Solution: Using Source Server with Team System Source Control

July 17, 2006 Roy Osherove

Microsoft source server Source Server is coolness. If you don’t want to read further -

This script adds Team System Source Control Support to Source Server.

Microsoft source server is part of the Debugging Tools For Windows package. It enables a client to retrieve the exact version of the source files that were used to build an application (while you’re debugging!). Because the source code for a module can change between versions and over the course of years, it is important to look at the source code as it existed when the version of the module in question was built.
The source server retrieves the appropriate files from source control. To use the source server, the application must have been source indexed
(for in depth info on Source Server read “srcsrv.doc” installed under the Source Server Install folder/SDK)

A project I’m consulting for has needed the ability to use Source Server with Team System SOurce Control (which is not supported by out of the box).

Support for various Source Control Systems
SourceServer comes with pre-made modules for Visual SourceSafe, Subversion and Perforce, but not for Team Foundation Source Control.

This document and script add Team System Source Control Support to Source Server.

It’s a funny thing - itegrating into source server. It feels very much like connecting things with glue and strings: you basically build a perl module that has an “interface” for the various parts of calling the source control server. Why it wasn’t built with COM I’ll never know I guess. (maybe it’s possible to write a COM wrappr for perl scripts?)

Related files:

TF.pm : Perl script that integrates into Source Server and “talks” to TF.Exe (TF.Exe is part of team Foundation). Script was written by Michael Sheinker, a bright fellow from a project that I consulted to, who agreed to share it.
TFIndex.cmd : Simple command line to initiate PDB Indexing for Source Server on Team System Files