P4Python: Python interface to the Perforce API

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. License
  3. Support
  4. Documentation
  5. Building P4Python
  6. Downloads
  7. Sample Code
  8. P4Python Script Library
  9. Porting
  10. Credits

Introduction

So, what's it all about? The observant amongst may notice a distinct resemblance to P4Ruby - which is intentional (thanks Tony)! P4Python allows you to write Python code that interacts nicely and intuitively with a Perforce server. The main features are:

Licence

This extension is distributed under the terms of this license. You use it at your own risk.

Support

P4Python is supported by me personally. You can contact me directly at: robert at vaccaperna dot co dot uk. 

Documentation

If you're new to Python, then start with www.python.org 

Building P4Python

1. Download and install Python

Linux users can probably skip this step as most Linux distributions these days come with Python installed (or on the CD's)

Windows users can download a Windows installer for Python from ActiveState. This is currently known to work with 2.3.

Otherwise you can download the source for Python from www.python.org which is the main Python home page.

2. Download P4Python

Choose the build of P4Python you want to run. For now there is just a current release (in the future there may be "stable" releases).

Pick the appropriate file from the downloads section.

If you chose to use the Windows installer then the process ends with running the executable. You're then ready to start using P4Python. What follows is only applicable to those building P4Python from source.

3. Get the Perforce API

This step is only required if you're building P4Python from source.

See the Porting section below to help you find the right Perforce API build for your platform.

Then go to the Perforce download site and grab the p4api.tar file for your platform. Try to get the latest available release, but certainly no older than 2001.1.

Extract the files in the p4api.tar tarfile (WinZip can handle it for Windows users) into a sub directory called p4api of where the source files are (or edit setup.py below).

4. Build and install P4Python

P4Python uses Distutils (Python 2.2 and later).

  python setup.py install
should do the trick (requires C++ compile to be installed).

Note that there is a supplied test harness (though it requires a working Perforce server with a copy of the training repository to run since it relies on certain history). It is valid example for how to use functions.

 

Downloads

Current Builds

Release Type Current Notes
Source Code p4python.zip Unzip and run "python setup.py install" to build and install

Windows Installers

Release Type Platform Python Version Installer - just download and run
Current Windows 2.3 P4Python-0.5.win32-py2.3.exe
Current Windows 2.4 P4Python-0.5.win32-py2.4.exe

Other platforms (binaries kindly sent in):
Release Type Platform Python Version Built Binary (unpack and copy to appropriate place) Thanks To
Current Cygwin 2.4 P4Python-0.5.cygwin-1.5.12-i686.tar.gz Adam Heinz
Current Linux 2.4 P4Python-0.5.linux-i686.tar.gz Tony Smith

To find out what's changed, read the change log.

Sample code

Please note that all functions are documented in the test harness. See comments for details.

Just a small example to whet your appetite. This small sample shows how to create a new client workspace based on an existing template. You can of course construct the view manually but most people who are scripting client creation will use a template so that seemed like a good example.
  from p4 import P4

  template = "my-client-template"
  client_root = r"c:\work\my-root"

  p4 = P4()
  p4.parse_forms()
  p4.connect()

  try:
      # Run a "p4 client -t template -o" and convert it into a Python dictionary
      spec = p4.fetch_client("-t", template)

      # Now edit the fields in the form
      spec["Root"] = client_root

      # Now save the udpated spec and sync it
      p4.save_client(spec)
      p4.run_sync()

  except:
    # If any errors occur, we'll jump in here. Just log them
    # and raise the exception up to the higher level
    for e in p4.errors:
        print e
        raise e

Porting

P4Python is as portable as Python and Perforce so porting it is relatively easy. Most of the porting problems revolve around people not knowing which build of the Perforce API to use. The key is to match up the compiler used to build Python with the compiler used to build Perforce and use that compiler to build P4Python.

P4Python has been built on at least the following platforms:

Note that P4Python is compatible with older versions of Python and the Perforce API, so on older platforms you should still be able to get a working build.

If you get "unresolved symbol" errors when building or running P4Python, you probably used the wrong compiler or the wrong Perforce API build.

Credits

Thanks to Mike Meyer for the original code.

Thanks to Tony Smith for producing P4Ruby after which this is modelled.