How to have TFS 2010 detect changes done to files outside of Visual Studio?

Question

I'm using Team Foundation Server 2010 with Visual Studio 2010.

Whenever I modify a file outside of Visual Studio, TFS doesn't seem to detect the change done to the file, and thus doesn't offer me the option to check-in the file after it has been modified.

How can this be solved?

Answer 1

TFS has a "Reconcile" command for this:

1. Open the Source Control Explorer
2. Right-click on the folder with the changes and choose Compare
3. Select the files you want to reconcile (press CTRL+A to select all files)
4. Click on the Reconcile button
5. Set the options in the Reconcile Folder Differences dialog. Make sure Files that do not have pending changes is set to Check Out
6. Click OK
7. If you have local changes the Check Out dialog will be shown. Set the preferred Lock type
8. Click Check Out

See also: Reconcile differences between folders