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P4 for Visual Studio Documentation | 2025.2

# Use the Streams tool window

P4 for Visual Studio provides two ways to view streams graphically: you can use the Streams tool window directly in P4 for Visual Studio, or you can call the Stream Graph, a P4V component, from within P4 for Visual Studio. This topic discusses how to use the Streams tool window.

In the Streams tool window, status indicators between streams tell you which streams have changes to contribute and where the changes can be copied or merged:

The arrows are color-coded to indicate status:

- Gray: no merge or copy required
- Green: a merge or copy operation is available
- Orange: stream must be updated, after which merge or copy is available

For example, the following arrows next to a stream indicate that you must update it by merging down from its parent, after which you can copy up changes to the parent.

Right-clicking on a stream in the Streams tool window shows the available copy and merge actions that you can perform. If you need to work in another stream to complete an action, you are prompted to switch workspaces, create a new workspace, or select a workspace from an available list depending on the existing workspaces that are available for use with the target stream. From there you can preview the copy or merge operation and complete it. After the copy or merge is done, you are prompted to select a changelist (if the preference is set for changelist prompts) and then to save or submit that changelist. When the merge or copy workflow is complete, your connection changes back to the original workspace that was in use if the workspace was switched during the merge or copy process.

## Edit Ignore Lists

To edit an Ignore List in Solution Explorer, right-click any file in the same folder and select Manage Files > Edit Ignore List. P4 for Visual Studio opens the Ignore List file for edit. If there is no Ignore List file in the current folder, P4 for Visual Studio creates one. Use Edit Ignore List when you want to add file types using wildcard expressions.

## Display and search for streams

To display the streams defined for the P4 Server depot to which you are connected in P4 for Visual Studio:

1. Go to View > Streams to open the Streams tool window.

2. Search for streams using the filter fields.

   You can filter by any combination of the following:

   - Depot (requires an entry)
   - Owner
   - Name
   - Parent
   - Type

Use standard P4 Server syntax (`//streamdepot/stream`). To learn more, see the P4 CLI Documentation.

Note that because this tool window provides a hierarchical view of streams, you may see parent streams that do not match the filter. These are included in the list to show the hierarchy of the streams all the way to the related mainline, but are grayed out.

To change the order in which columns are displayed, drag the column headings right or left.

The details of a selected stream are displayed in the lower pane.

Your search for returned results