Over the years, we've had a few clients automate their build process by using Final Builder by VSoft Technologies. Much like Team (Foundation) Build, Final Builder is a powerful build & release management tool. Unlike Team Build, Final Builder has a slick UI allowing a build master to quickly design the builds.
Last summer, a new Final Builder version (4.2) was release which included more support for MSBuild and Team Build tasks. With that version, and following the guidance in this article, you can get the two products working together!
Thanks for attending my talk last night and letting me share my SQL Server 2005 Worst Practices. I hope I didn't embarass anyone too badly by highlighting your practice in my talk!
Here are the slides, script, and sample project from last night's talk.
Also, a small correction: MyGeneration's site is www.mygenerationsoftware.com
If you are in the Boise area, be sure to attend Thursday's meeting of the Boise .NET User Group. I'll be delivering a talk on "SQL Server 2005 Worst Practices". If time permits, I'll also be diving into any other SQL Server/Visual Studio topics that are of interest, so bring your questions!
Please note that we will be meeting at the Microsoft building downtown (old ProClarity building).
My friend Ed Lance has started up a new training company: nTierTraining.
They focus mostly on Java software development, and include some really niche classes: Hibernate, AJAX, Spring, Servlets, JSP, STRUTS, JSF, JUNIT, J2EE, OOAD, Use Cases, Design Patterns, Web Services, and SOA.
Drop by his site and tell him hello ...
I just heard that Walt has become a Wintellectual, no doubt spreading the WPF and WPFe gospel. Walt is a very sharp developer and great instructor, and I've had the privilege of watching him in action at the Portland and Seattle code camps, as well as a few VSLive! events.
Be sure to check out his blog.
Registration is now open for MIX '07 in Las Vegas.
This event is geared toward Web developers, designers, online advertising professionals and includes a broad set of partners and customers. Building on last year’s inaugural event, MIX will continue to explore how to build more interactive and responsive experiences that take full advantage of the capabilities of the Web. This is a great opportunity to dive deeper into Microsoft’s Web technology offerings and discover new ways to create more dynamic customer connections.
www.visitmix.com
Yesterday, I went to a memorial in Twin Falls, Idaho for Dale "Doc" Stukenholtz. Doc gave me my first computer programming job at Stukenholtz Laboratory in December 1984, working on an IBM AT and writing BASIC programs to lookup soil and plant nutrient values and recommend chemical compositions for various crops and yields. 
As Gary Baker said during his Memories of a Life Well Lived: "when we lost Dale, a library burned". Never was a truer statement spoken. Always the teacher (and often the student) Doc maintained a vast knowledge: agronomy, sports, business, science, history, and even a conspiracy theory or two.
Doc believed in me, and I will never forget that!
It looks like I'll be speaking at BASTA! in a few weeks.
I'll be delivering two regular sessions:
And one full-day workshop:
Last week, while teaching a SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services class, I built this simple C# Windows forms application to help "push" an RDL report to multiple servers. It is a simple application that calls the CreateFolder and CreateReport Web methods on the ReportService2005 Web service. It's easy enough to customize for your purposes.
According to my students, this is a very common problem they face, as they have nine identical servers, with identical folder structures, and reports. They are generating and running scripts today, but wanted something more automated.
Feel free to download the source code.
I did find the Reporting Services Scripter utility, which looked promising.
Thanks to Brian Harry and team for releasing the latest version of the provider.
The enhancements in this latest release include:
- Enable handling branched solutions in Visual Studio 2003
- Fixed issues to enable provider to support TOAD for SQL Server 2.0
- Enhanced the "Choose Folder in Team Foundation Server" dialog
- Fixed bug which prevented Properties Dialog from displaying local path
- Work Items Query list in the Checkin Dialog is loaded and saved on the disk
- "Get" operation performance improvements
- Miscellaneous bug fixes
Download the new provider here, and remember it is for use by anyone who owns a Team Foundation Server Client Access License (CAL).
Wanted to say thanks again to my friends at Wellmark and New Horizons in Des Moines for a great weak of VSTS enlightenment.  Here's the motley crew in the flesh.
Mark your calendars! Microsoft's Boise launch of Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Exchange 2007 will be on January 30.
The event is broken-down into two, half-day events, one for develpers and one for IT professionals. Here are the registration links: Developer track | IT Pro track.
If you can't make that event, then the one in Seattle on February 26 might be a better choice, because it is the only launch with a keynote by Bill Gates.
Some of you have been beta testing it and, thanks in part to your hard work, it's ready for prime-time ... before the holidays!
Click here to learn more, and download SP1 for Visual Studio 2005, Team Foundation Server, and/or the Express editions. In addition, you can download Visual Studio 2005 SP1 Update for Windows Vista Beta.
Spread the word!
As I write this, I'm spending some time at Powell's Technical Book Store in downtown Portland. You could call it my "happy place". If only there were a Starbucks and a Fry's Electronics connected to the same building, I'd be truly happy.
Anyway, I'm flipping through the local ComputerChips magazine and, in-between all the Microsoft bashing articles, found a neat list of some interesting user groups. I thought I'd list them for (my) future reference:
Microsoft release Robotics Studio this morning. Microsoft Robotics Studio allows robotic applications to be developed using Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Visual Studio Express C# and VB as well as Microsoft IronPython.
Read the Press Release and the PressPass Q&A with Tandy Trower for more information.
Microsoft will be holding the next Professional Developers Conference (PDC) October 2-5, 2007 in Los Angeles, with two days of pre-conference on September 30 and October 1. Save the date!
The PDC is the definitive developer event focused on the future of the Microsoft platform. PDC 2007 attendees will have the opportunity to access new code, learn about the latest Microsoft product offerings and hear from Microsoft executives about the various platform developments. 
Click here for more information.
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