Binding to TFS question

[alaltenburg]

Hello everyone,

I have a folder on my desktop with my Flare Source Files. I open them on the desktop and bound them to Team Foundation Server using the Project Properties. When I bound the files, they are now showing up in Explorer through the new TFS folder the files are stored in, which I assume is correct.

The question is, do I still access the files through the original desktop folder? And if so, where do I build the output folder to? I have the output building to the desktop, but then how does it show up in the TFS folder?

Hope this makes sense, I am new to TFS.

Andrea

[LTinker68]

First, I wouldn't recommend building to your desktop or storing your projects there. Not only because if you ever upgrade your OS Windows may change the path/name of the desktop folder (thereby screwing up TFS's idea of the path), but because it's path is currently so long (in Windows XP anyways) that you use a lot of characters in the path and it makes it more likely that you might hit the 256 character max before you get to a topic. I recommend creating a folder on the C:\ drive and put all your projects there. That way the path is just C:\HelpProjects\ProjectA for example, instead of C:\Documents and Settings\John.Doe\Desktop\HelpProjects\ProjectA.

Second, you shouldn't bind the output to TFS. There's really no need to. As long as your project files are bound to source control then you can generate the output at any time.

[RamonS]

Well, "desktop folder" may be the My Documents folder on the desktop that contains the My Projects folder of Flare which again contains the folders for the projects. That is the default location for projects - and not the best default to pick. I recommend storing the project folder somewhere in the root of the C: drive. There aren't too many Windows installations that do not have a C drive, so it will make getting the latest files easier in case something changes (change in domain login name, new PC, etc.).

[alaltenburg]

Thank you, but I really am looking for an answer to my question, not a debate over where to store files.

The question remains, once the files are bound within Madcap Flare, do I open the files through the original location or to the TFS location it is now located? I basically have 2 versions after TFS binding, which do I use?

Thanks,
Andrea

[alaltenburg]

Well, I found an answer to my question. I create my output to the original files and they are not bound to TFS, but it doesn't seem like they need to be. So the I created a publish file to publish the .chm files to a different folder within TFS.