bitb.html #1

<TITLE>Back-in-Time Browsing&#174</TITLE>

Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 can show you what the Perforce depot
looked like at any point in time.
If you have web content files stored in Perforce,
Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 can show
you your website as it appeared at any point in time,
under certain conditions.
<p>


<h4>Using Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 to view depot state</h4>

<p>
You can set Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 to view the state of the depot at
a particular point in time from the <b>Settings</b> tab.
See <a href="settings?help">Settings and Preferences</a> for
more information.
<p>
As you browse depot files and paths with Back-in-Time Browsing&#174
turned on, the information you see will be relative to the date
(or other <a href="defs?help#symbolic">symbolic revision</a>)
value you entered.
For example:
<p>
<ul>
<li>Files that didn't exist at that Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 point
won't be visible in the Files tab.
(Unless they are open in your workspace, in which case you'll see
them, but they'll appear to be unsynced.)
<li>If you have "Show Recent Activity" turned on,
you'll see the most recent changelists relative to the
Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 point.
<li>If you're looking at Revision History of a file,
the only revisions displayed will be those that existed at the
Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 point.
</ul>

<p>
Note that:

<ul>
<li>
Most menu options and command shortcuts are not available when
Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 is turned on.
<li>
Viewing
<a href="user?help">user specs</a>,
<a href="client?help">client specs</a>,
<a href="branch?help">branch views</a>,
and so forth always shows up-to-date information, even
with Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 turned on.
</ul>

<p> To turn off Back-in-Time Browsing&#174, use the <b>Settings</b> tab.

<h4>Using Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 to view web content</h4>

<p>
To use Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 with web content files,
first navigate to a file.
You'll see the file's 
<a href="filelog?help">Revision History</a>.
Click on a revision number 
to enter Back-in-Time Browsing&#174.
<p> After you start browsing web content, the only way to return to P4Web is to 
  use your browser's "Back" button or re-enter your P4Web URL. 
<h4>When does Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 work best?</h4>

<p>
Under certain conditions,
browsing web content files with P4Web is exactly the same as browsing them
with a web server.
You can see images, click on links, and navigate through
what appears to be a website.
The same conditions give you the best Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 experience.
These conditions are:
<p>
<ul>
<li>
The web content files do not contain any server-side executable code.
<li>
Links to other files in the same website are either:
<ul>
<li>relative to each other (no links with absolute pathnames), or
<li>absolute, with a path hierarchy that matches their depot location.
</ul>
</ul>
<p> You can still use Back-in-Time Browsing&#174 under less than ideal conditions, 
  but you might not be able to follow all links and see all content.