TFS Version Control and VS Integration : Offline

Using TFS 2008 Power Tools to modify server's offline state

benryan — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Normally to reset your client's view of a TFS server from Offline to Online, you would 'Go Online' with a solution bound to that server. The server's offline state is reset as part of this operation. If you want to manually mark your server as Online (or Offline), you can modify the Offline and AuoReconnect registry key values mentioned in: http://blogs.msdn.com/benryan/archive/2007/12/12/when-and-how-does-my-solution-go-offline.aspx. I

f you want to avoid directly modifying the registry, there is now a UI available to update the values. This UI is the 'tfpt tweakui' command found in the Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server Power Tools (available at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/tfs2008/bb980963.aspx).

To use tweakui to modify your server's offline state simply select your server in the list view, click the Edit button and set the states of the "Auto reconnect this server on startup" and "Server is offline" checkboxes.

Manually taking your server offline could be useful if you are pulling your client machine off the network and want to work offline without waiting for a solution to discover its offline state by timing out its server connection attempt. Manually taking your server online has the marginal benefit of having your next attempt to open a solution prompt you during the open to take the solution online as opposed to having to manually choosing the Go Online menu option or toolbar button after the solution has opened.

How to make TFS Offline strictly solution-based

benryan — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 21:54:00 GMT

For some users it may be a bit offputting that taking one solution offline causes all other solutions bound to that same server to go offline when they are opened (assuming no "Go Online" operations in the interim). There is a registry key value that may be specified to tell VS to ignore the server-based Offline setting and to only utilize the per-solution Offline setting.

To turn off server-based offline support:

Go to the registry (e.g. regedit)
Add a string value named, IgnoreServerBasedOfflineFlags, under
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0\TeamFoundation\SourceControl
Set the value to "True".

NOTE: My original text for this blog entry had stated that you set the value to "False" in step 3. Obviously, this was incorrect. Sorry for the confusion.

When and how does my solution go "offline"?

benryan — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 21:25:00 GMT

TFS 2008 adds improved support for "offline" scenarios. This blog post identifies the scenarios under which a solution will be placed in "offline" mode.

If the Visual Studio IDE is unable to connect to the TFS server when it is opening the solution, then it will mark the solution as being offline. It will also mark the TFS server as being offline.

A messagebox will be displayed indicating the solution was taken offline and a message to the same effect will appear in the Output window.

-OR-
If the Visual Studio IDE is opening a solution and finds the TFS server to which the solution is bound is marked as offline, then VS will mark the solution as being offline

In this scenario, a message about the solution being opened offline will appear in the Output window, but no messagebox will appear.

NOTES

Offline detection is done ONLY during solution open. Failures to connect to the server during other version control operations within VS do not affect the offline state of the solution or server.
The offline state for the solution is stored in the solution's local .suo file.
When the server is marked offline, we also turn off the server's "AutoReconnect" setting.
The server's offline state is stored in a registry value named Offline, and the AutoReconnect state is stored in in a value named AutoReconnect. Both of these live under the key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0\TeamFoundation\Servers\<tfs server name>
A solution remains offline until it is explicitly taken online.
A TFS server remains marked offline until an offline solution bound to that server is taken online.
Opening a solution that was previously marked offline while its server is still marked offline opens the solution without any messageboxes appearing. We will present a message in the Output window indicating the solution is still offline.
Opening a solution that was previously marked offline when its server is marked online presents the user with a messagebox asking if the user wishes to take the solution online.