The Top command allows you to specify which portion of the repository is to be included in the query by opening the Show History For dialog box. If the Top of the query is specified to be a file, then that file is the only object of interest. More commonly, the Top of the query is specified to be a folder, in which case the query includes all changes to that folder and all of its contents, recursively.

The Filter/Sort command allows you to specify criteria which define a subset of changes which are of interest for the query and to sort those results by opening the History Query Filter/Sort dialog box.

The Add to Favories command allows you to save the parameters of the History query. Type a name for the query and click Save. Click Cancel to close the History Favorite dialog without saving the name.

The Save Results As command allows you to export the results of the query for other uses by opening the Save History Results dialog box. This command will retrieve and export all of the results, not just the ones currently being viewed by the paging code. The results can be saved as a .csv, .txt or .html file.

Note: Only Vault Standard history will be saved. If the item was imported from Visual SourceSafe, its VSS history will not be saved.

The History Close command closes the History Explorer window.

The Refresh command allows you to re-query the server with the same filter/sort criteria, showing you changes in history made since the history window was first invoked.

The Act Recursively command is a toggle that shows whether the current query is a recursive query, and allows you to change the value, and re-query with the value toggled from how it is currently set.

The History Diff command allows you to compare a version with a previous version, current version or the working folder version. If two versions have been selected, the command retrieves both versions and compares them against each other using the default Diff Program. If only one version is selected, the History Diff dialog will be displayed to allow you to choose from several diff options, including a label applied to the folder/file, any local file or any repository folder/file.

If a file is selected, the History View command allows you to retrieve the selected version and display its contents by launching the appropriate editor.

View is not supported for an entire folder.

The History Get command gets the version that corresponds to the current selection. For example, if the current selection is a file check in, it retrieves the version associated with that check in. If the current selection is a folder, it retrieves the files (and their versions) that existed at the time of that folder version. Files are retrieved to their working folders by default. To retrieve files to a non-working folder, type in the folder path or browse to the folder.

The Details command allows you to see the details for the entire change set, including the other files included in that file version’s check in. The Version Details dialog box also displays any change set comments or item comments for files within the change set.

The Pin command allows you to pin the selected item.

The Unpin command allows you to unpin the selected item.

History Share works similarly to the regular Share command except that it works on a historical version of a file or folder instead of sharing the most recent version.

In the case of a file, it will share the file to a new location, and then pin it to the version you have selected in the list. For folders, it will share the folder to a new location and pin the folder to the version that was selected.

A History Share will always pin the file or folder being shared even if it is the most recent version. If the file or folder being shared is already shared, it will merely add the new file or folder as another link in the shared file.

The Branch command allows you to branch on the selected file or folder at the version that is selected. You cannot branch a deleted file or folder.

The Label command allows you to label the selected file or folder at the version that is selected. You cannot label a deleted file or folder.

The History Rollback command is a non-destructive way to make a previous version the current version. It checks out the file at the version selected and checks in that file as the latest version. A rollback does not break a share.

Rollback is not available when the file is pinned.

The History Check Out command is used to check out a file while simultaneously retrieving the selected version. This only allows a single checkout at a time.

Check the Diff against previous version checkbox to diff against the compare version previous to the one selected. This allows you to see the changes that were introduced in this version of the file

Check the Diff against current version in repository now checkbox to compare the version of the file or folder selected against the most recent version checked into the repository.

Check the Diff against working folder checkbox to compare the version of the file or folder selected against the file in the working folder.

If a working folder is not set for the selected file or folder, the Set Working Folder menu dialog box will open first. Select the working folder and click OK to continue with the Diff command.

Check the label applied to this folder/file to compare the version of the file or folder selected to a version of the same file or folder that is part of a label that was previously applied. The Browse button will display the list of available labels that can be compared to the selected file or folder version.

Check any local folder/file to compare the version of the file or folder selected to a file or folder on the local disk. The browse button will display a local file/folder chooser that allows you to choose which file or folder to compare against the selected file or folder version.

Check any repository folder/file to compare the file or folder selected to the current version of any file or folder in the repository. The Browse button will display the current repository tree and allow you to select a repository file or folder to compare against the selected file or folder version.

If you select this option, the dialog will be disabled and will not appear unless the shift-key is being held down. The default selections will apply to any item selected. See History/Labels Options to change the default selections.

Click OK to bring up the default Diff Program.

Click Cancel to close the History Diff dialog box.