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Volume 2 Issue 5

August 2008

TFS Extensibility

Paul Hacker

Ever since the debut of Microsoft Team Foundation Server 2005, there has been a fantastic object model from which ISV's and developers could extend the functionality of TFS. Whether you are creating plug-ins or stand alone applications that make up for some missing functionality, extending TFS is just plain fun to do. At least that is if you are as passionate about the product as I am.
This month we have decide that we are going to look at how the community has extended TFS and VSTS. Hopefully you will find this topic as interesting as I do and may even inspire you to create your own tool or get involved with a Codeplex project.

TFS Times Redesign

Paul Hacker

Since the beginning, TFS Times has been hosted of site on a PHP server using Joomla. I have decided that I am going to bring the site in house and move it to DotNetNuke. There were some personal reasons as to why, but in the end its the best thing to do. That said, we are also going to change the wat we email the newsletter. In the past you had the option to get it in your email as a PDF or as HTML. Going forward we are only going to be sending it as HTML with the option to download the PDFs from the archive.
The second change is the layout of the site. Rather than just keeping the newsletter as the only content, I have decided to put the links to MVP blogs and resources on all pages for easier access.
The last change is the fact that I will now be accepting sponsors. If you are interested in more information on sponsorship, please contact us at sponsors@tfstimes.com . We are only going to offer one level of sponsorship with your logo on all pages.

Inside This Issue
1	TFS Extensibility
1	TFS Redisgn
4-5	TFS Personality Spotlight - Steven Borg
6	Resources
7	Q and A
7	Calendar of Events

TFS on CodePlex

Paul Hacker

You know about Codeplex, right? Well if not, stop here an go to www.codeplex.com. Did you know that Codeplex uses TFS? yes, that right, you can actually access the source code and work on projects via, among ofther things, Team Explorer A GUI source control client that can run stand-alone or integrates with Visual Studio 2005 or 2008.
Want to see the types of TFS projects that are out there, access the site and do a search on "TFS". I was really amazed at the number of projects(141) that are available. Now not all of them are active or even pertain to TFS 2008, but the fact that there are so many(the list is growing) speaks to how popular TFS extensibility is. I would like to encourage anyone interested in the TFS Object Model to check out the projects. It is a great learning tool as well as a great way to get involved and give back to the community.

Templex

Paul Hacker

Templex is a great new addition to Codeplex. What is Templex you ask? Well it is a Process Template library project that was started by two fellow VSTS MVPs, Martin Danner and Joel Semeniuk.

This CodePlex projects serves as a repository for open source Team Foundation Server (TFS) process templates, work item type definitions and report definitions. TFS uses process templates to configure new team projects. Each process template includes the following:

TFS security groups and permissions
Initial set of Areas and Iterations
Work item type definitions
Initial set of work items
Work item querys
MS Project mappings
Version control permissions and settings for check-out and check-in
Project portal document library settings, including an initial set of documents
SQL Reporting Services report definitions

I am keeping my eye on this one. I am always looking for ways to give back to the community and I especially like creating process templates.

Copy Areas and Iterations

Neno Loje

If you look for a way to export and import your area and/or iteration structure the Team Foundation Object Model (TFOM) is your friend.

However it’s only your friend if you know where to look for.

While the export works perfectly using the WorkItemStore, the import is only possible through the ICommonStructureService (and could be used for export as well).

Read the complete post at
http://msmvps.com/blogs/vstsblog/archive/2007/07/07/copy-area-and-interation-structure-using-the-area-import-export-tool.aspx

Dial your load – Load Test Plugin to Limit Users

Paul Hacker

Some time back Bill Barnett wrote a great blog post on how you could go about creating a custom load test plugin for your Team System Load Tests. The post provided two things, it showed users how easy it was to create a custom load test plugin for VSTS and two, it provided the user with a great sample that they could start using right away.

I decided to take his advise and add a user interface to the plug-in so that users could truly “Dail-A-Load”. I presented this topic at a IndyTFS SIG meeting and it was a big hit. If you are interested in checking out the tool you can download it from the IndyTFS website.
http://www.indytfs.org/sig/Downloads/tabid/55/Default.aspx and download the July 2007 Presentation materials.

Scrum Dashboard

Codeplex

Scrum Dashboard is a ASP.NET 2.0 application developed using Visual Studio 2008. Technologies used are ASP.NET 3.5 Ajax, Ajax Toolkit 3.5, WCF web services for callbacks, SQL Server as backend. All Scrum data is stored in Team Foundation Server 2008 using the Scrum for Team System version 2 templates and accessed using the TFS web service API. A supporting database is used to store history for the RSS feed, but the goal is to never store anything critical in this database. For better performance a per-project cache is used which is automatically flushed whenever a change is made to that project in TFS. Scrum Dashboard should be able to connect to any project using the official Scrum for Team System version 2 templates without any modification to TFS. All changes to TFS are made by impersonating the currently logged in user to make sure security and other restrictions defined in TFS applies.

Working on TFS SDK improvements

Brian Harry

We are working on improving the TFS SDK to make it easier for people who want to write extensions. There are many areas for improvement so it's hard to pick a place to start.
We chose, for the first project, a sample VS add-in that demonstrates a pretty wide array of ways in which you can integrate with TFS, inside VS. It includes the sample VS add-in infrastructure, examples of invoking the TFS API, querying selection and receiving events.
This sample is focused on version control and we are working on another one more targeted at work item tracking. It is not intended to be a useful tool in and of itself, but rather a demonstration of how to access each of these extensibility points.
I've included a screen shot below that shows that it's just a dialog with a bunch of buttons that allows you to exercise the various extensibility points.
Accompanying the sample is a pretty thorough document outlining how to use it and what it is doing.

Read the post here

Visual Studio Extensibility Developer Center

Paul Hacker

I have posted in the past the the MSDN Developer Centers are a great resource. So to that I must add that if you are going to be doing any TFS Extensibility you would be wise to look into the Visual Studio Extensibility Developer Center. here you will find all things VSX. Where you are creating neew DSL tools, TFS Add-ins, or VS Packages, you are goinjg to find a wealth of information in this center. i am sure that even the seasoned folks that are creating third prty tools will still find the site useful. Stop by and check it out.

TeamLook and TeamSpec

Paul Hacker

Our friends over at Personify Design have created a couple of very useful tools for TFS. While these are not free, they bear mention because they solve two problems I have with TFS, lack of Word and Outlook integration.

Personify Design TeamLook™ connects Microsoft Outlook with Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server enabling all software project stakeholders to gain accurate visibility into project status.

Personify Design TeamSpec™ connects Microsoft Word with Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server enabling a rich project requirement management experience from Microsoft Word.

I have had the opportunity to demo both tools and I find that each one does fill a niche for me and I find that I am using them more often as I get comfortable with them.

TFS Sidekicks

Paul Hacker

Fellow MVP Eugene Zakhareyev over at Attrice Corporation has put together some tools fondly known as the sidekicks. There are two separate sidekicks available.

Team Foundation Sidekicks
Team Foundation Sidekicks is a suite of tools for Microsoft Team Foundation Server administrators and advanced users providing Graphic User Interface for administrative and advanced version control tasks in multi-user TFS environments.

MSBuild Sidekick
MSBuild Sidekick v2 allows you to view, edit and build Microsoft Visual Studio^© 2005/2008 C# and VB.Net project files, Microsoft Team Build project files, Visual Studio^© 2005/2008 solution files as well as custom MSBuild projects. While providing rich Graphic User Interface and integrated build and extensive logging capabilities, the application requires only .Net 2.0 runtime to operate.

TFS Selector Control

Paul Hacker

I often find that I am working on a utility that requires me to have a TFS selector control. Rather than recreating the same thing over and over, I decided to create the TFS selector control. Very simply, it allows you to select a TFS server that you want to work with. Since you may also want to select a project, it has a boolean property that allows you to set whether or not you want to be able to select projects.

I have made the source and control available on codeplex at http://www.codeplex.com/tfsselector .

Enjoy.

TFS PERSONALITY SPOTLIGHT ON MR STEVEN BORG
Q.	WHAT STARTED YOU ON VSTS?
	A bit prior to the beta release of the first version of Team Foundation Server, I saw a demo at Microsoft for the very first time. They painted a picture of a team tool that wouldn’t force teams to adopt a particular lifecycle, but could be easily adapted to their needs. A few years earlier I’d tried to adopt the Rational toolset for a development project. But the development team just couldn’t change the way they worked just to fit the idiosyncrasies of the tool. Visual Studio Team System was different. Although you could load it with a methodology, it could be adapted to the way the team worked.

Q.	WHAT KEEPS YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT THE PRODUCT?
	Reporting. When I first started with Visual Studio Team System, I knew reports were important, but I didn’t know how important. Team Foundation Server is able to gather data about the development process behind the scenes, without negatively impacting the day to day activities of a team. This data is tracked, stored and aggregated, allowing a team to look back and leverage those metrics for continued process improvement. At Northwest Cadence, we’ve recently hired a TFS and Reporting Services expert, Shad Timm. He’s opened my eyes to the dramatic amounts of actionable information that can be extracted from the TFS warehouse and cube with relative ease (well, at least he makes it look easy…).

Q.	WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST ABOUT THE VSTS/TFS 2008?
	The focus on automated builds. I’ve long been a proponent of automated builds, and believe they have a place in every software development project. TFS2008 finally gave them a more prominent role. They still have to be edited, extended and maintained, but the process for setting up timed and continuous builds is far easier. Having that functionality ship as part of the product has made it easier for me to move our customers toward setting up solid automated builds that include testing, deployment and analysis as well as compilation.

Q.	WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MICROSOFT VSTS MVP?
	Being a VSTS MVP means being family, both a Microsoft family and a community family. I’ve worked alongside many different teams at Microsoft, and none even comes close to the responsiveness, helpfulness and friendliness of the Microsoft employees working on Visual Studio Team System. One the MVP side, I’m privileged to work in community with some of the smartest, most engaging and interesting people in technology. Their passions range from deep technical experience in specific areas of Team Foundation Server to broad understanding of the personal dynamics inside software teams. One on one, they’re great. For instance, I get to interact with Jeff Levinson, another VSTS MVP, nearly every day. His understanding of architecture and application lifecycle management constantly astounds me, and I go away with new knowledge. And as a group, they’re even more amazing! Every time we get together I learn so much and go away with so many new ideas that my mind is racing and I’m motivated to dive even deeper into Team System. Wow! I’m honored to be part of the VSTS MVP family.

Q.	WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLUGIN OR 3RD PARTY APPLICATION?
	Hands down, my favorite plugins come with the Power Tools. Microsoft has done a wonderful job adding needed functionality for Team Foundation Server and releasing those features out-of-band. Kudos to the Microsoft team for such solid dedication to the community and to the product.

Resources

Here is a list of some very valuable resources that will benefit anyone using, or thinking of using Team System or Team Foundation Server.

Frequently Unanswered Questions - Just as it sounds. Questions that usually go unanswered
TeamSystemRocks - All sorts of useful links sorted by date
TeamSystem Developers Center - A great all around developers resource
Third Party Widgets - The most complete list of third party widgets for VSTS and TFS
Visual Studio Team System Blogs – An extensive list of blogs for both Microsoft and the VSTS MVPs
RadioTFS - TFS podcasts featuring MVPs, Martin Woodward, Mickey Gousset and Paul Hacker

VSTS Calendar of Events
Each month we will list upcoming UserGroup meetings and events. If you would like to see yours listed here, please contact us and we will be sure to include it in the next issue.
IndyTFS - 1 Year Anniversary
Place:	The Gene B. Glick Education Center 7435 North Keystone Ave Indianapolis, IN 46240
Dates:	Thursday August 14th 2008
VSTSMN - How Microsoft DevDiv used Team System to Build Visual Studio 2008
Place:	Microsoft 8300 Norman Center Dr., Suite 950 Bloomington, MN 55437
Dates:	Wednesday, August 20th 2008
Dallas VSTS - Managing Software Quality
Place:	6230 N. Beltline Rd. Suite 301 Irving, TX. 75063
Dates:	Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
Chicago VSTS - TBD
Place:	Microsoft Office 3025 Highland Pkwy # 300 Downers Grove, IL 60515
Dates:	TBD
Seattle VSTS- TBD
Place:	Microsoft Campus in Redmond - Building 118 - Mt. Sai. Room
Dates:	TBD