Microsoft has released a new version of VSTS Web Access Power tool. This release is a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of what will ultimately be the 2008 version of the VSTS Web Access Power Tool. - Built against the TFS 2008 object model - In previous versions of Web Access you had to install Team Explorer 2005 on any machine you were installing Web Access on. With this version, you will now be installing Team Explorer 2008 instead. In some future version, Microsoft hopes to remove the requirement to install any version of Team Explorer.
- Custom control support - added support for web based work item custom controls and have included a folder of documentation and samples on how to create them.
- Build queuing - added UI for the new TFS 2008 feature of build queuing. You can start new queued builds and view the build queue (in addition to the preexisting abilities - like viewing build details).
- Localization support - added support for localizing the web interface. Microsoft will also be localizing text for the final 2008 Power Tool release.
- Bug fixes & Performance improvements - Microsoft has received a number of reports and done more testing on the current version of the Power Tool, and has fixed everything thus far.
This release (and the final 2008 release) can be used with either a TFS 2005 or a TFS 2008 server. In either case, you will need to install a TFS 2008 Team Explorer on the machine you install Web Access on. Since TFS 2005 did not support build queuing, that functionality will not be available when this and future versions of Web Access are used with a 2005 server. You can download it here and read more about it at Brian Harry's blog posting.
Call it a code generator, software factory, or just a clever script. If you can write code that writes code - you win, even if just a small victory for humans in this contest we call software development. For example, I've been working on an ASP.NET application which contains many data entry screens. You know the kind: very simple, table-format with a label and a textbox of a certain width, that may or may not require some validation. In other words, a whole lot of markup like this: <tr> <td class="EditLabel">Number</td> <td class="Edit"> <asp:TextBox ID="txtNumber" runat="Server" Width="200px" MaxLength="20"></asp:TextBox> </td> </tr> Now, if you have to type the above more than once or twice, you will go insane (been there, gone there). More importantly, you will probably introduce a bug or two. So, I opened up SQL Server 2005 Management Studio and wrote the following T-SQL code: USE SomeDB GO DECLARE @Table varchar(128) DECLARE @Column varchar(128) DECLARE @Width varchar(10) DECLARE @Length int DECLARE @Type int SET @Table = 'Employer' -- Pass this as a parameter DECLARE ColumnCursor CURSOR FOR SELECT C.Name, C.Max_Length, C.User_Type_ID FROM Sys.Columns C INNER JOIN Sys.Tables T ON C.Object_ID = T.Object_ID WHERE T.Name = @Table ORDER BY Column_ID OPEN ColumnCursor FETCH NEXT FROM ColumnCursor INTO @Column, @Length, @Type WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0 BEGIN IF @Type <> 36 -- No GUIDs BEGIN IF @Length < 0 SET @Length = 100 IF @Length < 10 SET @Width = '50px' ELSE IF @Length < 20 SET @Width = '100px' ELSE IF @Length < 50 SET @Width = '200px' ELSE IF @Length < 100 SET @Width = '300px' ELSE SET @Width = '400px' PRINT '<tr>' PRINT ' <td class="EditLabel">' + @Column + '</td>' PRINT ' <td class="Edit">' PRINT ' <asp:TextBox ID="txt' + @Column + '" runat="Server" Width="' + @Width + '" MaxLength="' + CONVERT(varchar(10),@Length) + '"></asp:TextBox>' PRINT ' </td>' PRINT '</tr>' END FETCH NEXT FROM ColumnCursor INTO @Column, @Length, @Type END CLOSE ColumnCursor DEALLOCATE ColumnCursor You get the picture. Feel free to customize this code to introduce additional formatting, a slick UI, or other business rules to the mix.
Microsoft's Patterns & Practices group recently released the final version of the “Team Development with Team Foundation Server” Guide. This guide has been in beta for the last couple of months. It shows you how to get the most out of Team Foundation Server to help improve the effectiveness of your team-based software development. Whether you are already using Team Foundation Server or adopting from scratch, you’ll find guidance and insights you can tailor for your specific scenarios. It's a collaborative effort between patterns & practices, Team System team members, and industry experts. 
Some quick facts: - 496 – Total number of pages
- 18 – Total number of chapters in this guide
- 11392 – Total number of downloads of the Beta version of this guide
- 8 – Number of attempts to get the Adobe build to work to generate the guide in .pdf format
- 60 – Number of external and MSFT contributors and reviewers
Download the guide from CodePlex.
Microsoft's Patterns & Practices group recently released the final version of the “Team Development with Team Foundation Server” Guide. This guide has been in beta for the last couple of months. It shows you how to get the most out of Team Foundation Server to help improve the effectiveness of your team-based software development. Whether you are already using Team Foundation Server or adopting from scratch, you’ll find guidance and insights you can tailor for your specific scenarios. It's a collaborative effort between patterns & practices, Team System team members, and industry experts. Some quick facts: - 496 – Total number of pages
- 18 – Total number of chapters in this guide
- 11392 – Total number of downloads of the Beta version of this guide
- 8 – Number of attempts to get the Adobe build to work to generate the guide in .pdf format
- 60 – Number of external and MSFT contributors and reviewers
Download the guide from CodePlex.
Yesterday, Microsoft released a tool to migrate from IBM ClearCase to TFS. Find more information on TFS migration topics, keep an eye on this blog.
My students this week told me about the new version. I remember using the original XML Notepad, and it was great, very simple. For the longest time, I couldn't find it on Microsoft's site to download, and then a newer version showed up on CodePlex.
Plant to attend the MSDN event on October 4, 2007 (a Thursday). Products to be discussed: ASP.NET, Office, Visual Studio, and Windows Vista. - times: 1:00 to 5:00 (welcome Time: 12:00 PM)
- Theater - Edwards Boise Stadium 21, 7701 Overland Road, Boise Idaho 83709
You can find out more, and register here. MSDN Events are free, live sessions designed to enhance your coding skills and make your life a little easier. By attending you'll get up-to-the-minute technology delivered by seasoned developers and have lots of time to network and ask questions. Chat with your fellow developers get the latest coding tools and tips and learn how to create rich new applications.
Ah yes, late August, time to go back to school - even for us adult geeks. Fortunately, David Starr has provided us an exhaustive list of must-read books, organized by developer, tester, project manager, and executives. ... nothing specifically on VSTS however. I'll have to bug him about that.
The great news just keeps on coming from Microsoft. After a flurry of Team System announcements and downloads recently, we have yet another set of Power Tools to play with. These tools are designed specifically for the Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Architects and provide the following capabilities: - View class library projects on the Application Diagram (AD)
- View references to class library projects as connections on the Application Diagram
- Create class library projects from the Application Diagram
- Create references to class library projects from the Application Diagram
- Synchronize properties between class library projects and their representative applications on the Application Diagram
- Create and use class library applications and references on the System Designer (SD)
Fantastic. We haven't seen much out of the Architect tools, except for the SDM SDK in quite some time. I'm looking forward to it. Download the CTP here. Note: you will also need to download Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2. If you have any feedback on these tools, please visit the Architecture & Design forum.
Microsoft has published a detailed KB article about the problems fixed by SR1. The article includes a link to download the update. Aside from many fixes, there are three major improvements found in this release: - Cross-database references - support is improved so that you can reference objects within different databases by using database project references or by referencing a database metafile (.dbmeta). This support reduces or eliminates the cross-database reference warnings within a database project
- Improved file support within SQL Server file groups - you can define files within file groups as database project properties instead of having to create files and file groups within the pre-deployment storage script.
- Variables - a Variables page is added to the database properties. This new page enables you to define setvar variables for use in the deployment scripts.
My friend Jeff Prosise has taken John Conway's mathematically-based Game of Life, automated it and given it a slick UI using Microsoft Silverlight 1.1. I'm sure Jeff had fun writing this, all the while learning the new environment. You can read more about SilverLIFE at this blog post, and then play with it here. (You will be prompted to download Silverlight 1.1 Alpha Refresh). 
Not only did Microsoft just recently post Beta 2 of Visual Studio 2008 (Orcas) a few days ago, but yesterday Microsoft made a CTP of the next generation of Visual Studio Team System (codename Rosario) available for download. Craziness ... which do I spend my time with? It's like having two mistresses to pick from. Anyway, here are the details, if you want to start playing with Rosario: (keep in mind that it won't ship until some time [6,12,18?] months post Visual Studio 2008, so at least 2009): Finally, and most important, provide feedback to the team using http://connect.microsoft.com.
Over the past few years, a few of my clients have deployed Team Foundation Server Proxy to improve the performance of their remote/distributed teams. It boosts network performance by caching copies of source control files in a remote location, local to the developer needing the files but away from the main source control location. In short, the proxy helps each user avoid a costly download of the files to their workspace across the slower connection. So why wouldn't this work for Team Build? In today's VSTS chat, I asked if anyone had done this. I should have expected that Buck Hodges would have, and even blogged about it.
Still trying to decide if Team System is right for you and if you can afford it. I would say you can't afford *not* to have it. Check out this list of case studies from other companies and teams who agree with me. Thanks to Rob Caron, for putting together this consolidated list of the "top" Visual Studio Team System case studies. They support a wide range of propositions by showcasing real customers who have gone through the adoption process and have great stories to tell.
Microsoft just released their Team System Web Access Power Tool (formerly known as TeamPlain). This is a Web interface to Team Foundation Server. If you have team members that don't want Visual Studio/Team Explorer installed on their desktop, but they still want to participate with the project lifecycle, this is a great, web-based approach to getting everyone connected quickly/easily. Here are some of the features: - Add new work items or edit existing ones
- Work with any type of work item, including custom ones
- Add new work item queries or edit existing ones
- View, download, upload, check-in and check-out documents on SharePoint team portal
- View reports, export as PDF or Excel
- Browse source control repositories, download files, view changesets, diffs, histories, and annotated views
- View build results, start or stop builds
- Search for keywords in work items
- Authentication Modes: Integrated Windows Authentication or Forms Based Authentication (Recommended to use with SSL)
Read more about it in Brian Harry's blog posting.
Join members of the Visual Studio Team System product group to discuss features available in Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, Architecture Edition, Development Edition, Database Edition, and Test Edition. In addition, discuss what's new in Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2. Microsoft will be holding two sessions: - Join the chat on Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 from 10:00am - 11:00am Pacific Time. Add to Calendar
- Join the chat on Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 from 4:00pm - 5:00pm Pacific Time. Add to Calendar
I just wanted to blog a couple of things here: - The future of BizTalk (read: updated roadmap) is available here
- BizTalk Server 2006 R2 will launch in September of this year (read more here)
- Microsoft has opened the BizTalk Labs, which allows scientists (such as you) to experiment with various technologies
The next Ask An Expert Live Chat is scheduled for Thursday, August 23, 2007. Join Microsoft MVPs, ASP Insiders, Regional Directors, and other industry experts - all on hand to answer your tough .NET- and Visual Studio-related questions. This chat is not being hosted by Microsoft and as such questions regarding upcoming products and future product specs may not be answered. Details: Thursday, August 23, 2007, 5:00 - 6:00 P.M. Pacific Time / 8:00 - 9:00 P.M. Eastern Time / 00:00 - 01:00 GMT Click here for an ICS file to update your calendar, and click here for more information on Microsoft technical chats.
Nice work Microsoft. The download page just came online today. You can download Installation Disc Images, VPC Images, or Express Editions. 
There's even a link to download the .NET Framework 3.5 Beta 2 at the bottom of the page.
Next week, August 2nd, hundreds of middle and senior-level IT Managers from SMB, corporate, academic and government organizations as well as line of business managers will be attending the 1-day forum known as Interface. Although it's not a software/developer event, the schedule looks pretty interesting, and so does the impressive hall of vendors. The Interface forum runs from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM at the Boise Center on the Grove.
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