Command-Line Syntax (Team System)
The syntax for the tf.exe command-line utility.
tf command item [/options]
This topic describes the documentation conventions, command shortcuts, special command-line characters, and the Team Foundation specific parameters, versionspec and itemspec.
Documentation Conventions
[/Brackets] represent options that are not required to complete a command. Non-bracketed items represent parameters that are required to complete the operation. For example, in the following command, itemspec is required and /recursive is optional:
Syntax Example: c:\projects>tf getitemspec [/recursive]
Actual Command: c:\projects>tf get c:\projects /recursive
Alternative Command: c:\projects>tf get /recursive
In the Alternative Command example, Team Foundation infers that you intend to get the contents of the current directory, c:\projects, and all its subfolders. Therefore, even though the itemspec parameter is required, you do not necessarily have to type it.
When two, pipe (|)-separated options are enclosed by a set of brackets, you can specify either of, but not both of the options. For example, tf Changeset [/comment:comment|@commentfile] indicates that you can type a comment for a Changeset following the /comment: option or (|) you can use the **@**commentfile syntax to specify a path of a file that contains a comment you want to use. However, you cannot specify both a comment and a commentfile.
In syntax examples, italic items are parameters that you must replace with actual characters to perform a command. Bold items are options that you include verbatim. For example:
Syntax Example:tf shelvesetsshelvesetname [/recursive]
Actual Command:c:\projects>tf shelvesets BuddyTest_23
Special Command Line Characters
You can use the "@" character, the command file switch, to perform a set of Team Foundation commands at the same time. The principal advantage of using a command-line switch at the command prompt, a command file, or in a batch or script file is that using a command-line switch can be much faster than performing individual commands. For more information, see Command-Line Options.
Command Shortcuts and Aliases
The following defined command shortcuts and aliases are supported for the tf command-line utility:
del = delete
diff = difference
edit = checkout
hist = history
perm = permission
prop = properties
ren = rename
rename = move
stat = status
undel = undelete
For more information about these commands, see Tf Command-Line Utility Commands.
How Team Foundation Parses Itemspecs and Versionspecs
Itemspec Paths
An itemspec, which is an abbreviation for item specification, is a set of one or more characters that Team Foundation resolves as an item or set of items that reference file system or UNC paths mapped to either a workspace or the version control server.
For all Team Foundation commands that accept an itemspec, you can specify either local file paths such as c:\projects or UNC paths such as \\myshare\projects or server paths such as $/projects/myfiles.
For local paths, you can provide relative paths. For example, if your current directory is c:\projects and you want to check out all items in a subdirectory of the projects folder, you can type tf checkout .\* /recursive.
Note
You can use wildcard characters in Team Foundation version control commands, for example: *, ?, and #.
If your itemspec specifies a server path, it must be fully-qualified. For example, you cannot check out all items underneath the $/projects folder using ./* as your itemspec.
Versionspecs
A versionspec specifies the version of an item that you want to work with. You can specify versions in a command either by including the versionspec as part of the version option (for example, /version:C1256) or by appending the versionspec to a file name with a semicolon (for example, filename;Lmylabel).
Use one or more of the following patterns to specify a version.
Versionspec |
Description |
|---|---|
Changeset |
Version that belongs to changeset number changeset. Example: C1256. |
Llabel |
Version that belongs to the label label. Example: Lmylabel. |
Dyyyy-mm-ddTxx:xx - or - Dmm/dd/yyyy -or - Any .NET Framework-supported format. -or - Any of the date formats for the local computer. |
Any date and time format that could be parsed by a .NET Framework method. Example: D2008-01-21T16:00. For more information about supported date and time formats see DateTime Structure in the .NET Framework Class Library. |
W |
Version last retrieved into your workspace with the get command. |
T |
Latest revision. |
When you use the History, Difference, or Merge commands, you can specify a range of versions by separating the versions with a tilde (~). See the following examples of how to specify a range by separating versions with a tilde:
To view the history of the file Form1.cs for changeset 137 only.
Syntax Example: **tf history /version:**C137~C137
To get the difference between changesets C123 and C125 for the file form.cs.
Syntax Example: tf difference/versionC123~C125 form1.cs.
To merge all the versions from the first changeset through to changeset C125 into branch2.
Syntax Example: **tf merge/version:**C125 branch1 branch2.
See Also
Concepts
Working with Version Control Shelvesets
Working with Version Control Changesets