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P4 for Visual Studio Documentation | 2025.2

# Syntax conventions

Multiple help sets use this topic. If content changes are needed in this topic, contact the P4 documentation team for consensus first. If format changes are needed, contact Amy.

P4 documentation uses the following conventions for command-line syntax.

Notation | Meaning | Syntax | Example command
--- | --- | --- | ---
`literal` | Must be used in the command exactly as shown. | `p4 revert -So` | `p4 revert -So`
`italics` | A parameter you must provide specific information for. | `p4 user -d username` | `p4 user -d msmith`
    -a -b or --a --b
| Both elements are required. | `p4 renameuser --from=old --to=new` | `p4 rename msmith mjones`
`[-a -b]` | Any combination of the enclosed elements is allowed and none of the elements are required. Omit the brackets when entering the command. | `p4 delete [-n -k -v] file ...` | `p4 delete readme.txt`
    [-a | -b]
| Exactly one of the enclosed elements is allowed and none of the elements are required. Omit the brackets when entering the command. | `p4 group [-a | -A] groupname` | `p4 group admins`
    {-a | -b}
| Exactly one of the enclosed elements is required. Omit the curly braces when entering the command. | `p4 bgtask {-e command | -t triggerName}`
| `p4 bgtask -t fileSizeCheckTrigger`
... | Previous argument can be repeated. ... has a different meaning for directories. See Wildcards under File specifications in the P4 CLI Reference. | `p4 [g-opts] streamlog [ -l -L -t -m max ] stream1 ...` | `p4 streamlog //project1/s1 //project1/s2`

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