Comparison between CM+ and Perforce

Back to main page

SCM feature:	CM+	Perforce	Add to comparison: +CVS +AccuRev +Aegis +AllChange +Arch +Bazaar +BitKeeper +ClearCase +CMSynergy +Co-Op +Darcs +Git +LibreSource Synchronizer +Mercurial +Monotone +OpenCM +PureCM +SourceAnywhere +Subversion +Superversion +Surround SCM +svk +Team Foundation Server +Vesta +Visual SourceSafe
Atomic Commits	Yes. Commits are atomic.
Files and Directories Moves or Renames	Yes. Both moves and renames are supported, while maintaining history.	Not directly (you copy and then delete but it manages to keep track of the branch)
Intelligent Merging after Moves or Renames	Yes. Renames are Intelligent.	Partial. While perforce doesn't explicitly support renames (one hsa to do a copy+delete), it does keep track of the full revision and integration history across copying, so changing a file in the copied directory and trying to merge it does the right thing.
File and Directories Copies	Yes. An inexpensive operation that can be used for sharing files in multiple places. On deploy, you have the option of deploying only one of the shared files or all of them.	Copies are supported (though, because of its architecture, I don't know how well)
Remote Repository Replication	Yes. CM+MultiSite can be configured to clone a repository so that it continues to act as a single repository. Options include cloning only from the main site (i.e. not allowing updates from the clone) and restricting the set of files transferred to a cloned site.	Yes. Via the Perforce Proxy (P4P) tool.
Propagating Changes to Parent Repositories	Yes. In CM+MultiSite, changes made at the slave are, by default, propagated to the Main(master) library, as well as to all other Clones (slaves). You may also propagate changes between unrelated repositories containing some of the same source.	Unknown. Probably Not.
Repository Permissions	Yes. Permissions are defined by data, primarily, not by location. If location is a part of the data, it may be used to define permissions by location. Permissions may apply to a branch, file, problem report, test case, etc. Access may be extended based on peer group, manager, and access lists.	Yes. (more than half a dozen of permission levels that can be set in a file by file basis)
Changesets' Support	Yes. Change packages are known as updates. By default, an update is required to make any change. The update may be checked-in, differenced, promoted, retrieved, propagated, yanked (i.e. removed from history), etc. each in a single operation. Baseline alignment is performed based on the status (i.e. promotion level) of the update. Updates also record changes to directory structure: move, add, remove.	Yes. Changesets are supported.
Tracking Line-wise File History	Yes. View revision tags.	Yes, an annotation feature is present.
Ability to Work only on One Directory of the Repository	Yes. Any arbitrary set can be checked out and worked on. Similarly, arbitrary restrictions may be applied for check-in, including file ownership.	Yes. Changes to a sub-directory of the repository are supported.
Tracking Uncommited Changes	Yes. Use Updates | Delta | Delta Update. Or right click a file or directory and do a compare to workspace.	Yes.
Per-File Commit Messages	Yes. Out of the box CM+ is configured to prompt for messages (i.e. comments) only per change. However, the schema is pre-configured so that you may prompt on a per file basis as well (typically done at checkout time as the entire change is normally checked in with a single operation.	No. Commit messages are per change.
Documentation	Very good. There is a self-demo/tutorial to get you started quickly. Administration is minimal. So normal developer use requires only a 1 to 2 hour training session (or equivalent guide) to introduce you to concepts and capabilities (e.g. like updates, options). Customization documentation is also extensive but should normally be accompanied by a 2-day to 4-day course for GUI, Process, Data and Application set customization.	Very Good (html and command line help)
Ease of Deployment	Yes. Typical installation need only be done on the server (with a single shortcut established on the client). This assumes file system connectivity. For IP only connectivity, installation is also required on remote clients. Installation is typically a couple of minutes. No dependencies unless web interface is used, in which case an Apache server is required. A download is available from Neuma's web site and takes you right into a self-guided fully working demo version.	Very good. Perforce is very easy to deploy.
Command Set	CM+ has several dozen commands that can be used both for operation and configuration of the product. As CM+ is change-based, commands are substantially different than CVS. The GUI is used primarily and implemented on top of the command set. As well, CM+ covers a full ALM suite and can be extended beyond, so there are many more generic commands for browsing, reporting, etc.	Very extensive but not compatible with CVS.
Networking Support	Very good. File system connectivity, TCP/IP connectivity and Web connectivity may be intermixed. MultiSite connectivity is over TCP/IP, as is License server. Works well with SSH, NFS, SMB, etc.	Good. (single TCP/IP socket)
Portability	Good. Clients and Servers work on Unix, Linux, and Windows. MAC OS X port pending. Moving server from one platform to another is a copy operation only. Can have different platforms for different servers in a MultiSite configuration. Easily configurable Web client also supported. No CR/LF issues. Scripts are all portable as well.	Excellent. Runs on UNIX, Mac OS, BeOS and Windows.
Web Interface	Yes. Can be configured to restrict which operations are allowed by which users, so that customers may access their requests without seeing development team data.	Yes, P4Web.
Availability of Graphical User-Interfaces.	Excellent. Windows and Unix/Linux GUI as well as web GUI. Extensively configurable via simple menu files, browser files, etc. Can customize the set of to-do lists by user/role, same for menus, pop-up menus, default visible tabbed reports, etc. GUI also used for all admin and for process and data schema customization. Also plug-in for Visual Studio, Eclipse, etc. and File Browser (Windows).	Yes, P4Win and others based on the available libp4 library.