Does Team Foundation Server supports Checkpoints?

Question

My dev team used in the past MKS Source Integrity source control and we are not evaluating to migrate to TFS 2010.

Some concepts and meaning are a bit different and we need sometime to learn how to do the same things we do before in TFS or how to change our approach.

First of all, we used to do Checkpoints for each software release. MKS in this case does a snapshot of all source code files. You can later compare different checkpoints to see the code differences, or extract a whole checkpoint as a build.

Does TFS have a similar feature? Do you know where can I read something about it?

Thanks in advance, Marco

Answer 1

I think you're looking for labels.

Answer 2

http://blogs.msdn.com/bharry/archive/2005/11/18/494439.aspx

Answer 3

Ed's suggestion is likely what you are looking for to most accurately replicate your previous process.

Comparing Points in Time To compare any point in time of a branch of code, simply right click the folder (or file) in Source Control Explorer (found under any Team Project) and select compare. If you have previously gotten this version from source control, it will default to comparing the latest version on the server to the version on disk. To compare two points in time via a label, simply change the from or two to the Server Location and change the Source Version Type drop down to Label. You can then browse all of the labels to choose from.

Extracting via a Label You can "Get Specific Version" of any file or folder using an existing label. To do this, right click the file or folder you want and select Get Specific Version. At that point change the Version Type to Label and browse for the target label. The checkboxes are for when things go loopy, but you shouldn't have to check them. Some people get nervous and do it regarless.

Branching at a Label You can branch of file or folder (or branch) at an existing label by right clicking that item and selecting Branch and Merge -> Branch (there are other things to do under Branch & Merge that's why the submenu exists). Change the Branch from Version to Label at which point you can browse the existing labels just like comparing. Choosing a label, you can then specify where the branch should be created and have an entirely version controlled snapshot ready for active development.