TFS 2010 : Check out file on open

Question

I have a number of projects that include certain files that I use for creating block diagrams, etc. (*.graphml, *.doc, *.docx to be exact). While I have setup the files to 'open with' the appropriate editor, I have to manually check them out in TFS to make them 'writeable' It seems that there should be a way to have TFS check the files out automatically like it does for code, xml, etc. How can I go about achieving this??

NOTE:
My TFS options are set to 'automatically check out' files, to no avail.

Answer 1

Programs are required to have their own integration with TFS to be able to perform a Check-out of the files when needed. Opening Files in applications that are not "TFS Aware" requires you to check them out in Visual Studio or Explorer + TF Power Tools before you start wok on them. Even opening SQL files with SSMS, if they are not in a database project, requires you to perform a Check-out.

Some applications can work with TFS via MSSCCI (Misky), but these are mostly programming tools (IDE's etc) as far as I know.

This will all be fixed in TFS 2012 with the introduction of Local Workspaces.

Answer 2

Go to Tools>Options> Select Source Control under options. Select Environment under Source Control

There is a section called 'Checked-in items' for the Editing dropdown select ' Check out automatically'