Team Foundation Check-Out Settings (Team Explorer Everywhere)
Team Foundation version control supports check-out settings that determine how the check-out operation works. You can configure the behavior of the check-out operation as it pertains to what version of files or folders are checked out. You can specify either to check out the version of files that are in your Team Foundation Server workspace or to get the latest version of a file first and then check out that version. Source control settings exist at the following levels:
The default behavior for team projects is configured in the process template.
Server properties for the team project provide default behavior for all users. These properties include requirements for check-in notes.
User-specific properties can be configured by each user.
Important
In Team Explorer Everywhere 2010, you can only configure user-specific settings. The team project settings are still applied, but you must use another client, such as Visual Studio, to modify those settings. The user-specific settings override the team project settings.
For more information about check-out settings for the team project, see the following topic on the Microsoft Web site: Defining the Initial Configuration of Team Foundation Version Control
Overview of Check-out Settings
Checking Out Items
The default check-out behavior for Team Foundation version control checks out the local version of items in your Eclipse workspace. Even if a new version of the item exists on the server, Team Foundation version control does not get that version. You cannot check out items that have not been downloaded to your local computer.
This check-out behavior is useful when you perform a get operation to retrieve a set of files. Typically, the configuration of version-controlled files on your computer represents a point-in-time snapshot of specific files from Team Foundation version control. Therefore, they can be built and tested together.
As a developer working in a workspace, you are isolated from the changes that are made by other developers. It is within your control to accept changes from other developers by performing a get operation, as appropriate. In ideal circumstances, when you do this you will update the entire configuration of version-controlled files, and not just one or two files. This is because changes in one file typically depend on corresponding changes to other files. This check-out setting ensures that you always have a consistent snapshot of files that can be built and tested.
When you check in your changes, the Team Foundation Server plug-in for Eclipse will give you the option to merge your changes with any changes that were made on the server version. You will be prompted by the resolve conflicts dialog box if any conflicts are detected. For more information, see Resolve Conflicts between Two Files (Team Explorer Everywhere).
Getting Latest Version on Check-Out
You can also configure the check-out behavior to get the latest version of an item when you check it out. When the check-out setting is configured to get the latest version, Team Foundation version control first gets the latest version of the items from the server into your workspace. Then the items are checked out.
Configure Check-Out Settings
To configure check-out
Open the Window menu and click Preferences.
In the left pane, expand the Team node, expand the Team Foundation Server node, and click Source Control.
Modify the settings to meet your requirements and then click OK.
See Also
Tasks
Other Resources
Getting a Local Copy of Files from the Version Control Server (Team Explorer Everywhere)