Diffing files and folders
To diff two files:
- In the depot pane, select the two files you want to diff.
- Context-click and choose Diff... The Diff dialog is displayed
- Specify the revisions of the files you want to diff and click Diff.
P4V launches P4Merge, displaying the differences between the files at the
specified revision.
Shortcut: drag the first file to the second file and drop it.
To diff two folders:
- In the depot pane, select the two folders you want to diff.
- Context-click and choose Diff... The Diff dialog is displayed
- Specify the revisions of the folders you want to diff and click Diff.
P4V launches the folder diff utility,
displaying the differences between the folders at the specified revision.
The resulting display is based on your current client view. In the case of
added and deleted files, the folder diff utility displays the location where
the files would reside if they existed.
To diff two folder revisions:
- Context-click the folder and choose Folder History.
- In the Folder History pane, click and drag one revision to the other. P4V
launches the folder diff utility.
To diff two labels:
- In the depot pane, select the topmost meaningful path.
- Right-click and choose Diff... The Diff dialog is displayed.
- For each of the two Path fields, click Specify revision and specify
the labels you want to diff.
- Click Diff. The folder diff utility displays the differences between
the labels.
Diff dialog options
- Path: the two folders or files you want to diff. If you choose Workspace
revision, you can ensure that all files in the workspace (including files
within the client mapping that are not under Perforce control) are displayed
by using local syntax. To display only files under Perforce control, use depot
syntax.
- Workspace revision: the file revision in your client workspace, including
any changes you made after retrieving it from the depot and editing it.
- Latest revision: the revision that was most recently submitted to
the depot (the head revision).
- Have revision: the revision you most recently retrieved. Does not include
any edits you made after retrieving it from the depot.
- Specify revision: enables you to designate the desired revision using
a revision number, changelist number, date, or label.
Checking workspace consistency
If you need to reconcile your workspace after working offline, see Working
offline.
To detect common inconsistencies between the files in your workspace and those
in the depot, you can diff your workspace with the server by selecting the folders
of interest.
When diffing folders, the folder diff utility enables you to detect problems
such as:
The folder diff utility also detects client view mapping disparities such as:
- Unmapped or remapped files and directories
- Files and directories that were retrieved to the workspace and subsequently
removed from the client view
- Files and directories that exist in the local workspace but are not in the
current client view
To prevent or correct disparities that arise from changes to your client view,
retrieve the affected files (choose Get Latest Revision).
Viewing the state of the depot at a specified point in time
When you choose Specify revision, the corresponding pane displays the
state of the depot at the specified date, changelist number, or label. This
feature enables you to view the depot structure at that time without retrieving
files, similar to P4Web's Back in Time Browsing.