Description of the unified binding root limitation in Visual Studio .NET 2002 and in Visual Studio .NET 2003 (896702)

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Visual Studio .NET 2002 and Visual Studio .NET 2003 allow source control products to be integrated with the development environment through the Microsoft Source Code Control Integration (MSCCI). MSCCI requires that all files that are displayed as being under source control in the development environment should reside under the binding root.

The location of the binding root is determined when the project or the solution is added to source control. When the project or the solution is added to source control, the development environment sets the binding root to the lowest point in the folder structure that covers all the items in the project or the solution. You can only change this root by removing the project from source control and then adding it back to source control.

Therefore, when an item is a part of the project and the item is outside the binding root even if it is under source control, the development environment will display that the item is not under source control. All the source control providers must return "Not Controlled" for items that are outside the binding root. Otherwise, Visual Studio .NET will perform unpredictably.

You can still add items that are outside the binding root to the project. However, operations that are related to source control must be performed outside the development environment in the source control client. These operations may include check-in and check-out.

Visual Studio 2005 adds new source control integration through the Visual Studio Industry Partner (VSIP) program. If the source control provider uses this kind of integration, the binding root is no longer a limitation.