Sync using an arguments file fails frequently. [p4vfs -x {file} sync]

[pmintusEA]

We very heavily rely on argument files when performing a syncing using p4.exe. It allows us to filter out unnecessary files. When we ported over to p4vfs.exe we continued to use an argument file. However I have recently noticed that they don't always succeed.

The more files to sync, the greater the chance of failure. I cannot tell if there is a safe minimum.

This seems to only occur when using an arguments file. I have not been able to reproduce the issue without an arguments file. sync and populate with an arguments file both have the same issue.

At around 25,000 files I see about a 1/6 success rate.

When it fails I have seen the following:

• Exit code will always be 1
• All files are missing. I have not encountered a partial sync.
• The p4 have table may sometimes be updated
• The error below may sometimes be printed out
• It might fail immediately, or it may first print out all of the files in the arguments file and then after a while fail

SocketModelClient.SendCommand exit with exception: One or more errors occurred.

I have attached a powershell script that I have been using to verify this. To use this script, you will have to have your p4 environment set up so that executing p4vfs sync would just start a sync.

# Tests p4vfs populate using an argument file to perform the sync
# .\p4vfs-test.ps1 -max 10000 will limit the sync to 10000 files
# .\p4vfs-test.ps1 -nofile will not use an argument file
# .\p4vfs-test.ps1 -sync will use sync instead of populate

p4vfs-test.ps1.txt

[jessk-msft]

Thank you for the details. I'm sure that we haven't stress tested the argument file support enough. Seems like a fairly consistent problem, and we can probably start by confirming it with a new unit test.
Can you provide a bit more info:

• Have you tried using p4vfs sync -t to perform the sync in the p4vfs process, instead of sending arguments to the windows service? This may indicate if the problem is limited to SocketModelClient.SendCommand

• Does a failed sync result in inconsistent workspace files? For example, if you do a p4 reconcile after a failed p4vfs -x <file> sync do you see local files that don't match the #have.

• Are you using any other p4vfs sync arguments as well in your p4vfs-test.ps1. For example, a Single mode sync (ie p4vfs populate) could be quite inconsistent.

Regards,
-Jess

[pmintusEA]

Hi,

I tested p4vfs sync -t and it seems to be working correctly.

Thanks!