TFS Linked Files Not Found - tfs

I have a core project and several sub projects. I link to files in the core project for the sub ones. I righted clicked my csproj and said existing file > add > link. Here is how my project looks:
Here is a picture of my Windows Explorer:
When I check in, I receive this error:
Could not find file C:\Users\joe_a84\Documents\JMASoftware\QuickBooks\Main\Source\Platform Support\NOP\Source\Versions\nop265\Nop265\Module\QuickBooksSettings.cs
The file does not exist there because it is linked. How can I tell TFS that it's a linked file?

There is the following question which states that symbolic links are not supported in TFS 2008 or TFS 2010. Symbolic links in TFS 2010 Source Control?
However, I did find the following ancient blog post which seems to show how to do it for TFS 2005: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ericlee/archive/2006/07/20/sharing-files-in-team-foundation-server.aspx
That said I would highly recommend that you simply don't do this.
If you really need to share a file between projects then you should be using the branching functionality built into TFS. Typically you don't want just a single code file due to namespace and assembly generation concerns. It is much cleaner, and certainly easier to maintain, by having a separate project for those artifacts that are passed around. This way you either branch the entire assembly project; or just refer to it in it's normal place.

This is a local file level linking by another project. There is only one file at a specific subfolder. Other projects can link to the file via this approach. The problem with this approach is that from TFS viewpoint, you cannot tell if a file is shared by other projects. A good practice will be to keep such files in separate folder with name like Common or Shared etc.
People who have been using File linking across branches in Source Control would have to change their approach quite differently.

Linking between files in TFS is pretty simple. You just open the "Add existing item" dialog and search for the file you want to link in your local workspace. If you would click "Add" now Visual Studio would create a copy of the file in your projects directory. What you do instead is to choose the other option (you have a little drop down menu on the button) and add the item as a link. Thats it.

I faced the same problem. I just did undo on the file which was showing this error in the TFS Pending Changes window and checked-in. This undo did not remove the link that was added in the project. Make sure you do not undo the project file.

Related

How do I add a source controlled (tfs) project to a solution and maintain binding?

I would like to create three separate ASP.NET MVC solutions, all pointing to the same Model project. How do I keep changes made from one solution update the others?
Ex, is there is way in Visual Studio to "Add new project from Source Control" like you can with a whole solution?
So you are hoping to have 3 solutions that share a common project.
You can achieve this in 2 ways.
NuGet
Have the project in it's own solution and create a NuGet package of the output, your other solutions can then consume the NuGet Package.
Shared Project
A shared project is easy to do, just ensure that your shared project is available in the same workspace as your solutions.Do a get latest, You can then just right click on the solution and choose add existing project.
Any changes you make will need to be checked back into source control, these changes will then appear in each 'copy' of the project in each of the different solutions.
The shared project works fine, but you may have to make some considerations when you come to building the solutions, the main one being that if you only make a change to the shared project would you want all of the solutions that consume it to be built on check-in?

Add existing project to solution "read only" in Visual Studio

Is it possible to add an existing project to a solution in "read-only" mode?
I got access to a big bunch of internal projects, from which I just need some functions for another solution. Since I'm new to the original solution I'd like to make sure I don't accidentally change any of the existing files and check them into the TFS.
The easiest way to do so, would be some sort of "Add existing project (read only)"-Function.
Is there any way to do so? Or are there any other ways to ensure I'm not accidentally changing any of the existing files?
I'm using MS Visual Studio 2013 Professional.
Copy the source controled version to a seperate folder, and then reference that one from you Solution. your not working with source controlled code then , so you can't break it!

.csproj files not getting checked in to TFS

My problem is that in my scenario, I have a project with two parallel project files for different build targets. I have a ProjectName.WP8.csproj and ProjectName.WinRT.csproj, which essentially include the same files.
I am trying to check-in this solution (SolutionName.WinRT.sln) to TFS and I get no errors. All the code changes to the code in the project goes through, but when I check the actual state of TFS, the (newer) PorjectName.WinRT.csproj files are not checked in.
This is quite peculiar since it worked perfectly for the WP8 version. How can I support this kind of scenario?
(If it's not possible, how do I easily migrate my parallel project to another TFS project?)
Just had this come up myself. I had been working on a project for a few days before checking the solution in. During the initial check in for the project, only the most recent file edits were seen by source control. I was able to highlight all the files in the Solution Explorer and select Add to Source Control from the right click menu, but the csproj files themselves did not check in. To do this, I had to go into the Source Control Explorer and open the project directory. From within the directory, right click and select Add Items to Folder. Then you can select the csproj files and you're good to go.

Using TFS to manage mockups, other images?

I have a TFS server and I often work from two places. I'd like to have a folder that I just keep my random PSDs, mockups, etc in. Maybe even text file notes, or whatever.
The problem is, when I "Check in" a project, it only includes files that are included in the solution. Is there a simple way to have a folder always included?
For instance right now I just have a "mockups" folder in the root of my Team Project (above any individual project folders), but it's not part of any project or solution (I don't really want to publish a few megs of PSD files every time I publish my project).
You can create a Solution folder in your Solution and add the files as an existing file.
(or what is a solution folder)
Do have the psd and mockups something to do with your code?
If not I wouldn't recommend to add the files to the solution.
I would use the Windows Explorer AddIn from TFS Power Tools.
With it you have the ability to checkin/add/checkout files without Visual Studio, you only need to map a folder to your source control.
You can choose on the pending changes window whether you want to have all files checked in from your workspace or from your solution.
See How to show pending changes only for the currently opened solution in Visual Studio 2010 (TFS) and not the complete list of all changes? for a screenshot.

Exclude from project, source control issue

I'm using team foundation server 2010 # work and home.
I want to exclude some element from the project build but still have them exist in Team Foundation Server 2010 source control. How do I achieve this?
Exclude From Project will delete the item.
Same problem here, only way to do this is manually edit project file :(
Please vote that this bug is important to fix
https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/573582/vs-2010-exclude-from-project-deleting-files-from-source-control
Workaround posted on Connect:
Open the csproj file in notepad and find the files that need to be
excluded and remove or comment the compile element for that file, and
any related designer and resx files.
Editing a project file and removing the references to the files you want to exclude would be the easiest solution.
Another solution would be to remove files from the project via UI, but only checkin changes in the project file and undo the delete operations.
In the future you can add files directly to the TFS folder in Team Explorer.
May I ask: why would you want to do that? As I commonly have a problem of files which are not bound to any project and have to be getted manually.
I work in a TFS environment, and if it were me? I'd just change the name of the file (instead of excluding it from the project), and check that in instead. Since your project is expecting that particular filename...it won't find it. We use this when we're developing prototypes or holding on to antiquated code for documentation purposes. Sorry VS is eating your stuff!
Kind Regards,
-sf
I think these steps should help you do what you are looking for.
To exclude an item from a deployment project:
In Solution Explorer, select the file you want to exclude.
On the Solution Explorer toolbar, select Properties.
In the Properties window, set the Exclude property to True.
And this page explains the actions for project files supported by VS 2010:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0ebzhwsk.aspx
--- Edit ---
At work I tried 'Exclude From Project' in one of the files of a project we have in VS 2010, which is bound to a TFS 2010 server, and this action did not delete the item from TFS; the Source Control Explorer window shows the red delete mark next to the item, and the 'Pending Change' column says delete, but item is there. Right click the item in the Source Control Explorer window, one of the commands in the context menu that pops-up is 'Check In Pending changes' and another one is 'Shelve Pending changes'. Shelving enables you to set aside the pending changes.
The file is still in the local hard drive. If I do 'Include In Project' the item comes back to normal.

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