Troubleshooting Source Control Issues

This topic presents answers to questions you might have as you start working with source control, establish configuration parameters, and perform various operations.

Getting Started and Setup

Question Solution

How do I start working with Team Foundation source control?

Review the topics listed in Working with Team Foundation Source Control.

How can I migrate my Visual SourceSafe databases to Team Foundation source control?

Use the VSS Converter Tool. For more information, see VSSConverter Command-Line Utility for Source Control Migration. Also see Walkthrough: Migrating from Visual SourceSafe to Team Foundation.

How do I make sure Team Foundation source control is selected as the source control plug-in?

On the Visual Studio Tools menu, click Options, select Source Control and then select Visual Studio Team Foundation Server from the Current source control plug-in list.

How do I open Source Control Explorer?

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

If I am a project administrator of a team project, am I automatically also a source control administrator for that project?

Yes.

Can I create a top node source control folder without creating a team project?

No. Any item in source control must be mapped under a team project.

Can I rename a team project?

No. After a team project is named, it cannot be renamed.

Configuration

Question Solution

How can I configure Team Foundation source control to prevent binary files from being checked in?

Establish a check-in policy that determines whether a user is trying to check in a binary file from a particular folder structure. For more information, see Code Analysis Check-in Policies.

How can I configure Team Foundation source control not to automatically check out a file I want to edit?

On the Tools menu, click Options, expand Source Control, click Environment, and then select an appropriate option from the Editing box.

How can I remap the root directory or workspace?

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

Can I disable or customize the Override policy failure and continue checkin check box?

No. Team Foundation source control considers that the developer is in the best position to determine whether to override check-in policy.

Note that Team Foundation source control includes policy compliance data in the changeset details and in the check-in e-mail, and is therefore fully auditable.

How do I bind or unbind a solution?

Use the Change Source Control dialog box. For more information, see How to: Bind and Unbind Projects and Solutions.

Miscellaneous Operations

Question Solution

How can I add non-solution items to source control?

Use the Add to Source Control dialog box. For more information, see How to: Add Non-Project or Non-Solution Files and Folders to Source Control.

How can I use source control to recover a file I have deleted outside source control?

In the Folders pane of Source Control Explorer, right-click the project, click Get Specific Version, and then select Force get of file versions already in workspace.

Can I use sharing and pinning as a promotion model?

You can implement this functionality in Team Foundation source control by using branching and merging. For more information, see Branching and Merging Team Foundation Source Control.

Is pinning supported?

No. You can implement this functionality in Team Foundation source control by using either labels or branches. For more information, see How to: Apply Labels and Branching and Merging Team Foundation Source Control

Can I query a changeset?

You cannot query changesets in this release of Team Foundation source control.

Can I roll back a changeset?

See How to: Roll Back a Changeset.

Can I compare directory structures?

Comparing directory structures is not supported in this release of Team Foundation source control.

Can I merge shelved changes into a workspace?

No. Unshelving automatically checks out the files included in the shelveset and puts a copy of them into your workspace. This action overrides the version when appropriate. If any one of the files are currently checked out in the workspace, the unshelve operation fails, effectively preventing a merge between the two versions.

How can I view deleted items?

On the Visual Studio Tools menu, click Options, expand Source Control, click Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, and then select the Show deleted items in the Source Control Explorer box.

Can I work offline?

You can work offline by switching the file properties to Write, or by checking out the file structure before changing its status to Offline.

See Also

Other Resources

Working with Team Foundation Source Control