Rangers TFS 2010 Branching Guidance – Minor refresh of content
We have just updated the diagrams and the quick reference poster, whereby the changes should make their way to the codeplex site shortly at https://tfsbranchingguideiii.codeplex.com/.
So, where are the changes?
Diagrams Collection
Slides 5 – 9 in the revised deck of branching diagrams in file “TFS Branching Guide - Diagrams 2010” have changed “slightly”.
As shown in the right illustration, we changed the bi-directional arrow to a one directional arrow. Many of us, including myself, misinterpreted the arrows to indicate the solution area, i.e. development, production and release environments. Based on an explanation from Bill, the branching guru, it is typical that you have, over time, merges going from Main to Dev (FI) and From Dev to Main (RI) after the branches are created. Once you create a Release branch you should never Forward Integrate (FI) from Main again in the future, otherwise V.Next features would bubble up in the current release branch. Reverse Integration (RI) is feasible to get a hot fix, for example, into MAIN.
The bold green arrows are great reminders that of the differences with how changes flow in the development and release environment.
Quick Reference Poster – Scenarios
On the main quick reference poster we updated the basic, standard and advanced diagrams to reflect the update in the diagrams. We also added a date on the bottom right hand side to indicate the version of the poster.
Quick Reference Poster – New Features
Lastly, we refreshed the new features quick reference poster, by:
- Updated the header of feature (1)
- Updated the branch visualization screenshot to bring it inline with the latest look & feel.
- Updated the changeset tracking screenshot to bring it inline with the latest look & feel
Make sure you update your branching diagrams and quick reference posters!