What is Shelving in TFS?

Question

Is shelving in TFS merely a soft checkin so other team members can see the source code?

i.e. the shelved code will not be compiled right?

Answer 1

@JaredPar: Yes you can use Shelvesets for reviews but keep in mind that shelvesets can be overwritten by yourself/others and therefore are not long term stable. Therefore for regulatory relevant reviews you should never use a Shelveset as base but rather a checkin (Changeset). For an informal review it is ok but not for a formal (E.g. FTA relevant) review!

Answer 2

I come across this all the time, so supplemental information regarding branches:

If you're working with multiple branches, shelvesets are tied to the specific branch in which you created them. So, if you let a changeset rust on the shelf for too long and have to unshelve to a different branch, then you have to do that with the July release of the power tools.

tfpt unshelve /migrate