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C/C++ API Documentation | 2026.1

# ClientApi::Dropped()

Check if connection is no longer usable.

Virtual? | No |
Class | `ClientApi` |
Arguments | None |
Returns | `int` | nonzero if the connection has dropped

## Notes

`Dropped()` is usually called after `Run()`; it then checks whether the command completed successfully. If the `Init()` is only followed by one `Run()`, as in `p4api.cc`, calling `Final()` and then checking the `Error` is sufficient to see whether the connection was dropped. However, if you plan to make many calls to `Run()` after one call to `Init()`, `Dropped()` provides a way to check that the commands are completing without actually cleaning up the connection with `Final()`.

## Example

The `Dropped()` method is useful if you want to reuse a client connection multiple times, and need to make sure that the connection is still alive.

For example, an application for stress-testing a P4 Server might run "`p4 have`" 10,000 times or until the connection dies:

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    ClientApi client;
    MyClientUser ui;  //this ClientUser subclass doesn't output anything.
    Error e;

    client.Init( &e );
    int count = 0;
    while ( !( client.Dropped() ) && count < 10000 )
    {
        count++;
        client.Run( "have", &ui );
    }
    printf( "Checked have list %d times.\n", count );
    client.Final( &e ); // Clean up connection.

If the `Dropped()` result is true, the `while` loop ends. The actual error message remains inaccessible until after the call to `client.Final()` to close the connection and store the error.

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