:
When you open a document that is checked into Perforce, you are prompted to check the document out. To check the document out at this time, click OK.

If you click Cancel, the file opens in "Read-only" mode. You can edit this document, but you cannot save it. To edit and save a document that is in Perforce, you must first check it out.
	To check a document out of Perforce manually:
1.	Open the document.
2.	Choose Perforce > Check Out.
3.	Depending on the options you have selected, you may be shown the results of the Check Out. If so, click OK.
For troubleshooting help, see Troubleshooting: Checking documents out.

Checking documents into Perforce
When you are finished working on a document that has been checked out of Perforce, you need to check it back in.
	To check a document into Perforce:
1.	Choose Perforce > Check in... The Submit dialog is displayed.
2.	In the Description field, enter in a brief description of the work you have done on the document. Note that you must enter something into this field before submitting.
3.	Click Submit.
4.	If you are prompted to choose the documents that you want to check in, do so at this time. The document that you are working on is automatically selected. If available, you can choose other documents in this pane to check in at this time.
5.	When you have finished selecting the documents that you want to check in, click Submit.

Changing options in P4OFC
To configure P4OFC, choose Perforce > Options. You have the following choices in that dialog: 
	Hide diff (compare versions) question dialog
	Checked:  When you choose Perforce > Compare Versions, P4OFC does not prompt you before comparing your workspace document to the depot version.
	Unchecked:  When you compare versions, a verification prompt tells you what action has been performed. 
	Display confirmation dialogs (on add/check out)
	Checked:  When you add or check out documents, you will see confirmation dialogs, including the results of the command.
	Unchecked:  Documents are automatically added or checked out without confirmation dialogs or results. 
	View other documents in changelist when checking in 
	Checked: When you choose Perforce > Check in, you may select additional open files to check in at the same time. If you usually submit multiple files at once, choose this option.
	Unchecked: You can only check in the current document.
	Automatically lock document when checking out 
	Checked:  Automatically locks a document whenever you check it out of Perforce. You may always unlock the document by choosing Perforce > Unlock document.
	Unchecked: When you check a document out of Perforce, it is not locked. Other Perforce users may check the document out at the same time.
	Prompt to check in immediately after adding a document to Perforce 
	Checked:  When adding a document to Perforce, you are immediately prompted to check the document in.
	Unchecked: After you have added a document, you must manually check it into Perforce when you are finished working on it.

NOTE: Most of these options can also be configured through the "Do not show this dialog again" checkbox that is displayed on dialogs in P4OFC.

Comparing workspace vs. depot version of your document
You can compare different depot versions of the same Microsoft® Word document, using the Perforce > Document History menu item.
	To compare two different depot versions of a document:
1.	Open the Microsoft Word document that you want to view.
2.	Choose Perforce > Document History...
3.	Choose the two different versions of the file that you want to compare.
4.	Click Diff Revs.
5.	P4OFC creates a document called Ver-[#]-vs-[#].doc, where # represents the version numbers of the document that you are comparing. 

Comparing different versions of a document 
You can compare a Microsoft® Word document in your client workspace with any depot version of the document. You can also compare two versions of a file in the depot. 

•	To compare your current document with the depot version, see Comparing workspace and depot versions.
•	To diff your current document with a previous version of the document in the depot, see Comparing workspace and previous versions.
•	To diff two depot versions of the document, see Comparing two previous versions.

NOTE: P4OFC uses the Microsoft Word "Track Changes" function for comparing documents (found under Tools > Track Changes). You can use this function to accept or delete changes to the file, after you have compared versions. For more information on this function, choose Help > Microsoft Word Help.

Comparing workspace and depot versions
You can compare your workspace version of a Microsoft® Word document to the current depot version by using the Perforce > Compare Versions... menu item. 
	To compare your current workspace version of the document to the depot version:
1.	Open the Microsoft Word document that you want to view.
2.	Choose Perforce > Compare Versions...
3.	If you have not saved your current version of the document, P4OFC prompts you do so. Click Yes to save your document.
4.	Depending on the options you have chosen, you may or may not see a verification dialog. If you do, click OK.
5.	Microsoft Word displays the differences between the documents. 

If you attempt to check in a document that contains differences, P4OFC reminds you that the file still contains results of the comparison. Choose Edit > Undo Compare Documents to remove the differences.

Comparing workspace and previous versions
You can compare your workspace version of a Microsoft® Word document to a previous version in the depot by choosing the Perforce > Document History...  menu item.
	To diff the current workspace version of a document against a previous version:
1.	Choose Perforce > Document History...
2.	Choose the version of the document to which you would like to compare your current document.
3.	Click Diff vs. Current.

Microsoft Word marks the differences between the documents, if any. 
4.	If you attempt to check in a document that contains differences, P4OFC reminds you that the file still contains results of the comparison. Choose Edit > Undo Compare Documents to remove the differences.

Troubleshooting: Adding documents
	When I try to add a document to Perforce, I get an error stating that the document is not "under client's root." What does this mean?
To add a document to Perforce successfully, the document must be in your client workspace.

To add your document to Perforce, save it in your client workspace. If you do not know what this means, see your Perforce administrator.

Troubleshooting: Checking documents out
	When I try to check out a document from Perforce, I get an error stating that the "newest version in the Perforce depot (#) has been deleted." The error message tells me to use P4Win to recover the document. What does this mean?
The document that you are trying to check out has been deleted from Perforce. If you are familiar with Perforce, you can use P4Win or the Perforce command-line client to undo the delete. If you are not familiar with Perforce, contact your Perforce administrator. 

You cannot access this document in Perforce until the document has been recovered.

Troubleshooting: Comparing documents
	I do not see the Perforce > Compare Versions menu option in Microsoft® PowerPoint or Microsoft® Excel. Why?
This function is only available for comparing Microsoft® Word documents. If you are in Microsoft PowerPoint or Microsoft Excel, you cannot compare versions.
	After comparing my workspace version to the depot version of a document, I try to check the document in, but P4OFC tells me that there are "revisions from document comparison still active in the current document." What does this mean?
The differences between the two versions are still visible in your document. Deleted text is displayed as strike-through and added text is underlined. To remove these indicators, choose Undo > [last command].
	After comparing two previous versions of the document, the Perforce > Check in menu option is grayed out. Why?
Comparing two previous versions creates a new document, called Ver-[#]-vs-[#].doc, where # represents the version numbers of the document that you are comparing. This is a new document and it is not in Peforce, so you cannot check it in.

Glossary

A
access level
atomic change transaction

B
base
binary file type
branch
branch specification
branch view

C
changelist
changelist form
changelist number
change review
checkpoint
client form
client name
client root
client side
client view
client workspace
codeline
conflict
counter

D
default changelist
default depot
deleted file
delta
depot
depot root
depot side
depot syntax
detached
diff

E
exclusionary access
exclusionary mapping

F
file conflict
file pattern
file repository
file revision
file tree
file type
fix
form
full-file storage

G
group

H
have list
head revision
	I
integrate
Inter-File Branching

J
job
job specification
job view
journal
journaling

L
label
label view
lazy copy
license file
list access
local depot
local syntax
lock
log

M
mapping
MD5 checksum
merge
merge file
metadata
modification time

N
nonexistent revision
numbered changelist

O
open file
owner

P
P4
P4D
P4Diff
P4Win
pending changelist
Perforce server
protections

R
RCS format
read access
remote depot
reresolve
resolve
resource fork
reverse delta storage
revert
review access
review daemon
revision number
revision range
revision specification	S
server root
status
submit
subscribe
super access
symlink file type
sync

T
target file
text file type
theirs
three-way merge
tip revision
trigger
two-way merge
typemap

U
user

V
view

W
wildcard
write access

Y
yours