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Branch command (Team Foundation Version Control)

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TFS 2018

Visual Studio 2019 | Visual Studio 2022

The TFVC branch command copies an item or set of items, including metadata and version control history, from one location to another in the Azure DevOps server and in the local workspace.

Note

The results of this command are not reflected in the Azure DevOps server until you perform a check-in operation. For more information, see Check in your work to the team's codebase.

Prerequisites

To use the branch command, you must have the Read permission for the source item, and the Check out and Merge permissions for the target folder set to Allow. For more information, see Default TFVC permissions.

Syntax

tf branch olditem newitem [/version:versionspec] [/noget] [/lock:(none|checkin|checkout)] [/noprompt] [/silent] [/checkin] [/comment:("comment"|@commentfile)] [/author:authorname] [/login:username, [password]] [/recursive]

Parameters

Argument

Argument Description
<olditem> Specifies the name of the source file or folder being branched. The <olditem> may also contain version information in the format item;version.
<newitem> Specifies the name of the destination file or folder or the parent folder for the destination. If <*newitem> already exists and is an Azure DevOps Server folder, TFVC creates the branched items within it. Otherwise, <newitem> specifies the name of the destination file or folder. Conflicts can occur during check-in if the destination already exists.
<versionspec> Provides a value for the /version option. For more information about how TFVC parses a version specification to determine which items are within its scope, see Use Team Foundation version control commands.
<comment> Provides a comment about the branch.
@<commentfile> Specifies the path of a file that contains the comment that is used for the branch.
<authorname> The user-provided value for the /author option.
<username> Provides a value to the /login option. You can specify a username value as either DOMAIN\username or <username>.

Option

Option

Description

/version

The version of the item at which you want to create the branch. You can specify a version by:

  • Date/time (D10/20/2005)
  • Changeset number (C1256)
  • Label (Lmylabel)
  • Latest version (T)
  • Workspace (Wworkspacename)

If no version is provided, TFVC uses the following logic to decide which version of the item to copy to the new branch:

  • If an Azure DevOps Server path is specified, then TFVC branches the item at the latest Azure DevOps Server version. For example, tf branch $/projects/help.cs uses the server version.
  • If a local path is specified for the source, TFVC uses the local, workspace version to create the new branch. For example, tf branch C:\314.cs uses the local workspace version.

If you branch a file whose workspace version is older than the latest version in the Azure DevOps server, the file is branched at the older version.

/lock

Prevents other users from checking in or checking out items until you check in your pending branch and associated changes. For more information, see Understanding Lock Types.

Lock options:

  • none
    Default. No lock is applied. If a lock exists on the file that you're creating a branch for, this option removes it.
  • checkin
    Other users can check out the specified items, but they can't check in revisions to locked files until you release the lock by performing a check-in. If any other users have locked any one of the specified items, the lock operation fails.
  • checkout
    Prevents other users from checking in or checking out any one of the specified items until you release the lock by performing a check-in. If any other users have locked any one of the specified items, the lock operation fails.

/noget

If this option is specified, local copies of the files and folders in the new branch aren't created in the local workspace. However, local copies will be retrieved into the workspace the next time that you perform a recursive get operation.

Note

You can prevent items, such as the contents of an /images folder, from being retrieved to your workspace during recursive get and get latest operations by cloaking a workspace folder. For more information, see Workfold Command.

/noprompt

Suppresses any prompts for input from you.

/silent

Implies /noget, and specifies that output isn't written to the command prompt window when you create a branch.

/checkin

Creates and checks in the branch to the server in one operation. This option doesn't create any pending changes in the local workspace.

/comment

Adds a comment to the new branch. This option is used only with the /checkin option.

/author

Identifies the author of the new branch. This option is used only with the /checkin option.

/recursive

For folders, branch all files inside too.

Remarks

If you specify a local path such as c:\00101 but don't specify a <versionspec>, TFVC uses the local workspace version as the basis for creating the new branch.

However, if you specify a server path such as $/00101/*.cs and don't specify a <versionspec>, TFVC uses the latest Azure DevOps Server version as the basis for creating the new branch instead.

For more information on how to use the tf command-line utility, see Use Team Foundation version control commands.

Examples

The following examples assume that c:\projects maps to the main folder in the workspace.

The following example creates a branch file that contains the latest workspace version of 314.cs, names it 314_branch, and saves it to the current directory on disk and also to the Azure DevOps Server folder to which it maps.

c:\projects>tf branch 314.cs 314_branch

The following example copies all the files without pending edits in the workspace version of 314.cs from its current Azure DevOps Server folder into the testdata Azure DevOps Server folder and from the current directory on disk to the working folder that maps to the testdata Azure DevOps Server folder.

c:\projects>tf branch C:\314.cs $/testdata

The following example copies all the files without pending edits in the current workspace version of the testfiles folder and the files it contains for all items from its current Azure DevOps Server folder into the testfiles_branch Azure DevOps Server folder and from c:\testfiles into the local folder that maps to the testfiles_branch Azure DevOps Server folder.

c:\projects>tf branch C:\testfiles $/testfiles_branch

The following example creates a branch of 314.cs as it existed in changeset #4 for the file. In the working folder on disk, as in the Azure DevOps server, a branch file titled csharp_branch is created.

c:\projects>tf branch C:\314.cs;C4 csharp_branch

The following example creates a new branch of 314.cs as it was on 12/12/03. In the working folder on disk as in the Azure DevOps server, a branch file titled 314\branch is created.

c:\projects>tf branch 314.cs;D12/12/03 314_branch

The following example branches the version of 314.cs to which the Beta1 label was applied, names it Beta1branch, and saves it to the current directory on disk in addition to the Azure DevOps Server folder to which the current directory maps.

c:\projects>tf branch 314.cs;LBeta1 314_Beta1branch