View Shelf History on Visual Studio

Question

Can I view history and compare with shelves? We are exploring the possibility of using a shelf instead of registering. From our initial research, it seems that we cannot view the history of how we do to register.

We are using Visual Studio 2010 / TFS 2010.

Answer 1

From http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181403(v=vs.90).aspx

Section: The difference between sets and shelves:

Unlike a change set, a shelf is an object without a version . If you or another user does not use the items that make up the shelves, edit several files and update the shelves, Team Foundation does not create a new version of the items for future comparison and does not record who reviewed the items, when or how. The original regiment is completely replaced.

So no, you cannot view the story. I'm not sure about shelf comparison methods. You should also read the entire section (The difference between sets and shelves), since each element in it is a good argument not to use shelves in the place of the change set.

I also can’t think of any reason why it is advisable to use shelves instead of sets of changes, maybe you can list the reasons why you all studied this way. Just think about the fact that you cannot track changes, this in itself should be a deal breaker (of course, shelves that do not even have a version should just do it).

Answer 2

As stated in the link posted by dugas, the shelves are built more for ... well, putting things aside. For example, in the project that I am currently working on, I made shelves for some changes in refactoring, which I was in the middle because something unrelated broke and I needed the code back to the original version without errors. I also use it when I am in the middle of trying something and want to have a backup, but so far I do not want to check the code.

Answer 3

There are no versions on the shelves, but you can compare the code in the workspace with the code on the shelf without pulling out files on the shelves.

• Pull the versions of the files with which you want to compare the contents of the shelf into the workspace
• open the solution in this workspace
• File → Source Control → Undo Pending Changes ...
• Find the desired shelf and pick up its details.
• In each file in the Shelf Details window, you can right-click and select Compare → With workspace version ...

TFS will pull the shelf file to a temporary location, show diff, and then (?) Clear the temporary file after you are done.

You are comparing the contents of the shelveset file, the contents of the files on the local drive in this workspace. If changes were made to both files, the comparison will not be able to tell and will point to all these changes. However, you can compare the selveset version with its original version (Compare → With Unmodified Version ..) to see all the changes made only to the shelveset file. You can also find out the changeset that was the base for the shelveset file (Properties ..) and see what changes have been added to the version of the workspace, since this is a common set of changes to the database.

However, there is no tree, and this may require the use of TFS power tools.

PS> I do not recommend using shelves instead of these checks. If over the years I learned something, this is not to deal with Microsoft-developed workflows - you do something in your own way or find another tool. Microsoft does not intend to use these cabinets in this way (they want you to use revisions and branch), and if you try, you will constantly struggle with the workflow developed by Microsoft.

Answer 4

You can use the shelves to check the peer code before transferring them to the repository ... and also to fix the parking before going through the gated build process.

They are not suitable for anything other than “fast racks” for work - use branching if you want to have several parallel workflows.