Share a file to a folder?

Share a file to a folder?

• AlexBB

  I'm not one to post my opinions on forums but it's to the point that I have to say something about the later installments for VS that microsoft has put out. I'll preface this with my committment to MS products as I am a longtime user of their developer products. However...

  Answer From Brian No, SP1 does not support any features for "linked files". We've gotten the feedback that many customers want a solution to this despite some of the problems that can arise from it and are considering our options. But it is a pain in large team or with big number of files , in small team this works great .

  This response from Brian, as well as from some posts on Scott G. forums I've read, seems to be a common path of thinking with VS.NET 2005 and Team Foundation Server. I agree that the new project models have many advantages in a large environment, but there are also many flaws in this narrow way of thinking. To not have the ability of linked or "shared" folders, files, etc is a major obstacle for developers. C++, Delphi, even VB6 have always had this feature, not to mention that this practice has been around since DOS!

  I don't know what the technical goals or issues the ms developers faced when creating these application. For the most part I think they did a fine job. But as far as what features are important and who dictates the trends these days the "small" team is not to be vanquished from the landscape of developers. I don't know what the ratio of "small teams" vs "large teams" actually is but my money would be on the little guy. I will also add that I work for state government and have been with four different agencies over the last 14 years. For the most part we have always been microsoft platforms, and our developer teams are comparatively small, even for an agency with over 4000 staff spread across the state. With site licenses with MSDN for our OS as well as our development software this is not small change IMHO.

  So, please, consider us "small shops" when designing these tools that we use on a daily basis. Not everything can fit in one large project where 100 people need to work on it. I have written many applications that range from a base of one user to hundreds of users. Yes, me and only me as the developer. I reuse my code libraries, classes, images, and whatever resources I have in my arsenal to get the job done. Like most developers, I have my own way of doing things, and no I'm not opposed to change. What I want from MS is a "tool" to get my job done, not a methodology as how MS, or large corporations, think I should get my job done.

  Okay, so I'm done. You'll probably never hear from me again. It's just not my style to rant and rave. I'm too busy. Now if you'll excuse me I'll return to pulling my hair out trying to figure out how I can get 20 to 30 small to medium size apps compiled with VS 2005 and stored into TFS, without having to coping all my shared App_Code, App_Themes, images, modules, etc into each project. Such is the life of the small developer shop..

  
  
  

• Thinbeast

  Hi,

  I too needed sharing, but gave up on TFS and found the solution in VS itself - just open the project propeties of the project where the xml files need to exist and in the pre-build event write some lines that copy the xml file from it's managed location. This way, before the solution is compiled, the xml will be copied to each of the needed locations, so that when the program runs - the xml will be where it's needed.

  
  
  

• Steven Berger

  only way out is branching , you can branch and update periodically , you can write code for this also .

  I had same situation and here is my question to Brian Harry

  http://blogs.msdn.com/bharry/archive/2006/09/26/772371.aspx#1053904

  Does SP1 support something like "linked files" in VSS We are working on a multi-location parallel development project with VSTS . we have lots of issues in branching the files and merging it back .

  I miss this feature in SCC , I wonder if it is included in SP1. Is there a way we can automatically merge the branch while trunk is updated or vice versa

  Answer From Brian

  No, SP1 does not support any features for "linked files". We've gotten the feedback that many customers want a solution to this despite some of the problems that can arise from it and are considering our options. http://www.componentsoftware.com has a solution that some people are using for this.

  No, we don't have any solution to automatically merge a branch when a trunk is updated. You could set up a checkin event handler that did this but we have not built one.

  Let me know if you want some help in capturing events and automating the merge when trunk is updated .

  Or

  you can create branch from file and revoke permissions from branch and ensure that only trunk will be updated , a manual merge can be done when trunk is updated . This is what we are doing .

  But it is a pain in large team or with big number of files , in small team this works great .

  
  
  

• Eddy-kun

  Thanks for the quick responses - will check out the links and take it from there...

  Thanks

  Donal

  
  

• Smalldust

  Hello,

  the sharing question is pretty common the forum, please check the following thread http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx PostID=530118&SiteID=1

  which references some articles how to user branching or relative paths to replace sharing.

  
  
  
• Share a file to a folder?