Rolling Back Folders and Items

This topic describes how to configure, or roll back, a folder or item to a specific view label, promotion state, or date and time.

In this topic:

Configuring (Rolling Back) Folders and Items Overview

You can configure (or roll back) an individual folder or item to a specific view label, promotion state, or date and time. Essentially, all rollbacks are made to a particular date and time. For example, if you roll back to a view label, you essentially roll back to the revision of the folder or item that existed on the date and time at which that label was attached. Unlike a view, a folder or item retains its roll-back configuration until you manually change it or until the folder or item branches. When you close the view, the folder or item does not immediately return to its current configuration.

Rolling back a folder does not re-configure any of the items or child folders associated with it. It only rolls back the folder properties to the values they had at the configuration time. Depending on the folder behavior, the folder may become read-only, in which case its properties cannot be changed.

The configuration of a folder affects the new items or child folders that can float into it. For example, in a floating branch view, you can keep items from floating into a particular folder by configuring the folder to a particular label, promotion state, or point in the past. Later, you can re-configure the folder to floating so that it can receive new items from its parent. However, the items added to the parent while the folder was not floating will never automatically go into the folder. They must be manually shared. To freeze a folder or item at a certain point in time so that it cannot be changed:

• Change its configuration to a point in the past.
• Make sure that its branching behavior is either disabled or not set to Branch on Change.

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Rolling Back a Folder or Item

To roll back a folder or item, do the following:

1. Do one of the following:

   • Select a folder from the folder tree or in the upper pane on the Folder tab.
   • Select one or more items in the upper pane.

2. Right-click the selected items and choose Advanced > Behavior.

   The Item Behavior dialog box opens.

3. On the Configuration tab, select a configuration option:

   Labeled Revision	This option uses the folder or item revision with the specified view label as the tip revision. Existing view labels are listed in reverse chronological order based on the time for which they were created. This option is disabled if the view has no labels defined.
   Promotion State Configuration	This option uses the folder or item revision with the view label assigned to the selected promotion state as the tip revision. This option is disabled if this view has no promotion states defined.
   Revision As Of	This option uses the folder or item revision just prior to the specified point in time as the tip revision. It defaults to the current date and time, but you can select a date and time in the past, as long as it is after the time when the folder or item was created.

4. Click OK.

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Returning to the Current Folder or Item Configuration

To return to the current folder or item configuration, do the following:

1. Do one of the following:

   • Select a folder from the folder tree or in the upper pane on the Folder tab.
   • Select one or more items in the upper pane.

2. Right-click the selected items and choose Advanced > Behavior.

   The Item Behavior dialog box opens.

3. On the Configuration tab, select Floating, then click OK.

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Identifying Rolled Back Items

To identify rolled back items, do the following:

1. Right-click the column headers in the upper pane and choose Show Fields.

2. Select the Configuration Time field in the Available Fields list and click Add.

   This displays the Configuration Time column the upper pane.

3. Sort based on the Configuration Time column, because only items with configuration times in the past have any values in this field. If the Configuration Time matches the time for a view label, the item may be configured to that view label or to a promotion state based on that view label. Other fields that may be of interest are:

   Branch On Change	Uses a Yes or No value to indicate whether a file will branch when it changes. If Branch On Change is No and Configuration Time has a value, the item is frozen (read-only).
   Branch State	Indicates whether an item has branched in the child view, is still unbranched and part of the parent view, or is in the root view for the project and, therefore cannot be branched. Its values are Branched, Not Branched, and Root.

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