CODEWITHSUNDEEP
perforce
jebcor
jebcor

Reputation: 141

Is it possible to integrate revision histories in Perforce?

We are investigating a workflow in Perforce where we create a new temporary branch for every feature project. When projects are stable, they're integrated back into our main branch. Down the line, we would like to remove old project branches from the repository. However I believe this will also delete all revision history for the files modified in the branch. Is it possible to integrate the revision history from the project branches into the main branch?

One solution that I've considered is to manually integrate each individual checkin when merging code back into the main branch. This does not seem like the right approach.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 180

Answers (3)

Dennis
Dennis

Reputation: 20561

First of all, why do you want to remove the branches from the repository? Are you noticing having multiple branches to affecting performance (or expecting it to)? For each 'temporary' branch are you taking an entire copy of the main line? Also why do you consider these branches 'temporary', I would argue if they are for a feature then they are not and should be preserved.

A few articles to read:
- P4 KB Sparse Branching
- P4 Blog: Perforce Anti-Patterns Over-Branching

I believe, without knowing more information, that you could: use sparse branching, make these 'temporary' branches permanent, and if you really have a need for a temporary branch create a private working branch for each of your developers.

Upvotes: 0

ChrisF
ChrisF

Reputation: 137148

I've made extensive use of branching over the years and I can't remember a case where we wished we'd had the branch revision history in the main line or even looked at the branch revision history after the branch was merged back into the main line.

You'll have the revision histories available (though not directly) for a while after a merge and (ideally) anything you check in to the main development branch should pass all the unit tests so the chances of it breaking should be minimised.

Upvotes: 2

Kinexus
Kinexus

Reputation: 12904

The revision histories as stored against the branch they are applied to, so it is not possible to merge from one to the other. Your idea about integrating each changelist from the project branch will work, but is also a pain as you have pointed out.

Upvotes: 4

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