p4Delta is typically used to show the delta between two branches, labels, or timestamps. For example, if you want to know what has changed between myproject-label3 and myproject-label4, p4Delta will show you.
Perforce provides some facilities for getting this information. For example, there is a technote that describes how to display the difference between two labels. However, neither the technique nor the output is particularly "user friendly".
p4Delta has two interfaces:
Even if you intend to use the GUI, you should read the documentation for the CLI, because it explains the terminology, concepts, and behavior of p4Delta.
(a) General syntax that finds the delta between any two filesets:
p4Delta.py dirspec1 filespec1 dirspec2 filespec2 p4Delta.py dirspec filespec1 filespec2 p4Delta.py //depot/dev/console/suzuki ...@suzuki-label-1 ...@suzuki-label-5 Removed Files:
manager/web/processMBeanChanges.jsp
Added Files:
JConsole/CondenserXMLUtil.java
JConsole/DottedVersionNumber.java
JConsole/StringMapper.java
. . .
Updated Files:
JConsole/CAppContextBase.java
JConsole/CReportDataMgrPerf.java
JConsole/DbUtil.java
. . .
A dirspec is the name of a directory. It may be absolute (with a full path from the root) or relative to the current directory. It must not end with a file separator character (/ or \) and it must not include any filename component. Examples of valid dirspecs are:
dir1 [local syntax, relative]
C:\dev\dir1 [local syntax, absolute]
/home/jdoe/dev/dir1 [local syntax, absolute]
//depot/dev/dir1 [Perforce depot syntax]
//jdoe/dev/dir1 [Perforce client syntax]A filespec is the name of a file. It may include Perforce wildcards. It may include a Perforce modifier such as a branch name, date, etc. (See the Perforce File Specification documentation for details on modifiers.) The filespec must not include any directory component. When the filespec includes wildcards or modifiers, it often needs to be quoted to prevent the shell from expanding the argument. Examples of valid filespecs are:
"myfile.c" [specific file]
"myfile.c@label1" [specific file with label]
"*" [all files in dir (but not subdirs)]
"..." [all files in dir and subdirs]
"*@label1" [all files in dir with label]
"...@label1" [all files with label]
"...@2003/07/01" [all files as of date]
"...@2003/07/01 13:15:00" [all files as of date/time]
"...#have" [all files current version in client workspace]
"...#head" [all files current version in depot - same as "..."]
"..." [all files current version in depot - same as "...#head"] p4Delta.py //depot/dev/console/suzuki ...@suzuki-label-3 ...@suzuki-label-4Delta between two labels (specific file):
p4Delta.py //depot/dev/console/suzuki myfile.c@suzuki-label-3 myfile.c@suzuki-label-4Delta between a label and the current depot contents:
p4Delta.py //depot/dev/console/suzuki ...@suzuki-label-3 ...Delta between a label and the current client contents:
p4Delta.py //depot/dev/console/suzuki ...@suzuki-label-3 ...#haveDelta between a date and the current depot contents:
p4Delta.py //depot/dev/console/suzuki ...@2003/07/01 ...Delta between the current client contents and the current depot contents (similar to p4 sync -n: shows what is out of date):
p4Delta.py //depot/dev/console/suzuki ...#have ...Delta between two branches:
p4Delta.py //depot/dev/console/ducati ... //depot/dev/console/suzuki ...Delta between two branches, with specific labels:
p4Delta.py //depot/dev/console/ducati ...@ducati-build-3 //depot/dev/console/suzuki ...@suzuki-build-2Any command written in the Shortcut syntax can be rewritten in the General syntax, but the reverse is not true: when you are delta'ing different directories or branches, you must use the General syntax.
For example, this command in Shortcut syntax:
p4Delta.py //depot/dev/console/suzuki ...@suzuki-label-3 ...@suzuki-label-4can be expressed as follows in General syntax:
p4Delta.py //depot/dev/console/suzuki ...@suzuki-label-3 //depot/dev/console/suzuki ...@suzuki-label-4The results of the two commands are the same, the General syntax just requires more typing.
p4Delta.py //depot/myprog ...@label1 ...@label2will show the delta between label1 and label2. If you instead run:
p4Delta.py //depot/myprog ...@label2 ...@label1then the sense of the delta will be reversed. In other words, files that were removed between label1 and label2 will be shown as having been added between label2 and label1. Labels usually have a known sequence that makes it easy to determine the correct order for the arguments. But for branches, when you have parallel development, there is no automatic way to know which of the following will produce the most useful output:
p4Delta.py //depot/myprog/rel1 ... //depot/myprog/rel2 ...or
p4Delta.py //depot/myprog/rel2 ... //depot/myprog/rel1 ...Both commands will show you the delta between the branches, but depending on which branch you are more familiar with, or which branch has been more active, you may find one output is easier to work with than the other. You can just try both commands and see which one you prefer.
p4Delta.py //depot/dir1 ... //depot/dir2 ...on two random directories, dir1 and dir2, that are not related by any branching or other common ancestry, the output will not be useful. It will simply tell you that every file in dir1 has been "deleted" and every file in dir2 has been "added".
2. Specify the first directory. You can either type in a directory name, or use the "Select..." button to browse for a directory in the depot:
3. Specify the first filespec. You can either type in a filespec, or use the "Select..." button to assist in creating a filespec using a label or other modifier:
4. Specify the second directory. Select "Same as Dir 1" to use the same directory that you specified above for Dir 1. Select "Other Dir" to specify a different directory. If you select "Other Dir", you can either type in a directory name, or use the "Select..." button to browse for a directory in the depot.
5. Specify the second filespec. You can either type in a filespec, or use the "Select..." button to assist in creating a filespec using a label or other modifier.
6. Click the Delta button to display the delta between the two dirspec/filespec combinations that you specified. The delta is displayed in the Results field:
