Reply-To: Bryce Adelstein Lelbach aka wash
This repository contains a modified version of git p4 (which is part of
the main Git distribution) called git p4t (t for transparent) which is
designed to submit changes from a Git repository to a Perforce repository
without modifying Git history (as git p4 does) and without requiring the
use of a service like Perforce GitFusion.
This tool was developed by NVIDIA's CUDA C++ Core Libraries team for use in a
number of projects such as CUDA Thrust, CUDA CUB, and libcu++.
git p4t is designed for a workflow where Git is the source of truth and all
changes are made in Git and then submitted to Perforce.
When git p4 submits a Git commit to Perforce, the original Git commmit is
deleted and replaced with a new commit containing the same content.
This history rewriting is problematic for Git-centric workflows.
It makes it difficult for downstream Git users to rebase, to tell which
branches have been merged, and to use GitHub/GitLab pull requests.
Instead, git p4t transparently submits Git commits to Perforce without
modifying Git history in any way.
It also automatically inserts the Git commit hashes and Git author ids into
the submitted Perforce changelist descriptions.
git p4t is not designed for workflows where changes are made in Perforce and
then pulled into Git.
git p4t will NOT automatically identify and pull changes made in Perforce
that are not in the Git tree.
git p4 has strong mechanisms for enforcing unity between Perforce and Git,
with the downside that it rewrites Git history.
git p4t does not rewrite Git history, but it has much weaker mechanisms for
ensuring unity between Git and Perforce.
However, git p4t does give users greater freedom in manually controlling
what Git commits are considered submitted to Perforce.
The git p4t unify command (which replaces git p4t init) manually sets the
commit that the git p4t tool belives Perforce is synchronized with to
a specified Git commitish (HEAD by default).
Unlike Perforce GitFusion, git p4t does not require a service to be running
on a central server, does not require Perforce administrative access, and does
not funnel all Perforce submissions through a single account (limiting
accountability and access mechanisms designed around Perforce user IDs).
Parts of this software are distributed under the [GNU Public License version 2 (GPLv2)] and parts of this software are distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.md for further details.
This software is designed to work on Linux-based operating systems.
Required Software
| Software | Minimum Version |
|---|---|
| Python | 2.7.13 |
| GNU Bash | 4.2 |
| GNU Make | 4.1 |
| Git | 2.6.4 |
| Perforce Helix Command-Line Client (p4) | 2017.1 |
Optional Software
These are needed to build the git-p4 manpage.
| Software | Minimum Version |
|---|---|
| AsciiDoc | 8.6.9 |
| DocBook | 4.5 |
| xmlto | 0.0.2 |
To install the Perforce Helix Command-Line Client (p4) on Debian or Ubuntu systems, you'll need to add their Debian package repository to your list of Debian package sources:
deb http://package.perforce.com/apt/ubuntu xenial releaseThe following commands will add Perforce repository and update the list of available packages:
wget -qO - https://package.perforce.com/perforce.pubkey | sudo apt-key add -
sudo bash -c 'echo "deb http://package.perforce.com/apt/ubuntu xenial release" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/perforce.list'
sudo apt-get updateAfter you've done that, the following will install all of the requried prerequisites on Debian or Ubuntu systems:
sudo apt-get install python bash make git helix-cli asciidoc docbook xmltoYou can just run make to build and install this software:
sudo make installBy default, this will install into /usr/local.
You can control the install root with the INSTALL_ROOT variable:
make install INSTALL_ROOT=/my/install/root