diff --git a/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/perforce.html b/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/perforce.html
index 1a8c73d6e..2dbf0d34f 100644
--- a/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/perforce.html
+++ b/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/perforce.html
@@ -339,8 +339,19 @@ although P4Edit can open files to the default change,  P4Submit cannot yet submi
 
 <h2><a name="p4counter">P4Counter</a></h2>
 <h3>Description:</h3>
-<p>Obtain or set the value of a counter
+<p>
+Obtain or set the value of a counter. When used in its base form
+(where only the counter name is provided), the counter value will be
+printed to the output stream. When the value is provided, the counter
+will be set to the value provided. When a property name is provided,
+the property will be filled with the value of the counter. You may
+not specify to both get and set the value of the counter in the same
+Task.
 </p>
+<P>
+The user performing this task must have Perforce &quot;review&quot; permissions
+as defined by Perforce protections in order for this task to succeed.
+</P>
 <h3>Parameters</h3>
 <table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
   <tr>
@@ -358,12 +369,26 @@ although P4Edit can open files to the default change,  P4Submit cannot yet submi
     <td valign="top">The new value for the counter</td>
     <td valign="top" align="center">No</td>
   </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">property</td>
+    <td valign="top">The property to be set with the value of the counter</td>
+    <td valign="top" align="center">No</td>
+  </tr>
 </table>
 
 <h3>Examples</h3>
+Print the value of the counter named &quot;last-clean-build&quot; to the output stream:
 <pre>
 &lt;p4counter name=&quot;last-clean-build&quot; /&gt;
+</PRE>
+Set the value of the counter based on the value of the &quot;TSTAMP&quot; property:
+<PRE>
 &lt;p4counter name=&quot;last-clean-build&quot; value=&quot;${TSTAMP}&quot; /&gt;
+</PRE>
+Set the value of the &quot;p4.last.clean.build&quot; property to the current
+value of the &quot;last-clean-build&quot; counter:
+<PRE>
+&lt;p4counter name=&quot;last-clean-build&quot; property=&quot;${p4.last.clean.build}&quot; /&gt;
 </pre>
 <hr>
 
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/perforce/P4Counter.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/perforce/P4Counter.java
index f92189be9..de6c29653 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/perforce/P4Counter.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/perforce/P4Counter.java
@@ -60,21 +60,23 @@ package org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.optional.perforce;
 
 import org.apache.tools.ant.*;
 
-/** P4Counter - Obtain the value of a counter.
+/** P4Counter - Obtain or set the value of a counter.
+ * P4Counter can be used to either print the value of a counter
+ * to the output stream for the project (by setting the "name"
+ * attribute only), to set a property based on the value of
+ * a counter (by setting the "property" attribute) or to set the counter
+ * on the perforce server (by setting the "value" attribute). 
  *
  * Example Usage:<br>
- * &lt;p4counter name="${p4.change}"/&gt;
+ * &lt;p4counter name="${p4.counter}" property=${p4.change}"/&gt;
  * @author <a href="mailto:kirk@radik.com">Kirk Wylie</a>
- *
- * ToDo: Should be able to write the counter value to a property.
- * I've left that out of the first version here because it involves
- * changing the P4OutputHandler fairly substantially, and thus
- * shouldn't be the second thing that I do here.
  */
  
 public class P4Counter extends P4Base {
     public String counter = null;
+    public String property = null;
     public boolean shouldSetValue = false;
+    public boolean shouldSetProperty = false;
     public int value = 0;
 
     public void setName(String counter) {
@@ -86,17 +88,51 @@ public class P4Counter extends P4Base {
         shouldSetValue = true;
     }
 
+    public void setProperty(String property) {
+        this.property = property;
+        shouldSetProperty = true;
+    }
+
     public void execute() throws BuildException {
 
         if((counter == null) || counter.length() == 0) {
             throw new BuildException("No counter specified to retrieve");
         }
 
-        String command = "-s counter " + P4CmdOpts + " " + counter;
+        if(shouldSetValue && shouldSetProperty) {
+            throw new BuildException("Cannot both set the value of the property and retrieve the value of the property.");
+        }
+
+        String command = "counter " + P4CmdOpts + " " + counter;
+        if(!shouldSetProperty) {
+            // NOTE kirk@radik.com 04-April-2001 -- If you put in the -s, you
+            // have to start running through regular expressions here. Much easier
+            // to just not include the scripting information than to try to add it
+            // and strip it later.
+            command = "-s " + command;
+        }
         if(shouldSetValue) {
             command += " " + value;
         }
 
-        execP4Command(command, new SimpleP4OutputHandler(this));
+        if(shouldSetProperty) {
+            final Project myProj = project;
+
+            P4Handler handler = new P4HandlerAdapter() {
+                public void process(String line) {
+                    log("P4Counter retrieved line \""+ line + "\"", Project.MSG_VERBOSE);
+                    try {
+                        value = Integer.parseInt(line);
+                        myProj.setProperty(property, ""+value);
+                    } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
+                        throw new BuildException("Perforce error. Could not retrieve counter value.");
+                    }
+                }
+            };
+
+            execP4Command(command, handler);
+        } else {
+            execP4Command(command, new SimpleP4OutputHandler(this));
+        }
     }
 }