Git-p4 plugin for Magit

This package adds integrated git-p4 support to Magit.

Note

The package is actively maintained again, even though the repository will remain in @emacsorphanage. Please don't hesitate to report issues and feature requests, though keep in mind I'm normally only able to work on it every other weekend, so some delay before I respond is expected.

Requirements

Emacs 27.1 with magit-4.0.0 or newer, transient-0.8.0 or newer, and p4 packages installed.

Note

p4.el is not maintained anymore and hasn't been updated in many years. The updated fork by @JohnC32 is recommended. Although both the last released version (12.0) of the original package and the fork are currently supported, future compatibility with the old package is not guaranteed.

Note that the MELPA packages don't currently exist for the fork and it will need to be manually configured. This is particularly easy to do using use-package and straight.el:

(use-package p4 :straight (:fork (:repo "JohnC32/perforce-emacs")))

Additionally, the git-p4 add-on is required to be installed on your system (outside of Emacs). If running git p4 gives you a short help string rather than complaining that 'p4' is not a git command, you have it installed and are good to go. Ordinarily, git comes with git-p4 included, so no extra steps should be necesssary, but Debian and Ubuntu notably do not package it. If that is the case for you, you can download git-p4.py from git's own source and put it somewhere in your $PATH.

Installation

The recommended way to install magit-p4 is via MELPA and use-package, using one of the following forms (only choose one, as approprita for your configuration):

;; If using straight.el with automatic use-package integration,
;; this will automatically install magit-p4 as necessary
(use-package magit-p4 :after magit)

;; This will auto-install using package.el;
;; make sure MELPA is configured as a package repo!
(use-package magit-p4 :after magit :ensure t)

;; Request installation with straight.el explicitly
(use-package magit-p4 :after magit :straight t)

If you plan to enable the package manually be sure to have magit and p4 installed already and add the downloaded package directory to Emacs load-path:

(add-to-list 'load-path "<path-to-magit-p4-directory>")

and then call:

(require 'magit-p4)

Regardless of which method you choose, magit-p4 will automatically hook into magit's menu system and will be available as its own set of commands.

Usage

magit-p4 is a wrapper for the git-p4 command, just as magit is a wrapper around git, so you should have at least some understanding of how git-p4 operates. Please refer to its documentation for an introduction.

To invoke Magit-P4, inside the Magit status buffer press ? key to reveal main magit menu. The menu should be have the 4 listed as bound to the Git P4 submenu (a.k.a. "Magit-P4 dispatch"). The dispatch has four items which represent four activities implemented by git-p4 add-on:

• Cloning - bound to key c and magit-p4-clone function;
• Syncing - bound to key f (similar to magit's fetch) and magit-p4-sync function;
• Rebasing - bound to key r and magit-p4-rebase function;
• Submitting - bound to key P (capital "P", similar to magit's push) and magit-p4-submit function.

As a shorthand, the 4 key is also bound directly in the magit status buffer, similar to the majority of git commands, meaning you don't need to press ? first to access it.

After one of the activities is chosen another menu appears where one may specify additional options and arguments - like magit does.

One may use magit-p4 function outside magit buffer but be sure to do it while the active buffer reflects a directory inside Git repository. Some of these four functions make use of command prefix argument (C-u).

Cloning

Press c inside Magit-P4 dispatch. The clone submenu presents some additional switches and arguments. The most important argument is =d (destination directory). Without specifying this argument the default directory will be used for cloning which may not be appropriate. Then one must press c key once more. The minibuffer will ask for P4 depot to clone. Pressing Tab key invokes completion (here p4 package comes with help). Unfortunately, the completion might be slow due to network communication. The cloning process is launched asynchronously so one must visit magit process buffer from time to time to know cloning current status.

You may use directly magit-p4-clone command prepending with C-u - the command will ask you for target directory after you choose P4 depot to clone.

Syncing

Press f inside Magit-P4 dispatch. The submenu presents some additional switches and arguments for git-p4 sync command. Press p to start synchronization. If command prefix argument (C-u) has been pressed before the final s you will be presented with minibuffer asking for P4 depot path to sync with (of course the completion will work thanks to p4 package).

Rebasing

Press r inside Magit-P4 dispatch. Additional switches are provided in rebase submenu. Finally press r key to rebase. This will first sync the git repo with the P4 depot, then rebase the current branch on top of the p4/master remote.

Submitting

Press P inside Magit-P4 dispatch. Additional switches are provided in submit submenu. Press p to submit. A buffer will appear where you may add some more info to submitted change-set log. Press C-x# to confirm (emacsclient is used). By default, git-p4 will both prepare a new CL and submit it via the p4 client, but by using the -p switch, it's possible to prepare the CL only, for later manual submission.

Credits

Magit-P4 was originally written by Damian T. Dobroczyński (qoocku@gmail.com), and later maintained by Aleksey Fedotov (lexa@cfotr.com). It is currently maintained by Maciej Katafiasz (mathrick@gmail.com).