Sitecore Helix, Sitecore Habitat and TDS

Compatible with Sitecore Helix architecture and Sitecore Habitat environment

TDS Classic has a number of problem-solving features that work beautifully with the Sitecore Helix architecture. It provides world-class, time and user tested features that can be enabled with a simple tick of a checkbox.

Our latest release, TDS Classic 5.7, makes a good thing even better by improving the speed of TDS Classic and its compatibility with Sitecore Helix architecture and the Sitecore Habitat environment.

Sitecore Helix: Separation of Modules and FxCop Rules

Sitecore Habitat implements the Sitecore Helix ‘separation of modules’ by using separate projects in Visual Studio; this process attempts to avoid a scenario wherein developers break Sitecore Helix principles by making it more difficult for them to create cross-module references. That's why we’ve created FxCop Rules for Helix. Using these, it's possible for users to enforce correct model dependency direction by running the FxCop Rules, rather than relying on project separation.

TDS Classic and Sitecore Habitat

The TDS Classic copy of Sitecore Habitat can be found on Github. With this Initial Base Repo Setup of TDS Classic for Habitat, there is neither a requirement on NPM nor a need for running Gulp tasks. Additionally, the initial build and deployment time is halved when using TDS Classic. A developer machine that clocked a 14-minute deployment time for the default Sitecore Habitat solution clocked a 7-minute deployment time for the TDS Classic fork of the same repo.

Download TDS Classic Habitat Repo

A Single, Deployable Package for Builds

Creation of an Update Package on build was introduced in TDS Classic 2.0. Since TDS Classic 5.0, the Multi-Project Properties page has featured a ‘Package Bundling’ section, where users can select the other TDS Classic projects they want included in the Update Package they are generating. This is especially helpful given how many projects can exist in a Sitecore Helix or Habitat project. Now users only need to manage one file for the entire solution’s build, instead of a package for each project.

Download Our How-To Guide for Sitecore Helix and TDS Classic

Sitecore Helix, Sitecore Habitat and Sync

With Sitecore Habitat, users face the possibility that items are living across many TDS Classic projects in the solution (though this example is not limited to the Sitecore Helix principles). TDS Classic 5.5 introduced a feature where you can ‘Sync All TDS Projects using History’ on the entire solution. This utilizes the Sync Using History view and covers all the TDS Classic projects in a solution.

Because changed items can exist anywhere across a solution, given the number of projects, Sync All Projects allows users to do a full comparison of every item across every project in the solution (Helix or otherwise) with a single click. Auto Sync helps avoid a scenario in which each of those items would need to be synced manually by bringing all item updates made in Sitecore into TDS Classic projects automatically.

Lightning Sync, introduced in TDS Classic 5.7, saves comparison time by initially comparing only the Revision ID of the item on disk to the Revision ID of the item within Sitecore. This has led to full project syncs that are up to 300% faster than a default sync.

Updating Changes on a Local Site

When you receive the latest version from source control, which often contains other developers updated code and items, updating your local site with TDS Classic is as easy as Right Click -> Deploy Solution. If you want to push the items to Sitecore but not build/deploy the code, you can use the Quick Push feature (introduced in TDS Classic 5.6 and enhanced in TDS Classic 5.7) to work across the entire solution.

Learn More About Quick Push

Code-Generation from Another Solution

Sitecore Helix principles state that the code from a project can be split out into multiple, logical solutions. Therefore, users may have multiple solutions deploying to a Sitecore instance, each with their own TDS Projects. It’s then possible that TDS projects in a ‘Core’ solution can have base templates and code that is needed in another solution.

TDS Classic 5.7 introduced the ability to ‘Export Code Generation Reference File’ from a TDS project that uses Code Generation, allowing it to be easily used in other projects to know about the base templates for inheritance.

Learn More In Our How-To Guide

Ready for more?

Start Your Free Trial of TDS Classic

Take our best-selling platform for a 30-day test drive, and experience the benefits for yourself

Start A Free Trial

Schedule a Live Demonstration

Schedule Live Demonstration

TDS Classic Best Practices

Improve Sitecore performance and make the Sitecore development process easier with these TDS Classic Best Practices.

Explore Best Practices