Using Check-In and Check-Out › Check-Out Process › Check-Out Rules

Check-Out Rules

The following rules govern the check-out process:

• Access—To check out an item for browse or synchronize, you need at least view access to the item. To check out an item for update or concurrent update, or to reserve an item, you need edit access to the item.
• Duplicates—You can check out any version of an item, not only the latest. You can check out only one version of an item at a time to the same directory on the file system.
• Package—A package in the current state is required to check out an item for update, concurrent update, or reserve only. A package can only create one reserved version per item, either on a branch or on the trunk.
• Version—The only trunk version that you can check out for update is the latest. You can only check out a trunk version for update if it is not reserved by another package. This version is available for updating even if it does not yet appear in the current view. To check out an earlier trunk version for updating, you must use the concurrent update mode.
• Updating a Branch—To check out and modify a branch version, you can use the update or concurrent update mode of check-out. Both create a reserved branch version that is replaced when the file is checked in. The package specified for the check-out must be the same as the package that created the branch.
• Unmerged Branches—A package can only have one unmerged branch version per item. A second attempt to check out an item for concurrent update fails if an existing unmerged branch is found for that item with that package. The current branch version should be either merged or deleted before attempting to use the concurrent update mode of check-out again for the same item with the package.
• Tagged Versions—Versions tagged as merged (M) or removed (D) cannot be checked out. A reserved version (R) can be checked out only for browse mode; its content is the same as the previous version.