Choose how to store P4 DAM assets in P4

P4 DAM assets are stored on the P4 Server. Assets must be stored in a P4 stream depot or classic depot to work with them in P4 DAM.

  • A stream depot is a container for streams. Streams provide a "mainline" approach to managing groups of related files, which makes it easier to administer a project from development to releases. To learn more, see Streams in P4 Visual Client (P4V) Documentation.

  • A classic depot, also known as a local depot, is a repository of P4 Server files that is not streams-based. A classic depot is the top-level unit of storage for versioned files and contains branches that are sets of related files that exist at a specific location in the P4 depot. A P4 Server can contain multiple depots. To learn more, see Local depots in P4 Server Administration Documentation.

P4 DAM does not support task or virtual streams.

Before your team starts using P4 DAM, decide how to store P4 DAM assets in P4. You can choose to:

  • Automatically create P4 depots and mainline streams when projects are created in

  • Manually link P4 DAM projects to existing P4 streams and display their contenP4 DAMts in P4 DAM.

To learn more, see Considerations.

Considerations

Before deciding on a method to store P4 DAM assets in P4, review the following information to make the best choice for your team.

  • If you do not have existing assets stored in P4 that you want to work with in P4 DAM and you do not need to control the structure used to store P4 DAM assets in P4, you may want to use automatic depot and stream creation. Consider using this option if your team is only using P4 to support P4 DAM. To learn more, see Automatic depot and stream creation.

  • If you have existing assets stored in a P4 stream that you want to work with in P4 DAM and want control of the structure used to store P4 DAM assets in P4, you may want to use manual stream linking. Consider using this option if you share a P4 Server with others in your organization, such as engineers. Before you make a decision, contact the P4 administrator to discuss options. To learn more, see Manual links.

  • If you have existing assets stored in a P4 classic depot that you want to work with in P4 DAM and want control of the structure used to store P4 DAM assets in P4, you may want to use manual classic depot linking. Consider using this option if you share a P4 Server with others in your organization, such as engineers. Before you make a decision, contact the P4 administrator to discuss options. To learn more, see Link to classic depots.

Automatic depot and stream creation

If the Automatic depot creation company setting is turned on, when a user creates a project in P4 DAM, Project type options are displayed in the Create new project dialog box.

  • If the user creating the project selects Automatically create depot as the Project type, when the project is created, the corresponding depot and mainline stream are automatically created in P4. The stream depot name is <projectname>_stream and the mainline stream name is main . The stream depot depth is two and cannot be changed. The appropriate P4 groups and permissions are also automatically created. When a user creates a collection in a P4 DAM project, a corresponding stream is created in P4. To learn more, see Create a collection.

  • If the user creating the project selects Manually link to depots as the Project type, the project must use manual stream linking. This option cannot be changed for the project later.

To learn more, see Create a project.

Manual links

If the Automatic depot creation company setting is turned off, Project type options are not displayed in the Create new project dialog box. The user must link the project to a P4 stream depot or classic depot that contains the assets to work with in P4 DAM.

Link to streams

  • After a user creates a project in P4 DAM, they must link the project to a P4 stream depot that contains assets to work with in P4 DAM. Mainline streams are represented as repositories in P4 DAM. Individual streams are displayed in repositories in P4 DAM as collections. To learn more, see Link a project to a P4 Server stream.

  • You must manually manage groups and permissions in P4. These permissions are respected by P4 DAM.

  • Users cannot manually add collections to P4 DAM projects, but they can upload assets to existing collections. These assets are also added to P4. Users can create folders in collections to organize assets. To learn more about adding folders to collections, see Create a folder in a collection.

  • Repositories are used in P4 DAM to group collections. A repository is a P4 mainline stream. The project administrator can enter a different name for the repository displayed in P4 DAM when they link the project to a stream.

Link to classic depots

  • After a user creates a project in P4 DAM, they must link the project to a P4 classic depot that contains assets to work with in P4 DAM. Classic depots are represented as repositories in P4 DAM. Individual branches are displayed in repositories in P4 DAM as collections. To learn more, see Link a project to a P4 Server classic depot.

  • You must manually manage groups and permissions in P4. These permissions are respected by P4 DAM.

  • Users cannot manually add collections to P4 DAM projects, but they can upload assets to existing collections. These assets are also added to P4. Users can create folders in collections to organize assets. To learn more about adding folders to collections, see Create a folder in a collection.

  • Repositories are used in P4 DAM to group collections. A repository is a P4 classic depot. The project administrator can enter a different name for the repository displayed in P4 DAM when they link the project to a classic depot.

Where to go next

After deciding how to store assets, a company administrator needs to update the company settings to turn automatic depot creation on or off. To learn more, see Change the automatic depot creation company setting.