Using Source Control Explorer

Source Control Explorer is used to view and manage version-controlled items such as team projects, folders, and files. Before using Source Control Explorer, you must be familiar with team projects and workspaces. For more information, see Team Foundation Team Projects and Working with Version Control Workspaces.

By using Source Control Explorer, you can accomplish the following tasks:

• Browse team projects and workspaces to identify what is under Team Foundation version control.

• Determine whether items are synchronized, or copied to the local computer's workspace.

• View all pending changes. For more information, see How to: View and Manage All Pending Changes in Your Workspace and How to: View Pending Changes in Other Workspaces.

• Undo or check in pending changes. For more information, see How to: View and Manage All Pending Changes in Your Workspace.

• Determine whether you have the latest version of an item copied to the local computer's workspace.

• Get either the latest or specific versions of folders and files. For more information, see How to: Get the Source for Your Team Project and How to: Update File Versions in Your Workspace.

• Check out folders and files for edit. For more information, see Getting a Local Copy of Files from the Version Control Server.

• Lock and unlock folders and files. For more information, see Working with Version Control Locks.

• Delete, undelete, rename, and move folders and files. For more information, see How to: Move, Rename, and Delete Version-Controlled Files and Folders.

• Resolve source control conflicts. For more information, see Resolving Folder Differences and File Conflicts (Team Foundation Version Control).

• Shelve source control items. For more information, see Working with Version Control Shelvesets.

• View the history associated with source control folders and files. For more information, see Viewing Historical Data.

• Compare versions of folders or files. For more information, see Comparing Folders and Files in Version Control.

• Branch and merge source control team projects, folders, and files. For more information, see Branching and Merging Team Foundation Version Control.

• Apply labels to changesets. For more information, see Working with Labels.

• View the properties associated with folders and files.

In addition to Source Control Explorer, Solution Explorer also contains added functionality that is specific to Team Foundation version control. You can also perform several Team Foundation version control tasks from the command line. For more information, see Tf Command-Line Utility Commands.

Source Control Explorer Status Columns

The status columns identify version control status and the status of the items in the local workspace.

Status Column	Description
Name	Contains the name of the version-controlled file or folder.
Pending Change	Contains the name of the pending change, if any. The possible pending changes include add, edit, lock, and delete.
User	Contains the name of the Team Foundation Server user whose workspace contains the pending change described in the Pending Change column.
Latest	Contains Yes if your workspace has the latest version of the file or folder. Otherwise either Not Downloaded, or No,
Last Check-in	Contains the date of the last check-in. This field may be empty if Team Explorer is connected to a Team Foundation Server that is not updated with the most recent version, or if the item has the status of pending add or of pending branch.

Version Control Status Icons

The version control status icons are explained in the following table:

ICON	Status	Description
None	Blank	Represents an item that is in Team Foundation version control.
	Checked out	Represents an item for which the current user has one or more pending changes in their current workspace.
	Pending addition	Represents an item that is not currently on the version control server, but is being added to version control by the current user and has a pending change of add.
	Branch	Represents an item that will be part of a branch operation during the next check-in.
	Merge	Represents an item that will be part of a merge operation during the next check-in.
	Pending Delete	Represents an item that will be deleted from version control during the next check-in.
	Pending Undelete	Represents an item that will be undeleted from version control during the next check-in.
	Unmapped Team Project	Represents items that are not currently mapped to a team project server.
	Unmapped Folder	Represents items that are in a folder which is not currently mapped.
	Deleted Folder	Represents a folder that will be deleted during the next check-in.

In This Section

• How to: Open Source Control Explorer
  Explains the steps used to open the Source Control Explorer window.

• How to: Refresh Version Control Status
  Describes the procedure that is used to refresh the Source Control Explorer window.

• How to: Open and Close the Folders Pane in Source Control Explorer
  Describes the steps used to open and close the file folders pane in the Source Control Explorer window.

Reference

Team Foundation Version Control Command-Line Reference

Related Sections

• Team Foundation Version Control Walkthroughs
  Lists walkthroughs which explore using source control, customizing a source control check in and using source control from the command line.

See Also

Tasks

Walkthrough: Exploring Team Foundation Version Control

Other Resources

Working with Team Foundation Version Control