March 13, 2018 | Tom Kamin
Content File Sync is a fantastic time saver for a Sitecore developer. Because many TDS Classic users work outside the web root, changing a content file means using an external script or running a build to push that file to Sitecore. Enabling Content File Sync means that TDS Classic pushes those files automatically.
Once set to true in the TDS Options window, TDS Classic will copy any files in your solution with a “Content” Build Action into your Sitecore Deploy Folder configured in the TDS Build window on the properties of your TDS Classic project.
Now that Content File Sync is set up, any time you save a content file (like a view) it will automatically get copied from your solution into your web root. This removes the need to run a build that will copy DLLs and config files, which can be time consuming depending on the size of the project and will cause IIS to restart forcing you to wait while your site starts back up. This allows speedy development and bug fixing inside of views.
Front-end developers will see the most benefits! Since most of the files they work with are content files, like Javascript, CSS, and view files, they will only need to run a build when pulling new back-end code down from the code repository.
You can watch Content File Sync in action by opening the Output window in Visual Studio and selecting “Team Development for Sitecore” in the “Show output from:” drop-down menu.
With TDS Classic output showing, anytime Content File Sync is triggered, you will see a log message stating the deletion of the old file and a completion message when the new file has been dropped into the web root. This allows you to time your browser window refreshes for maximum development speed!
TDS Classic has a bunch of features like Content File Sync that make Sitecore development easier, like Lightning Sync, and it's fully compatible with Sitecore Helix and Sitecore Habitat.