Team Development with Visual Studio Team Foundation Server

Merging across the branch hierarchy is especially difficult and requires you to manually
handle many conflicts that could otherwise be handled automatically.
Additional Resources
• For an introduction to branching and merging, see “Branching and Merging Primer”
at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa730834(VS.80).aspx
• For more information about branching, see “How to: Branch Files and Folders” at
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181425(VS.80).aspx
• For more information about merging, see “How to: Merge Files and Folders” at
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181428(VS.80).aspx
• For additional descriptions of how to branch and merge in Visual Studio 2005, see
“Branching and Merging Team Foundation Source Control” at
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181423(VS.80).aspx
How do I use branching to release my application?
Use a Release branch when you are ready to stabilize your build prior to release.
The following is an example of what your branch structure might look like after you have
created a Release branch:
• Main – Integration branch
o Source
o Other asset folders
• Release 1 – Release branch
o Source
Keep the following recommendations in mind when working with a Release branch:
• When to branch: When you are ready to release, integrate everything into the
Main branch and then create a Release branch that can be used to stabilize the
application prior to release.
• When not to branch: If you are using one TFS project per release, you can use
the new project to continue development instead of a branch in the current project.
• Permissions on branch:
• Prior to release – Read/write for all developers.
• After release – Read/write for developers working on hotfixes, read-only for
everyone else.
• Build frequency on branch: On-demand builds.
• Testing focus on branch: Sign off on release.
You should use the Release branch for the targeted fixes and changes necessary in order
to stabilize a build prior to release. Development of the next version of your application
can occur in parallel in your main Development or Integration branch so that the new
version can get the benefit of the stabilization changes you made prior to release. After a