editclient.html #1

<TITLE>Editing Client Specs</TITLE>
<p>
Your Perforce <i>client spec</i> defines your workspace location, the depot files you plan to work with, and where they will be located
in your workspace when you invoke Perforce commands.
<p>




<p> <b>To edit a client spec:</b> 
<p>
<ol>
<li>To edit a client spec, it must be set as your current client workspace (check at the top of your screen under <b>Client</b>).
<li>To change your current client workspace:
<ul>
<li>Click the <b>Settings</b> tab, enter the name of the client spec that you want to change to, and click <b>Save</b>, or
<li>Click the <b>Clients</b> tab, click on the client name that you want to change to, and select the <b>Switch to client</b> link at the
bottom of the page.
</ul>
<li> Click the <b>Edit current client</b> link at the top of the page to modify the current client spec.
<li>If you are a new Perforce user just starting out, the only client spec
fields that you have to edit are <b>Root</b> and <b>View</b>,
as described below.
<li>After you have edited these fields, click <b>Save</b>.
</ol>
As you learn more about what you can do with your client spec, you can edit it 
again and select different options. 
<p> <B>Client spec field descriptions</B> <br>
  A client spec contains the following fields: 
<table width="66%" border="1" cellpadding="1">
  <tr> 
    <td width="19%"><b>Field</b></td>
    <td width="81%"><b>Description</b></td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td width="19%"><b>Client</b></td>
    <td width="81%">The unique name of your current client workspace (this cannot 
      be changed). </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td width="19%"><b>Update</b></td>
    <td width="81%">Shows when your client spec was last changed. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td width="19%"><b>Access</b></td>
    <td width="81%">Shows when your workspace was last used. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td width="19%"><b>Owner</b></td>
    <td width="81%">The user who "owns" the workspace and the client spec. (Unless 
      the client spec is locked, ownership has no particular privilege.) </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td width="19%"><b>Host</b></td>
    <td width="81%">The name of the workstation or computer on which your workspace 
      is located. P4Web uses this value to prevent you from accidentally using 
      your workspace from the wrong machine. If your workspace is on a shared 
      filesystem, and you want to use it from more than one machine, leave the 
      host value blank. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td width="19%"><b>Description</b></td>
    <td width="81%">Optional information that can be used to described what this 
      client workspace is used for. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td width="19%"><b>Root</b></td>
    <td width="81%">The location of the the root of your workspace on the local 
      filesystem. You should set this once, when you are first creating your client 
      spec. Use the directory naming syntax recognized by your machine (for example, 
      "C:&#92;WS" on Windows, or "/usr/team/bill/ws" on Unix). 
      <p> If you ever want to change your workspace root, you should first <a href="submit?help">submit</a> 
        your opened files, then <a href="remove?help">remove</a> all Perforce-managed 
        files from your workspace, and <i>then</i> use the Edit Client page to 
        change the root. After saving the new client spec, <a href="sync?help">sync</a> 
        your workspace and files will be written to the new location. 
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td width="19%"><b>Altroots</b></td>
    <td width="81%">You can enter up to two optional alternate client workspace 
      roots. The first of any of these roots (main or alternate) that matches 
      P4Web's current working directory is used; if none matches, the main root 
      is used. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td width="19%"><b>Options</b></td>
    <td width="81%">Controls some optional characteristics of how Perforce operates 
      in this client workspaces. See <a href="editclient?help#options"> Client 
      Workspace Options</a>, below. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td width="19%"><b>LineEnd</b></td>
    <td width="81%">Controls how line endings in text files are translated when 
      files are transmitted between the depot and your workspace. See <a href="editclient?help#linend">Translating 
      Line-end Characters</a>, below. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td width="19%"><b>View</b></td>
    <td width="81%">Describes how depot files will be "mapped" into your workspace. 
      For example, if your client workspace name is "PatWS" and its root is "C:&#92;WS", 
      this view: 
      <pre>	//depot/projects/saturn/... //PatWS/SAT/...</pre>
      will map all the files the //depot/projects/saturn path to a matching directory 
      hierarchy under "C:&#92;WS&#92;SAT". 
      <p> If you're creating your first workspace, you can leave the default values 
        provided in the View field. Be aware, however, that if your Perforce server 
        manages very large depots, the default view can cause your workspace commands 
        to run slowly. For better performance, define a view that maps to only 
        the depot paths you are interested in working with. 
      <p> See the <i>P4 User's Guide</i> for more details on client view mapping. 
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>


<p>
<a name="options"></a>
<h4>Client workspace options</h4>

<p> These optional behaviors can be defined for your client workspace: 
<table width="66%" border="1" cellpadding="1">
  <tr> 
    <td><b>Option</b></td>
    <td><b>Description</b></td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td><b>Unopened files writable on client: <i>(<kbd>allwrite</kbd>)</i></b> 
    </td>
    <td>Will all files be writable in the workspace, or only files that have been 
      opened for edit? The default value is (<kbd>allwrite</kbd>), so that only 
      files you've opened will be writable. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td><b>Data compression between client/server: <i> <kbd>(compress)</kbd></i></b> 
    </td>
    <td>Will data sent between your client workspace and the Perforce server be 
      compressed? The default value is off. Over a LAN or high-bandwidth connection, 
      there's little benefit to compressing this data, but if you're operating 
      over a slow link, turning this option on will help. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td><b>Mod time set to depot submission time: <i> <kbd>(modtime)</kbd></i></b> 
    </td>
    <td> 
      <p>What should the modification time on files in your workspace be set to 
        when copied in by the <b>sync</b> command? 
      <p> By default, the modification time of unopened files on your workspace 
        files shows when they were synced. Choosing this option will cause <b>sync</b> 
        to set each file's modification time to the timestamp associated with 
        it when it was submitted to the depot. 
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td><b>Client spec write-protected: <i><kbd>(locked)</kbd></i></b> </td>
    <td> 
      <p> Lock the client spec? 
      <p> The default value is off (unlocked). Anyone can use the workspace or 
        edit the client spec. If you turn this on, only the user shown in the 
        <b>Owner</b> field will be able to use the workspace or edit the specification. 
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td><b>Sync deletes empty client directories: <kbd><i>(rmdir)</i></kbd></b> 
    </td>
    <td> 
      <p>Should a <b>sync</b> command that deletes all files in a directory also 
        delete the directory? 
      <p> The default value is off. A <b>sync</b> command that removes all files 
        in a directory will leave empty directories. If you turn this option on, 
        empty directories will be removed. 
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td><b>Sync overwrites writable unopened files: <i><kbd>(clobber)</kbd></i></b> 
    </td>
    <td> 
      <p>Should the <b>sync</b> command overwrite any writable, unopened files? 
      <p> The default value is off. If you turn this option on, any writable, 
        unopened files in your workspace can be overwritten when you run <b>sync</b>. 
        This includes files made writable either either from using the <kbd>allwrite</kbd> 
        option described above, or by manually changing permissions from within 
        your local operating system. 
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>

<a name="linend"></a>
<h4>Translating line-end characters</h4>

<p>
Text files contain special characters that indicate where line endings occur.
Different operating systems use different characters (usually
<small><b>CR</b></small> and/or <small><b>LF</b></small>).
When Perforce copies files from the depot into your workspace, it translates
line endings as appropriate for your workspace machine. When it sends file
content from your workspace to the depot, it translates them back.
<p>
The "LineEnd" field in the client spec lets you control the line-end
characters Perforce uses when it reads and writes text files
in your workspace.
Choices are:

<table width=80%>
<tr>
<td valign=top >
<b>local</b>
</td>
<td>
Use whatever line endings the local operating system uses.
This is the default, and the preferred setting for client
workspaces that are not shared.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign=top >
<b>unix</b>
</td>
<td>
Use UNIX-style line endings,
<small><b>LF</b></small>.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign=top >
<b>mac</b>
</td>
<td>
Use Macintosh-style line endings,
<small><b>CR</b></small>.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign=top >
<b>win</b>
</td>
<td>
Use Windows-style line-endings,
<small><b>CRLF</b></small>.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign=top >
<b>share</b>
</td>
<td>
Write files using UNIX-style line endings,
but read files with either UNIX- or Windows-style line endings.
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<p>
<b>Note:</b> Changing the "LineEnd" setting in your client spec doesn't affect the files
Perforce has already put in your workspace.
You must re-<a href="sync?help">sync</a> your files using the "force" option to
make Perforce rewrite the files with the new line-end characters.