When files in a tfs workspace are moved outside of tfs (eg. through windows explorer), tfs picks these moves up as a delete and an add.
To get around this, I have a program running that monitors for changes and when a move happens I do a Workspace.PendRename with updateDisk set to false.
This works fine except that tfs adds the delete as a candidate change.
Is there anyway to remove this candidate change? It causes issues if people try and promote these changes.
By using Workspace.GetPendingChangesWithCandidates I can get the candidate change, but there doesn't seem to be anything I can do with it to remove it from the list.
Before doing the PendRename, I tried moving the file back to it's original location (File.Move) and then doing the PendRename with updateDisk set to true. This actually works well for single files, but gets complicated when folders and such are involved.
I'm hoping there's a simple way to either remove the candidate change from the list, or to even disable the candidate changes functionality altogether for certain files/folders. I tried adding the folder to the .tfignore file but that doesn't work.
Promote Candidate Changes shows deletes even though files were renamed
In TFS there are two kinds of moving files. I have crated a sample for both :
Local Workspace (window exploer) directly move/drag file
In the disk my workspace, I'm going to move 2.PNG to Main-branch
folder
Then we could check what TFS detects in VS. One with add(in new
place), one with delete(in old place) in Promote Candidate Changes.
You need to check in both the add and delete ( promote first). Finally
you will get what you want both server and local.
Move a file in solution explorer directly
In the solution explorer , I'm going to move 1.PNG to Main
folder by right click and select move.
You will get a pending change with rename status directly and
not any Promote Candidate Changes.
Then we could check our local workspace, you will see 1.PNG is
automatically deleted in the workspace folder even though you haven't check in changes. Finally checking pending
changes, everything is fine and clean.
Back to your question: Promote Candidate Changes shows deletes even though files were renamed.
The TFS API should be using the way 2 above. Look at the parameters :
updateDisk
If true, the local disk is updated according to the pending changes;
if false, the disk is not modified and changes are not
acknowledged.
So if you set the updateDisk to false , the 1.PNG should still exist in the disk and TFS detect it and adding to promote Candidate Changes shows deleted. Which meets your screenshot. The solution should be change the value from false to true.
Related
We had a user that left the company abruptly and has checked out files under their name. We need these files and their changes that were made to the file. How can we get them in TFS?
If they put their changes in a shelveset, anyone should be able to pull the shelveset and check the changes in permanently. If they didn't, the modified files are wherever their workspace is (was?) and they'd have to be retrieved from there. If you have a TFS administrator, they might be able to get at the workspace definition(s) for that user and back in to a check-out location.
Where I work, workstations are usually imaged when someone resigns so if we need to get at their work it's available for six months or so even if their system gets wiped.
I've been experiencing some situations where I feel as though what is present in a changeset of mine isn't always representative of what I did.
Example: I incremented a version number in AssemblyInfo.cs through the project properties GUI and in a couple other locations. I then checked in my changes and moved on deploying things.
Come to find out, the AssemblyInfo.cs file had been emptied. I checked on my disk and the file contained binary of all zeros.
This is the most recent event in a series of headscratchingly frustrating changeset issues.
Is it possible for someone to tamper with a changeset without leaving any audit trail, or is it possible that the GUI in Visual Studio is corrupting certain things on me?
When you check in your changes, they are stored on the server as a changeset. Changesets contain the history of each item in version control.
You can view a changeset to get information about:
•which files were changed
•what the exact changes were
•who changed the files
•what the check-in comment contains
•which work items are associated with the changeset
•which policy warnings appeared
TFS won't tamper changesets if you have a successful checkin. You can try on another client machine to see whether your issue persists.
No, it is not possible to make changes to TFS version controlled files without leaving any audit trail by anyone or GUI.
You are able to check the file's history via right clicking the file in the Source Control Explorer and click "View History". From the listed changesets, you are able to check who submitted the changeset on which date. If you don't want any one specific changeset, you can just rollback it.
I am trying to write a simple app in C# for source controling database files using SharpSVN library and have some problem implementing atomic commits.
This is the workflow i have in mind:
User changes some files in database locally
Compares to source control and checks some of the changes for comiting
Loop through all selected changes (could be: add file, modify, delete) and apply them to the SVN working copy
If everything is succefully applied to working copy, call commit, else revert all
If commit is unsucesfull revert all
I am adding files to local working copy by calling File.Copy(temporaryPath, workCopyPath) and then SvnClient.Add(workCopyPath)
I am adding modifications to local working copy by calling File.Copy(temporaryPath, workCopyPath)
I am removing files from local working copy by calling SvnClient.Delete(workCopyPath)
In case of error while applying changes to working copy i tried to revert to the state before changes by calling SvnClient.Revert(workCopyRoot)
but that does not revert all changes (for example, added files are still in workin copy after revert).
If everything is ok after applying changes, i call SvnClient.Commit(workCopyRoot) to apply changes to remote repo.
Is this a proper way to apply changes to working copy or should i use something else?
Should i monitor changes to working copy and revert them manually (without SvnClient) or i am just missing some parameter for the SvnClient.Revert() method?
Thanks in advance, any help is more than welcome
I'm trying to get one of our internal c# click once applications into VSOnline for source control to allow access for an external developer.
I think I've got it set up and working in the Source Control Editor, but am having trouble working through how to actually use the setup day to day.
I've got some git experience but zero TFS experience, but went with the TFS option as I thought it's more likely developers are familiar with it than git.
What I'm trying to achieve is 3 branches; Main/Trunk, Dev and Release and be able to deploy at least Release and Main. Release is for external clients, Main for internal clients.
At the moment my Source Control Explorer looks like;
DefaultCollection
-->Name of project
---->(Branch icon) Dev (created as a Branch from Main)
---->(Branch icon) Main
---->(Branch icon) Release (created as a Branch from Main)
2 things;
In terms of use I'm not really sure how to swap between the branches for coding / making changes? Do I just open the solution file for the branch I want to work on then save all changes as I go, then commit that as a changeset? Or is it a matter of manually checking the file out, working on it, then checking it back in again?
Given it's a ClickOnce app; each branch is deployed to a different IIS site, meaning diff app identies, paths and settings. Am I right in using branches for this or is there a better way? I'm worried about someone committing the wrong file and causing a mandatory uninstall/reinstall of the app.
Any pointers / docco greatly appreciated; just note I'm using VS2010.
Thanks,
Liam
How do I swap between branches
If you're used to GIT than the 'heavy weight' branching in TFVC can be a bit confusing. There is no real "Switching between branches" as you've encountered. You map a branch to a local folder and by opening the files there you're "working on that branch".
As Lee points out you can create separate workspaces for each branch, which will isolate the work areas for each. If you're using a Local Workspace, each workspace gets its own "/tf$" folder, the TFVC equivalent of the "/.git" folder.
There's a couple of documents on MSDN that explain this in a little more detail:
Set up TFVC
Create one or more workspaces
Optimize your workspaces
How do I check in
A changeset in TFVC is the equivalent of a commit in Git, it's a logical set of changed files that is committed/pushed as a whole, or not at all. But just as in Git, you can commit all the changes to your local work area at once, or you can exclude certain changes from the first commit and stick those in a second.
In TFVC you'd normally try to commit a logical set of files that fixed the bug, achieved some goal etc. Though it's still possible to check-out/check-in files individually, chances are much higher that you'll actually cause the sources in the main repository to be in an inconsistent state that way.
See
What is a Changeset
Check in your work
Shelving your work
As for your second question
Depending on how far you'd want to go, you could setup Team Build to actually build the application and to take the configuration from a specific location during the build process. That way you wouldn't have to store the configuration for your production environment with the development settings. Configuration files can contain sensitive information, you might not want to have them in Source Control, except for the development versions.
You can also store the config files in a special folder in each branch and make sure that each time you merge them, they're updated accordingly.
And you can, as Lee mentions, look into Config Transaformations. which apply some XSLT to your config file in the build process. That way you can have multiple config files stored in each branch and the selection of your "Configuration" in Visual Studio will define what the final config looks like.
See:
Tricks with app.config files and click once
The _PublishedApplication Nuget package
SlowCheetah
In terms of use I'm not really sure how to swap between the branches for coding / making changes?
I recommend creating separate workspaces for each branch. This way you won't accidentally check in release code when you are trying to check in dev code. Also, when you want to switch which branch of code you are working on, you switch your workspace. This should keep things "cleaner" and easier to work with.
Do I just open the solution file for the branch I want to work on then save all changes as I go, then commit that as a changeset? Or is it a matter of manually checking the file out, working on it, then checking it back in again?
You shouldn't have to manually check it out. If I remember correctly, it will default to auto check out when you start to make changes. You can check code in however big of chunks as you want. But make sure if you are checking in changes to ClassA.cs that reference needed changes in ClassB.cs, you check that in as well. You don't want to leave the source code in a broken state for the other developers.
If you start working on something and have to suspend that work to do some other task that rose in importance, shelve your work instead of letting your workspace get cluttered up with half done work that makes it difficult to manage check ins.
Given it's a ClickOnce app; each branch is deployed to a different IIS site, meaning diff app identies, paths and settings. Am I right in using branches for this or is there a better way?
I'd look into using web.config transformations for this. You'll still want multiple branches but to separate tested/completed/developing code from each other.
I have a very odd situation where by changes committed to the repository by my colleagues when updated to my local copy of the software, Visual studio doesn't recognise them immediately, and reload. the result (and this is very odd) is that most of the times, I will save my changes without the reloaded projects and will overwrite my colleagues changes. It is so embarrassing that sometimes I am asked why I had to change a piece of code and in reality I hadn't.
Another thing is, when I check in some VS project level changes like when someone added a new class, or form or anything and continue to work in Visual studio, it will take me at least 5 to 10 minutes before I get the warning that there was some changes and be asked to reload the project etc...
I think there should be a setting somewhere in visual studio to trigger an automatic reload, but can't find it.
This affect me and another person so far but mine is the strangest as it can take up to 30 minutes before a project start reload.
Any Ideas welcome
This is my settings
If you are working using Source Control, you will need to synchronise your local workspace with the server ("get" the latest code) before any changes by your colleagues will be copied to your PC.
If you don't "get" the latest code before you make changes then you may have to merge your changes with somebody else's, which can be a difficult, time consuming or even dangerous process - especially if you use the default Visual Studio automatic merge process, which usually does the wrong thing, resulting in essentially corrupt code (making it look like you deleted your colleague's works, just as you are describing, for example).
The best way to work with source control is the "little and often" approach:
Get the latest source code before you start any new work, so that your PC is as up to date as possible.
It's usually a good practice to "get" the latest code frequently (e.g. I do it first thing every morning) so that any merge conflicts are flagged up and dealt with as early as possible. The longer you wait before merging the worse the merge process tends to get. (Caveat: Check with your build system that the current version of the code on the server is working before you get it - you don't want to get broken code onto your PC as it may stop you being able to work at all).
Arrange your work as many small incremental steps that can be safely checked in as they are completed (rather than working for 3 months on hundreds of files and then dumping it on the system as one massive change )
When you are ready to check in, get the latest code, rebuild, and re-test your changes to be sure they still work when integrated with the latest program code. Only check in if everything works well.
Also be aware that when you try to edit a file, the source control provider may automatically "get" the latest version of that file for you (which could cause Visual Studio to tell you it has reloaded the file, and perhaps explain why you say it sometimes takes a while to "update", as it doesn't happen until you start editing a new file that has been changed recently by someone else). If this is the case, then the truth is that you have not "updated" the entire set of source code, only one file - in this case you really need to get all the latest changes to the source code (if you don't you may find it is uncompilable or (even worse), compiles but exhibits undefined behaviours due to only part of the code being up to date)
Lastly, a very good practice when checking in your code is to go through the list of files you are checking in and diff them one by one against the latest server code to see what you have changed. This may sound laborious but it confers several benefits:
It reminds you what you did, which can sometimes be helpful for filling in the check-in comment to clearly describe all your changes and make sure you don't miss an important note.
You will easily spot anything that has been screwed up in the merge process - there will be chunks of code that appear to be created or deleted that you know you didn't touch. So you'll be able to discover and fix these problems before you check in rather than annoying your colleagues by "deleting" their changes.
I find this very useful for finding temporary debugging code that I have forgotten to take out before I check in.
Sometimes you may even do a double-take on a bit of code you are about to check in and think "huh? why did I do that?". And then you might decide to re-examine and possibly even rewrite the code you thought was good to go.
Final Note: The options you show in your edit only relate to changes that are made to the files on your PC by another program on your PC. If another user makes a change and checks it in to source control, these options will have no effect. It is only when your Source Control system copies those changes to your PC's hard drive that you might see Visual Studio reacting to those changes (depending on how well your source control system is integrated with VS).
If you're sure the problem is Visual Studio (e.g. the file really has changed on the disk but you don't see it in Visual Studio)
Make sure that the Detect when file is changed option is checked.
Tools > Options > Environment > Documents > Detect when file is changed outside the environment
Since you are sometimes getting an alert to reload your project due to external changes means you already have the settings required to detect file changes in Visual Studio.
However, reloading of project/solution will only be triggered if the .csproj (or .vbproj) or .sln file was changed.
By the way, are you using some version control system? It seems that you are just sharing the solution and editing simultaneously.