Monday, October 30, 2006

Configuring TFS to Use a Remote SharePoint Server

Many organizations’ data centers already maintain and manage a central set of Windows SharePoint Site servers, and restrict creation and deployment of new sites to this set of servers. Team Foundation Server requires installation of a SharePoint Server on the Team Foundation Server application tier and that new team sites be created on this SharePoint Server. This represents an issue for these organizations and may even hinder the adoption of Team Foundation Server for some.

This technical note describes the steps that you must follow to configure an installation of Team Foundation Server to use a pre-existing SharePoint Server that is not on the Team Foundation Server application-tier computer.

Be aware that the instructions are neither simple nor short and it will require great courage to go through it ... Good Luck :)

Getting a TFS Product Key to Upgrade from Workgroup or Trial TFS Editions

Charles Sterling got it all very clear and descriptive in his post

I have had a couple of customers ask me "Where do i get a product key for Team Foundation Server" and it was pretty embarrasing that i didn't know and had to refer them to either their account manager or Stuart White/Arabind Coomaraswamy.  Well that is no longer the case as i have directions for upgrading a Workgroup or Trial editions of TFS.

VSTS for Database Professionals Online Chat

Join members of the VSTS for Database Professionals product team this Wednesday to discuss the latest addition to the Team System line up. Experts from all areas of product development will be available to answer your questions.

Join the chat on Wednesday, November 1st, 2006 10:00am - 11:00am Pacific time.

To add this chat to your calendar, click here.

To see your local time of when this chat is, click here.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

VSTS Project Server Connector

The VSTS Project Server Connector is now in a stable state and can be downloaded here

The Connector is also available as a part of the Avanade Software Lifecycle Platform™

Understanding TFS in an Extranet Scenario

James Manning has a comprehensive post (The TFS "extranet" ISAPI filter mechanics) that explains the inner workings of what's happening when configuring TFS in an extranet scenario using the ISAPI filter found in Visual Studio 2005 SP1.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Assign Work Item to a specific user on Failed Build

Steven St Jean posted an interesting article on how you can assign the work item created on faild build to a specific user.

Problem:

I just came across a post on the MSDN TFS forums that was asking how you go about assigning the workitem created on a failed build to a specific user.  I have also been asked to do this in my organization. 

Background:

Team Build will create a new workitem in your Team Project when a build fails.  The "task" is assigned to the account that ran the build.  In my case, that account is a build service account.  One of my Dev Leads asked how we could modify the build process to make the assignment to him whenever one of his builds failed.  I didn't have time to look into it, so I pretty much blew him off.  I recently had some time to look back into this subject.

VSTS for Database Professionals CTP6

VSTS for Database Professionals CTP6 just released including the following changes done since CTP5

  • Full SQL Server 2000 & 2005 object support
  • Extended Properties Support
  • Inline constraint support
  • Pre and Post script deployment population during Import Script
  • Team Build Support
  • Import Schema Wizard ( also integrated with the New Project Wizard )
  • The ability to synchronize your project from a database ( selective import essentially, based on differences. )
  • Refactoring is allowed in files that are in a warning state
  • Overall stability and performance
  • Fixed many customer reported problems
  • Support for 3 and 4 part name resolution when referenced database is present on design instance
  • No longer install SQL Express ( you'll notice the download is a LOT smaller! ). You can pick your own SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition or SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition instance on the local box
  • Display detailed Schema Object properties in the property window for selected objects in the Schema View
  • Separation of user target database settings through the user project file

Sunday, October 15, 2006

MSDN Banking Industry Center for Architects

MSDN Banking Industry Center was just released, the new site will provide prescriptive architecture guidance addressing current and emerging challenges the industry faces. Customers, partners, and system integrators will be able to view webcasts, whitepapers, blogs and podcasts that address banking concerns.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Helpful Resources for Architects

An Architectural Perspective on Software + Services
Technological advances can cause disruption in the use of IT which can have a significant impact on organizations. Beginning with a look at this disruption and the opportunity for innovation that it generates, this article examines the melding of SOA and Web 2.0 into a Software + Services model.

Software as a Service - Articles, Opinions, Webcasts, and more
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a model of software delivery in which the software company provides maintenance, daily technical operation, and support for the software provided to their client. Visit this page to find architecture guidance and share your opinions on this new model of software consumption

Readings in Service Orientation; Book Two in the Architecture Journal Series - Available Online
Available online and for download, Readings in Service Orientation presents papers on architecting services authored by a variety of well-known writers in the architectural space. Read this book to form your own opinions about the impact of services orientation on your business and computing environments.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

VSTS for Database Professionals CTP5 - Beta

The latest CTP version of VSTS for Database Professionals was released on the 3rd of October on Microsoft.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

What Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals Can Do for You

This article provides an overview of the latest addition to the Microsoft Visual Studio Team System: Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals.

A Closer Look at TFS Power Toys

Erin Geaney is on Channel 9 demonstrating the TFS Power Toys (A Closer Look at the Team Foundation Server Power Toys)

VSTS Webcast Series

From architecture through development and testing, the integrated tools in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System enable you to be more productive throughout the stages of application development. Learn how through this Series of On-Demand Webcasts

Monday, October 09, 2006

Updated Team Foundation Admin & Install Guides

A new release of TF Administrators and TF Installation Guides are available for download.

  • Team Foundation Administrator's Guide
  • Team Foundation Installation Guide
  •  

    When you first open the Administrator's Guide, you may see some bogus content in the topic display area; however, if you select any topic in the table of contents, that topic will display correctly.

    Wednesday, October 04, 2006

    VSTS for Database Professionals CTP Survey

    Cameron Skinner posted a request for all Data Dude CTP users to take a product feedback survey from this link.

    I just finished posting a request for all you "Data Dude" CTP users out there to please click this link and take a product feedback survey. Please take the time ( shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes )! We take your feedback seriously, and very much appreciate your time and energy on this. We want to garner more detailed and structured feedback about the various features and goals we are trying to nail in this first version.

    Tuesday, October 03, 2006

    TFS Power Toys

    TFS Power Toys released.

    The Team Foundation Power Toys are primarily command-line tools, with each Power Toy implemented as a command in a common application (tfpt.exe). To use these commands, start tfpt.exe at the Command Prompt. Some of the Power Toys will display a graphical user interface when called. In addition, you can access the Annotate and Treediff commands from Source Control Explorer in Visual Studio or Team Explorer. Previously, the Team Foundation Power Toys were only available in the Team Foundation Server SDK. This release includes four new Power Toys: Annotate, Bind, Query, TreeDiff, and Workitem.

    Available Power Toys are:

    Unshelve Command

    Use the unshelve command to unshelve and merge the changes in the workspace.

    Rollback Command
    Use the rollback command to roll back changes that have already been committed to Team Foundation Server.

    Online Command
    Use the online command to create pending edits on writable files that do not have pending edits.

    GetCS Command
    Use the GetCS (Get Changeset) command to get the changes in a particular changeset.

    UU Command
    Use the UU (Undo Unchanged) command to undo unchanged files, including adds, edits, and deletes.

    Annotate Command
    Use the annotate command to download all versions of the specified files and show information about when and who changed each line in the file.

    Review Command
    Use the review command to optimize the code review process to avoid checking in or shelving.

    History Command
    Use the history command to display the revision history for one or more files and folders. The /followbranches option returns the history of the file branch’s ancestors.

    Workitem Command
    Use the workitem command to create, update, or view work items.

    Query Command
    Use the query command to run a work item query and display the results. If you do not provide a specific query, all the active work items assigned to you are displayed.

    TreeDiff Command
    Use the treediff command to display a visual representation of the differences between files in two server folders, in a server folder and a local folder, or in two local folders.