tfs 2013 custom checkin policy is not visible - visual-studio

Question

I'm trying to create a custom checkin policy in TFS 2013. Followed this example and I create WorkitemStateControlPolicy class below
https://blog.devart.com/creating-tfs-custom-check-in-policy.html
namespace WIStateControlPolicy
{
[Serializable]
public sealed class WorkitemStateControlPolicy : PolicyBase
{
[NonSerialized]
private IPendingCheckin pendingCheckin;
public const string ClosedStatus = "System.Reason";
........
........
}
}
I build this project, WorkitemStateControl.dll created. Registy key I am using:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0_Config\TeamFoundation\SourceControl\Checkin Policies]
"WorkitemStateControl"="c:\\Users\\me\\Desktop\\dll\\WorkitemStateControl.dll"
Then I checked the visual studio 2015 add checkin policy but new policy is not visible in list
I tried also this registy path:
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0\TeamFoundation\SourceControl\CheckinPolicies)
But problem not changed.
My queston is, why new checkin policy is not visible? Should I change anything on tfs server?

Answer 1

There is not really a concept of a Check-in policy to go hand-hand with a version of Team Foundation Server. Instead these are plugins for Visual Studio. So you'rn buiding a plugin for that specific version of Visual Studio that happens to connect to a Team Foundation Server.
A such, each version of Visual Studio needs its own versions of the assemblies, compiled against the correct version of .NET and the correct version of the Team Foundation Server Client Object Model that matches the version that ships with the Team Explorer "extension" for Visual Studio.
You then register a different path to the specific assembly containing the policy into each registry tree of the version of Visual Studio you support. Ohh and don't forget to register the x86 and the x64 registry trees :).
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
//v12
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VisualStudio\12.0\TeamFoundation\SourceControl\Checkin Policies]
"JesseHouwing.CheckinPolicies"="C:\Program Files(x86)\\MyCompany\\Checkin Policies\\v12.0\\JesseHouwing.CheckinPolicies.dll"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\12.0\TeamFoundation\SourceControl\Checkin Policies]
"JesseHouwing.CheckinPolicies"="C:\Program Files(x86)\\MyCompany\\Checkin Policies\\v12.0\\JesseHouwing.CheckinPolicies.dll"
//v14
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\TeamFoundation\SourceControl\Checkin Policies]
"JesseHouwing.CheckinPolicies"="C:\Program Files(x86)\\MyCompany\\Checkin Policies\\v14.0\\JesseHouwing.CheckinPolicies.dll"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\TeamFoundation\SourceControl\Checkin Policies]
"JesseHouwing.CheckinPolicies"="C:\Program Files(x86)\\MyCompany\\Checkin Policies\\v14.0\\JesseHouwing.CheckinPolicies.dll"
etc...
All the details are in this blog post.
VISUAL STUDIO PROJECT TYPE CPU .NET VERSION TFS OM VERSION VISUAL STUDIO VERSION
2017 Class Library AnyCPU 4.6 15.0.0.0 v15.0
2015 Class Library AnyCPU 4.6 14.0.0.0 v14.0
2013 Class Library AnyCPU 4.5 12.0.0.0 v12.0
2012 Class Library AnyCPU 4.0 11.0.0.0 v11.0
2010 Class Library AnyCPU 4.0 10.0.0.0 v10.0
2008 Class Library AnyCPU 3.0 9.0.0.0 v9.0
2005 Class Library AnyCPU 2.0 8.0.0.0 v8.0
And a sample project that targets multiple Visual Studio Versions.
In this project I've manually tweaked the project files to dynamically reference the version of the Client Object Model depending on the selected Visual Studio version using a choose/when construct:
<Choose>
<When Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'VS2013'">
<ItemGroup>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.TeamFoundation.VersionControl.Client, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL" />
<Reference Include="Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Client, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL" />
<Reference Include="Microsoft.TeamFoundation, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL" />
</ItemGroup>
</When>
<When Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'VS2012'">
<ItemGroup>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.TeamFoundation.VersionControl.Client, Version=11.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL" />
<Reference Include="Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Client, Version=11.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL" />
<Reference Include="Microsoft.TeamFoundation, Version=11.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL" />
</ItemGroup>
</When>
<When Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'VS2010'">
<ItemGroup>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.TeamFoundation.VersionControl.Client, Version=10.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL" />
<Reference Include="Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Client, Version=10.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL" />
<Reference Include="Microsoft.TeamFoundation, Version=10.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL" />
</ItemGroup>
</When>
<Otherwise>
<ItemGroup>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.TeamFoundation.VersionControl.Client, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL" />
<Reference Include="Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Client, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL" />
<Reference Include="Microsoft.TeamFoundation, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL" />
</ItemGroup>
</Otherwise>
</Choose>
You can use similar tricks to reference different NuGet versions for later versions of Team Explorer. The TFS Aggregator project is built against every version of the Client Object Model since 2013 and we dynamically include a targets file to setup the references and nuget dependencies.