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I am new to Microsoft Team Foundation Server, and I've had a request to give a 3rd party access to a project's source code for short amount of time for review. The idea is to enable access for only a couple of days.

Is there a way to do this easily in TFS like what Fisheye provides?

To clarify, i realize that that by viewing code in a browser they are downloading code. That is ok, I just want reduce their ability to download the whole project... Does this make a difference?

Stephen Kennedy
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John N
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  • It's close to trying to prevent people from reading the HTML source of a webpage. If you can view the code, you can download it in TFS. – jessehouwing Apr 29 '12 at 21:48
  • Even if they only have a rendered bitmap image or printout of the code, someone on a mission to steal your code will succeed. You may not be the one to make the decision - I understand - but I'd be really weary of doing business with someone who you think would want to steal your code. – Jason Kleban Apr 30 '12 at 14:46
  • The solution I am looking for isn't to make it impossible for someone that is totally determined to get a copy of the code. I just don't want hand it over. For example, you can browse files in a github repository as well as download it. A workable solution would includ the browse aspect without the project/repo download. Yes, they will have the source in as rendered in their browser, but wouldn't have a ready-made project to compile and deploy. – John N Apr 30 '12 at 15:50

2 Answers2

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You could provide them a locked-down and/or supervised physical workstation for the review.

Jason Kleban
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No, there's fundamentally no way to do this. Viewing the code is exactly the same as downloading the code.

I suppose TFS could create an image (.bmp, .jpg or .png) from the code and then display that to the reviewer, but that's a fairly rare request.

You could provide read access to the code but no access to the project and solution files, or other components necessary to successfully produce a product from the code.

John Saunders
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