How to: Cloak and Uncloak Folders in a Workspace

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Use cloaking to prevent users from viewing specified workspace folders or for folders that you do not currently need. Cloaking is useful when you are working with files from two or more branches under a common parent and you want to avoid copying files unnecessarily. Finally, cloaking increases performance bandwidth and conserves local disk space by preventing folders and files not used currently from being copied to the local working folder. For more information, see Working with Version Control Workspaces.

Although you can cloak an existing folder mapping in your workspace, a more common scenario is to create a new folder mapping that is specifically for cloaking. You cannot cloak a folder that already contains cloaked items. However, you can map items under a cloaked folder to the local workspace. For more information, see How to: Add and Remove a Working Folder in a Workspace.

Required Permissions

To perform these procedures, you must have the Administer workspaces permission set to Allow. For more information, see Team Foundation Server Permissions.

To cloak or uncloak folders, perform the following procedures:

  • Cloaking and Uncloaking Folders by Using the Manage Workspaces Dialog Box

  • Cloaking and Uncloaking Folders by using the Cloak and Uncloak Menu-Options

Cloaking and Uncloaking Folders by Using the Manage Workspaces Dialog Box

Use the Manage Workspaces dialog box to cloak or uncloak folders by using either Team Foundation Server 2008 or the Service Pack 1 edition of Team Foundation Server 2008.

To cloak folders in a workspace

  1. On the File menu, point to Source Control, and then click Workspaces.

  2. In the Manage Workspaces dialog box, click the workspace that you want to cloak, and then click Edit.

  3. In the Edit Workspace dialog box, in the Working folders list, either select the folder mapping located under Source Control Folder and Local Folder that you want to cloak, or create a new one. Under Status, change the setting from Active to Cloaked.

    Note

    You can cloak folders only in a mapped Team Foundation version control server folder.

  4. Click OK to close Edit Workspaces and then click Close to close the Manage Workspaces dialog box.

    Note

    The files do not disappear locally until you perform a Get operation for the whole workspace. For more information, see How to: Update File Versions in Your Workspace.

To uncloak folders in a workspace

  1. On the File menu, point to Source Control, and then click Workspaces.

  2. In the Manage Workspaces dialog box, click the workspace that you want to uncloak, and then click Edit.

  3. In the Edit Workspace dialog box, in the Working folders list, perform one of the following steps:

    • Select the applicable row that contains the cloaked folder that you want to uncloak. Under Status, change the setting from Cloaked to Active.

    • Select the applicable row that contains the cloaked folder and then click Remove. This action deletes the cloaked folder.

  4. Click OK to close the Edit Workspaces dialog box, and then click Close to close Manage Workspaces.

Cloaking and Uncloaking Folders by using the Cloak and Uncloak Commands

Use the following procedure to cloak or uncloak folders by using the Service Pack 1 edition of Team Foundation Server 2008 and Team Explorer.

Important noteImportant Note:

This functionality is available only with the Service Pack 1 edition of Team Foundation Server 2008.

To cloak folders by using the Cloak command

  1. On the View menu, point to Other Windows, and then click Source Control Explorer.

  2. In Source Control Explorer, right-click the file that you want to cloak, and then click Cloak.

    Note

    You can cloak folders only in a mapped Team Foundation version control server folder.

    The Cloak dialog box displays the current mapping status, the server path, and the local path of the folder.

  3. Click Cloak.

    The folder appears lighter in Source Control Explorer, and the text Cloaked is added to the Latest column.

    Note

    The files do not disappear locally until you perform a Get operation for the whole workspace. For more information, see How to: Update File Versions in Your Workspace

To uncloak folders by using the Uncloak command

  1. On the View menu, point to Other Windows, and then click Source Control Explorer.

  2. In Source Control Explorer, right-click the file that you want to uncloak, and then click Uncloak.

    The Uncloak dialog box displays the current mapping status, the server path, and the local path of the folder.

  3. Click Uncloak. In the message box that appears, click Yes to download the latest files to a local workspace, or click No to download the files later.

See Also

Concepts

Working with Version Control Workspaces

Version Control Workspaces and Mapping