Question

I am just wondering if anyone know of a good resource/tutorial/video for explaining the “Resolve Conflict” and the “Merge Tool” in TFS 2008.

I just need to know how the comparison between files is done (I think it’s comparing version number to version number), but it’s not very easy to explain.

thanks!!

Answer 1

I am not sure what you mean when you say “files in drawn.” Did you mean to say “files is drawn” as in “how does TFS know how to compare files?

Resolve conflict tool is used when TFS cannot resolve the conflict on its own.

This MS Article will walk you through how to get more detailed information and explain how the tool works.

There are a few “buckets” for conflicts (see below).

As for wanting video tutorials, there are a few that simply show you how to use the tool and some cursory conflicts but there are no videos that I have found that go over each conflict case type.

Conflicts are always difficult when they can’t be automatically managed. I would consider swapping out your merge tool to a better one.

I hope that helps you.

Version Conflict

Version conflicts can occur in Team
Foundation version control with a
check-in, get, or merge operation. In
each case, the evolution of an item
along divergent paths results in a
conflict.

  Check-in   Two users check out the latest version of a file. The

first user checks in changes; this
creates a new version of the file.
When the second user tries a check-in,
there is a version conflict because
the second user’s changes were not
made against the latest version of the
file.
*

  Get   Two users check out the latest version of a file. The first

user checks in changes; this creates a
new version of the file. When the
second user performs a get latest
operation, there is a version conflict
because the get latest operation is
trying to update the checked-out file
in the workspace.
*

  Merge   A branched file has been modified in both branches. A user

tries to merge changes from one branch
to the other. There is a version
conflict because the file has been
modified on both branches.

File Name Collision Conflict

File name collisions can occur in Team
Foundation version control with a
check-in, get, or merge operation. In
all three cases, the conflict results
when two or more items try to occupy
the same path in the source control
server.

  Check-in   Two users each add a file to the same application.

Coincidentally, the two users choose
the same name for the new files. One
user checks in his or her file. When
the second user tries a check-in,
there is a file name collision.
*

  Get   Two users add files with identical names to an application. One

user checks in the file. When the
second user tries a get latest
operation, there is a file name
collision. This is because the first
user’s file cannot be retrieved where
the second user has added a file.
*

  Merge   An application has been branched and has then been worked on

in both branches. In both branches, a
file that has the same name has been
added. A user tries to merge changes
from one branch to the other. There is
a file name collision because the file
added to the source branch can not be
branched where a file has already been
added to the target branch.

Local overwrite conflict

Local overwrite conflicts only occur
in Team Foundation version control
during a get operation. These
conflicts occur when a get operation
tries to write over a writable file in
your workspace. By default, the get
operation will only replace files that
are read-only. Resolving local
overwrite conflicts involves either
overwriting the file or checking out
the file and merging changes.