File Types

File type definitions allow you to customize the way Team Foundation source control processes files with specific extensions. By defining a file type, you can disable files with certain extensions from being merged and thereby, prevent multiple users from checking them out in parallel.

Note

By default, file merging and multiple check-out is enabled.

Note

Multiple check-out can be disabled at the team project level.

File Type Properties

A Team Foundation file type definition consists of three properties. The most important of these properties is File Extension, which is the unique identifier for a file type.

Property	Example
Name	Visual Basic File
File Extension	.vb
Enable File Merging and Multiple Checkout	Yes

As a Team Foundation administrator, you might want to specify that files of certain types, such as binary Microsoft Excel files (*.xls) for which a merging tool does not exist, cannot be merged when conflicts are detected and can only be checked out by one user at a time. You can control this by selecting Enable File Merging and Multiple Checkout in the Edit File Type dialog box. For more information, see How to: Edit File Type Association with Team Foundation Source Control. If a file type does not exist for a given extension, files with that extension can be merged.

File Encodings

In addition to these basic file type properties, Team Foundation also tracks the file encoding for each file on the source control server. You can override the default encoding for a file from the source control Properties window opened from Source Control Explorer, or using the command line interface. For more information, see How to: Configure Source Control File Encoding and Checkout and Edit Commands.

In This Section

• How to: Add File Type Association with Team Foundation Source Control
  Describes the steps used to associate file type extensions with Team Foundation source control check-ins.

• How to: Edit File Type Association with Team Foundation Source Control
  Describes the steps used to edit the file type extensions associated with Team Foundation source control check-ins.

• How to: Remove a File Type Associated with Team Foundation Source Control
  Explains the procedures used to remove a file type extension association with Team Foundation source control check-ins.

See Also

Other Resources

Comparing Files
Resolving Conflicts (Team Foundation Source Control)