Team System Rocks!

Well, I've Done It...

2005-06-13T21:48:00.000-05:00

I'm moving my blog. Go check out http://www.teamsystemrocks.com. The direct link to my new blog is http://teamsystemrocks.com/blogs/mickey_gousset/default.aspx. You need to keep the default.aspx appended to the end of the link for the time being, as I don't have everything configured quite right yet.

My blog, and the site, are currently a work in progress. For example, currently comments are not working on my blog. I hope to fix that soon. Give me a week or so to finish configuring the site, and establish the look and feel I want. You won't be disappointed.

Anyway, myself and few other people have a plan to turn www.teamsystemrocks.com into "THE" community site for Team System. And that starts with you, the community, letting me know what you want from the site. So don't be shy about giving me some feedback, positive or negative.

I hope to see you all at the new Team System Rocks! site!

Monday At Tech Ed: Here I Go

2005-06-06T04:57:00.000-05:00

I'm excited. Today starts the first real day of Tech Ed, with Steve Ballmer's keynote address. Then I'm going to hit the Cabanas for a couple of hours, to see how I can help. Look for me: I'll be one of the only guys (other than Dave)not wearing an event staff shirt, but trying to act like you should come talk to me.

I think they may even be giving out books or something, and everyone needs more technical books!

My week will be made if someone comes up to me and mentions they read my blog. Please do!

Sunday At Tech Ed

2005-06-06T04:42:00.000-05:00

Wow, people do read my blog! Shortly after I posted my previous post, I recieved an email from Ajay Sudan, letting me know about a meeting at 7 pm on Sunday for staff (basically orientation). Thanks, Rob Caron, for looking out for us!

I checked out the Book Signing. It was interesting, and I met a couple of authors, and bought a couple of books, of course.

Went to the orientation meeting, where I met up with Dave Bost, another guy like me who was invited to help out with VSTS. Orientation was your classic "don't be stupid", and they did have a good motivational speaker, who handed out a couple of tips on how to handle customers.

Afterwards, Dave and I went up to the gentlemen, whose name escapes me, but who basically planned the whole Tech Ed event, to ask about getting Event Staff shirts, since we would be working the cabanas. He was a very nice guy, and answered all my questions for me. He said that they only had enough of thoughs for the registered event staff, and unfortunately we were registered as Attendees. Kind of a bummer (you know how us tech guys like our shirts), but no big deal though. They are going to have buttons and such for volunteers like us to wear, so people will know they can come up and talk to us.

After orientation, I went to dinner with Dave and Marc (who, forgive me, I don't have his last name), and the Universal Studio's Walk. The place was packed. We ended up eating at Margaritaville. We had some great conversation and some good food too! My thanks goes to Dave Bost for taking the initiative and setting that up.

Just remember to watch out for the muscle shirts, especially the red ones! (Come ask me if you want to know more! ;) )

Monday starts the first real day of Tech Ed. Keep your fingers crossed.

TechEd - Check In and Ready To Go

2005-06-05T13:01:00.000-05:00

Check in was a breeze! Mostly because I was a geek, and got there 2 hours early, so I was one of the first people in line. By the time they opened the doors, there were probably 600+ people in line. Basically, they scan in the card they send you in the mail, and that's all there is to it.

For people who are TechEd Alumni, you got a special credentials holder and a baseball cap, both of which say Tech Ed Alumni. Nifty little extra for the repeat customers.

They gave out a briefcase kind of bag this year as opposed to a backpack, which I definitly like more. Its a very nice bag, and they loaded it down with some cool stuff, including the latest Beta2 of VSTS.

I'm going to hit the Cabana tomorrow when it first starts, to see when they want me to help out. I figure I'm going to need one of these Event Staff shirts that I see people who are working the conference wearing, so hopefully someone at the cabana can hook me up. I never did recieved any specific materials to look at, so keep your fingers crossed that I don't say anything too stupid. Look for me. I'll be the guy with the Attendee badge, trying to act like he knows what he is doing!

All Dressed Up And No Where To Go

2005-06-05T05:38:00.000-05:00

Well, its 6:30 am, I'm dressed and ready, but I have no where to be until 10. Yikes!

I'm wondering if there is supposed to be a certain dress code or anything for the people (like me) who will be working the Cabanas part time. I never recieved any kind of "You need to go to this training meeting" or anything, so I guess I'll just show up Monday and see what they need me to do. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I'm looking forward to getting to help out at the Cabanas, and getting to meet some of the people I have been talking to via email, as well as helping to spread the vision of VSTS to the masses!

I'm going to be blogging about Tech Ed this week, so forgive me if some of the posts are un-VSTS related. I'll get back to that full-time next week.

Party With Palermo A Success...

2005-06-04T20:22:00.000-05:00

I just got back from the Party With Palermo 2005, and I would have to say it was a huge success. We had about 15 people meet up to talk in the Lobby, and about 30-35 ending up eating at the diner. I met some really cool people, who I hope to catch up with again later this week. (I'd like to give a shout out to both Laura Hunter and Jean-Luc David.)

Thanks to Jeffrey Palermo for organizing the whole event. He should have pictures up on his blog soon. I say we set a goal for doubling the attendance next year!

I'm settled into my room at the Best Western, and its nice. Plus it has Wi-Fi access, which is a plus. Tomorrow brings Tech Ed Registration, some pre-conference stuff in the afternoon, and a Meet The Authors that evening. I'll probably use some time tomorrow to get my bearings at the convention center as well.

Tech Ed Bound...

2005-06-02T22:52:00.000-05:00

Well, I am headed off for Tech Ed. I'll see what I can do about sending some updates, to let ya'll know what's happening out that way.

One cool thing I'll be doing is helping out at the VSTS Cabana. I'm not sure what times yet I'll be there, but feel free to stop by and say hi. We'll be doing demos, and talking about VSTS until you just can't stand it any more.

I'd love for someone to come up and tell me that they read my blog from time to time. That would make my week!

Hope to see you there!

Setting Permissions in Team Foundation (Beta 2)

2005-05-31T19:31:00.001-05:00

Visual Studio Team System User Education Blog - Setting Permissions in Team Foundation (Beta 2)

Susan has posted a GREAT whitepaper, describing what permissions user need to be able to do things in Team Foundation, including what groups they need to be in, and step by step instructions on how to add them to those groups.

This is some great documentation, in my opinion, and is exactly what I was looking for a couple of weeks ago, when I was trying to research this very thing. Please give us more stuff like this!

I can't seem to get it to print, but I think that is more something on my end.

Class Designer Overview

2005-05-31T19:31:00.000-05:00

Thom Robbins - Introducing The Class Designer

Thom has created a short, but very nice and informative, video demonstration of Class Designer. For those people who have been under a rock for the past year, Class Designer allows you a visual representation of your class objects, and allows you to make changes to methods and properties in the designer window, with the changes being automatically reflected in the code. Cool stuff.

Thom covers all the basics, including creating a new class using the designer, adding and modifying methods and properties, adding existing classes to a class designer window, and showing how changes made in Class Designer reflect in the code. And he does it all in about 5 minutes, without overwhelming you with information.

Like I said, check it out.

Party on Saturday Night At Tech Ed 2005...

2005-05-29T21:29:00.000-05:00

Party With Palermo

If you are going to be in Orlando on Saturday evening, come join the fun. I think it would be great if we could get a couple of hundred people there personally. Hit the site and join in!

Dr. International

2005-05-27T20:02:00.000-05:00

Dr. International has a blog going now. Check it out.

Now, who can give me any hints as to the team that actually makes up "Dr. International"? (Read his latest post if you're curious why I want this information. Just a hint to point me in the right direction, that's all I ask! I'm not ashamed to try and use my blog to get it! LOL)

;)

Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework May Break Apps

2005-05-25T17:27:00.000-05:00

eWeek - Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0 Breaks Apps

Well, we always knew it was a possibility. In reading through the article, its not every app or anything. Its worth reading up on though.

Attended Memphis .NET User Group Meeting…

2005-05-20T17:54:00.000-05:00

I attended the Memphis .NET User Group Meeting this past Tuesday night. Memphis is about an hour away from where I am in Tupelo, but it is 4-laned all the way, so the drive is not that bad. Jon Box was presenting an overview of Team System. Jerry Dixon was also there helping to run the meeting.

This is the first time I have attended a user group meeting, and I enjoyed myself. There were about 20 people there. Light snacks and drinks were provided. Jon gave a great overview talk on Team System, and some very interesting questions were asked on things I had not thought of. Jon did a good job of covering, at a high level, pretty much everything covered by Team System. It was really kind of eye-opening, when you see it like that, to realize exactly HOW MUCH STUFF is in this product.

I'm looking forward to attending more meetings, and trying to get more involved with the user group as time goes on. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. My thanks goes out to Jon for a great presentation, and to Jerry and Quilogy for hosting the meeting for us.

MSF Agile

2005-05-18T23:32:00.000-05:00

MSF Agile is one of the software development processes that ships with Visual Studio Team System. It incorporates an agile software development process into some of Microsoft's proven practices for building software.

Randy Miller has a good post about using the MSF Agile Process: Agile Software Development for Projects Large and Small. He talks about how even large projects are usually broken up into teams of teams, and how this process can be used for very small projects are extremely large ones.

I've been a little hesitant about diving into this process, because there are several different roles, and I wasn't sure how to divide some things up, especially with some projects that I work on, the only person being the team is me. Then I read this, and something kinda clicked:

MSF for Agile Software Development contains six roles, the business analyst, project manager, architect, developer, tester, and release manager. To play any of these roles, you must simply possess the necessary skills. Your job title may be different. You may also play multiple roles. In other words, the MSF Team Model allows a lot of flexibility in the way that you organize your team.

Basically, you can cover multiple roles if you want/need to. Or, on a more fundamental level, make the process work for you, not you for the process. I realize this is probably REALLY evident to a majority of people out there, but for myself, who sometimes has tunnel vision, it was, for lack of a better term, a light bulb going off.

The MSF Agile process may still be a bit overkill for a really small team (aka 1 person), but I'm interested enough now to delve into it some, to see how I can modify it to make it work for me, instead of me working for it.

"Hawaii" is announced...

2005-05-18T23:31:00.000-05:00

eWeek - 'Hawaii': A Visual Studio Paradise for Developers?

I haven't even gotten my head around VSTS yet. Still, its nice to know what they have coming down the pipe, even if it is a minimum of 5 years out.

When can we expect the first CTP? ;)

VSTS Pricing...

2005-05-14T11:00:00.000-05:00

Rick LaPlante - Listening To Customers

Rick gives an update to how pricing will work for VSTS. He talks about how they listened to the customer feedback.

One good thing that has come out of this, is a 5-user license of Team Foundation with each role edition of VSTS. That is good news for small development shops.

Read on down into the comments of the post. Rick give a pretty good answer to how pricing will work, using retail pricing as an example. Volume licensing pricing will be different, obviously, but in general should be less.

Visual Source Safe vs Team Foundation...

2005-05-14T10:54:00.000-05:00

Somasegar - Source Control in VS2005

I think most people understand the difference, but here is a quick and easy blog post which explains it.

PDC 2005 Site is up...

2005-05-14T10:47:00.000-05:00

Check It Out!

Unfortunantly, it does not look like I will be able to go at this time, but you never know. Right now I am gearing up for Tech Ed 2005 (Thanks Ajay!). I'll be helping out at the Cabana and some other things, so look me up!

Profiling...

2005-05-14T10:41:00.000-05:00

David Gray - Off Road Profiling of ASP.NET Applications

This is a good post if you want to get your hands dirty with profiling. David overviews the basics of how the "click and go" profiling works, and then shows you how you can dig into the profiling to make it really work for you.

One good tip is that usually, the recommendation is to use sampling profiling initially, and then follow up with instrumentation profiling. However, with ASP.NET apps, the framework can get in the way of the sampling. As such, he recommends starting with instrumentation profiling, and the following up with sampling profiling.

check out the Profiler Team Blog for more detailing information on the different types of sampling, as well as the profiler in general.

A Great Permissions Explanation...

2005-05-12T18:04:00.000-05:00

I messed around with the permissions in Beta1, and have started to in Beta2, to try and understand what permissions and groups you needed to be in, to be able to do different things with Team Foundation. Specifically, what kind of rights do you need to be able to create a team project. Needless to say, it was mostly a hit and miss affair, and I haven't put a whole lot of work into it.

Well, Mike Attili has, and he has put together a great post Simplify Authorization for Team Project Creation. He explains what types of authorizations make up the current Beta2. As well, he gives you a step-by-step guide to setting up a group in your AD, so that members of that group can create projects in Team Foundation. This is an especially cool thing to do, since ADAM will not be in the final release of VSTS.

(Thanks to Buck Hodges for the link to this post by Mike)

Free VSTS Beta 2 Event

2005-05-09T11:34:00.000-05:00

Anand Iyer is helping to host an all-day free VS2005 Team System Beta2 event, in San Jose, California on 6/2/2005.

I have attended several of Anand's webcasts, and he is a GREAT presenter. If you live in the area, it will definitely be worth you time to attend. I wish I could be there.

NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

2005-05-03T12:19:00.000-05:00

So, I've got my Data Tier and Application Tier all installed and ready to go. I install all the prerequisites on the Client Tier. Everything is going great.

I pop in the DVD I created of VS2005 Team Suite Beta 2, and begin the install. 30 minutes into the install, the DVD starts throwing errors. But never fear. Anticipating that Murphy might show up, I start again with the backup DVD. The install begins to run again.

Someone obviously doesn't like me. When I check the install after a little bit, it is failing in a different spot. Again, a problem with the DVD. And I have already deleted the downloaded ISO file. That'll teach me.

So I'm back to square one, downloading Beta 2. Only 18 hours to go!

(Feel My Pain!)

;)

Overview of MSBuild

2005-05-03T12:11:00.000-05:00

Mitch Denny - The Road To MSBuild

Mitch gives a good overview of what MSBuild is:

MSBuild, like NAnt is an application of XML and has .NET extensibility points, but despite the crys of “ripoff” the MSBuild team has done something interesting here – instead of making just another XML scripting language, they’ve built a transform engine – they’ve gone back to their “makefile” roots (take that you proceduralists!).

This is a great read if you don't know anything about MSBuild. It certainly brought me up to speed pretty quick.

Creative Use For One Note

2005-05-03T11:59:00.000-05:00

Rob Rohr - Ask and ye shall recieve

Thanks to Julia Lerman for this link.

This makes me want a Tablet PC even more. I remember trying to keep my schedule at Tech Ed up to date last year, using my Pocket PC, and that was kind of a pain. By the middle of the week I had given up. Rob sounds like he is really onto something, using the API and the Tech Ed RSS feed. I'm anxious to see how it works out.

Anyone got a spare Tablet PC I can borrow? I'll give it back, I promise!

A Big Thank You To Rob Caron...

2005-05-02T17:27:00.001-05:00

This is a big THANK YOU to Rob Caron. The installation documentation worked perfectly for me. Great Job! We really appreciate all the hard work you put into this.

Code Coverage Walk Through...

2005-05-02T17:27:00.000-05:00

Ian - Hello Coder Coverage! - Part 1

Very good post, complete with plenty of screen shots. I've bookmarked it to try it out once I finish my Beta2 install (which I am still working on!)

Problems with SQL Server 2005 April CTP Install...

2005-04-28T11:53:00.000-05:00

Just curious if anyone who reads this blog has had any problems with this install. Every time it gets to the integration services part of the install, it craps out, saying it can't read a file or can't write a file. Its a different file every time. Initially I thought it was a problem with the DVD I had made, but I made a second one and the same thing happens.

Sorry, I don't have the exact error message in front of me, or I would post it.

I'll probably try to re-download it tonight and see what happens tomorrow.

Misc VSTS Stuff for 04/25/2005

2005-04-26T01:31:00.000-05:00

I think I finally have everything downloaded, so I'm about to attempt the install process. Keep your fingers crossed. In the meantime, I've been trying to get caught up on my blog reading (I took about a week off). Here are some things you have probably already seen, but I found interesting (Sorry if you've seen most of this already):

Having problems with the Beta install?
This will give you a smile.

Last Developer Standing - While not exactly VSTS related, this looks like something fun, at any rate. I'm already signed up, so sign up as well, and let's go head to head!

Team Foundation Blog - Overview of Checkin Policy
Jiange does a good job of explaining what the Checkin policy is, how it works, and how you can make it work for you. He also provides a step-by-step use case example, which are the kind of thing I find really helpful and intuitive.

A Unit Testing Walkthrough with Visual Studio Team Test
I've just briefly skimmed this, but it looks good. I'm anxious to give the examples a whirl once I get Beta2 installed.

Adam Singer - Rounding the Baselines
Adam addresses the topic of baselines, and how they relate to what we have in VSTS. While VSTS does not have "baselines" per say, it does have the equivalent, by using branching.

Buck Hodges - Data Tier Load with Team Foundation Beta
I haven't installed the data tier yet for Beta 2, but if you are running into issues where it seems the CPU is going crazy, Buck has your cure. I've already printed this out and included it with my install instructions, so I can go ahead and make this change.

Mike Attili - Problems with SQL Server Reporting Services Permissions
More fixes to do, once I actually get around to getting the Beta installed. Thanks to Buck for pointing out this post.

Dev Notes - Useful Beta 2 Links
This is a collection of links that will be useful to anyone (aka ME) trying to install the Beta2 software of VSTS.

Somasegar - Why did we not deliver VS2005 Beta2 end of March?
This post gives you a little insight into why the Beta was delayed about three weeks. Personally, I don't think it was that big a deal that it was delayed. I do think it is cool that they got signoff from their TAP partners before it was released. This, of course, begs the question: What do you have to do to become a TAP partner? I'd love early access to the next version of VSTS!

John Lawrence - Beta2 Extensibility Kit
John gives a brief overview of what all this extensibility kit does for you. It sounds cool. Just one more thing to put on my list!

And last but not least, for those who do not have access to MSDN download, you can order a copy of Beta2 here: Get The Betas!

I'm Going To Tech Ed!!!!

2005-04-26T01:30:00.000-05:00

Woo Hoo! Tech Ed 2005, here I come!

(Sorry, I had to let out my barbaric yawp!)

Check out Tech Ed Bloggers for a list of people who will be blogging about Tech Ed. I've added myself to this group, so it looks like Ill have to try and be diligent about posting while I am there. (well, I should probably post at least one time, at any rate. If nothing else, I'll give you some detailed insight into the snack situation.)

78% Done...

2005-04-20T07:26:00.000-05:00

with the download, after 24 Hours! Keep your fingers crossed that the network at work is fast today!

I'm STILL downloading Beta 2...

2005-04-19T19:50:00.000-05:00

Looks like it won't be finished till tomorrow sometime...yikes!

More posts later tonight!

P.S. I'm going to Tech Ed! Woo Hoo!

My Thoughts On Today's Team Test Webcast

2005-04-08T07:19:00.000-05:00

Today's Team Test webcast was also presented by Anand Iyer, who did just as good a job today as he did a couple of days ago with the Team Designer webcast. The webcast should be available soon at http://www.microsoft.com/webcasts.

A little background: Testing extends over both Team Developer and Team Test editions. Unit Testing and Code Coverage cover both editions, while Load Testing, Manual Testing, and Test Case Management are restricted to Team Test only.

Overall, I enjoyed this webcast. I only have two complaints about it, which I'll go ahead and get out of the way. First, we ran out of time and did not get to cover everything, and some of it was a little rushed because of that. Because of the depth of this topic, I would have allocated at least 90 minutes to this webcast, if not two hours. Second, Anand's Team Foundation piece was not working, so we were not able to see anything concerning that side of it, except for some slides. And I know that piece is something a lot of people are interested in. I wish they would go ahead and line up some more testing webcasts, to delve into this in more detail.

Anand covers in pretty good detail Unit Tests, Web Tests, and Load Tests (at least as much as you reasonably can within an hour). We briefly touched on Manual Tests. He showed us how to execute tests using the IDE, and how to interpret the results. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could cover running tests from the command line, or using MS Build, both of which are things I was interested in.

As an aside, when Anand was adding a text box to his Window's Form, there was a cool blue line that showed you the edges of the other text boxes, allowing you to easily line everything up. Very nice touch to the IDE.

I think one of the coolest parts of the demo was the Web Tests, and how it will record and playback everything you do in the browser. I've never had that kind of functionality before, and while watching the demo was already planning on how I could use that in my current environment. The Load Testing was very nice as well, as it was very configurable.

I enjoyed the webcast, and if you did not get a chance to watch it, you really should. Anand is a great presenter, and the material is very interesting as well.

Misc VSTS Stuff for 04/08/2005

2005-04-08T07:17:00.000-05:00

Sean McBreen - VS2005 Product Line-up

This is a good post that sums up the new pricing in general (no actual money numbers were mentioned), in case you haven't had enough of those yet. He does have some nice graphics, some of which you have probably seen in some of the Team System Webcasts. Specifically, I like this one and this one.

Dave McKinstry - First Thoughts On Customizing Process In VSTS

Dave provides a brief summary of how to get started customizing your own process. I for one did not realize that the Extensibility Kit provided extra information that helps with this. I was just going to try and plug away at the exported XML files until something worked. I'll have to go download it and check that out. Good Post, check it out.

Tom Krueger - ASP.NET 2.0 Beta Quickstart Tutorials

Tom provides a brief overview of the new ASP.NET 2.0 Quickstart Tutorials. I took a quick spin through the site, and I really liked it. Make sure to select what language you want your sample code to be in (VB or C#), by selecting from the DDLB in the upper right-hand corner. I was initially frustrated when it appeared everything was in VB, until I found that DDLB. I'm going to check this site out later. If nothing else, it will help me in getting some sample code to use with my VSTS testing.

Grayson Myers - Editing Type Members Using the Class Details Window

This was posted to the Class Designer Blog. It a very good post, especially if you don't know too much about Class Designer, and how you can actually build and modify your classes without having to go to the source code. One thing I did not know, which I thought was cool, was the fact that the Class Details Window has Intellisense! Very Cool!

Chris Rathjen - FAQ: Is shelving just a fancy word for branching?

I think this post does a good job of explaining shelving. I'll be the first to admit that I have not had that much experience with source control, and am looking forward to diving into it more with VSTS. These quotes helped shelving kinda make sense:

So, while version information is stored in the shelveset, the usage of shelvesets doesn’t really turn shelving into a poor-man's shared file system (if that was the goal, we've done a lousy job in designing to the requirement). It's a way to move specific *work in progress* out of the way, or to another user (and maybe back), and so on

You use shelvesets for sharing to facilitate an action (a checkin) that needs multiple actors (a code reviewer, a buddy builder, a QA signatory, or the other half of a client/server feature change or bugfix, to name some common REAL examples). I've seen, or been a party to, each of these usage scenarios in our dogfooding deployment.

Chris said he would post some real-world examples if we wanted him to, so hit the comments section of his post and ask for it.

Part 3 of John Stallo Class Designer Interview

(Thanks to R.Ramesh for the link!)
A great video to wrap up their series on Class Designer. John comes across very personable and keeps you interested in what he is talking about. He makes mention that extensibility of the Class Designer is not available in this first version, but they are looking into it for the future. I also like the idea of Filtering that he mentions, as well as Pattern Support. These are things that have been recommended for possible future versions. I think its cool that the Class Designer team make a concerted effort to add a new blog article every week to their blog.

OK, I Need Some Help...

2005-04-06T23:16:00.000-05:00

Ok, I need some help from the three people (ok, maybe there are more than three, but you never know. Rob might just be hitting refresh over and over again to mess with my stats. But I digress...) who read my blog. Here is the crux of the matter:

What kind of Frickin' permissions do you have to have to be able to add a website into source control?

Short Version:

Created a Team Project using my user who is in the Namespace Administrator group. Created myself a new domain user, and set that user into the Project Administrator group for the Team Project I just created. When I try to open the source control viewer, I get this error message:

"Access Denied: User VSTS\Developer1 needs the UseSystem global permission(s)"

But with my TFSSetup user, who is in the Global\Namespace Administrator group, everything works fine. And I can't find this UseSystem global permission anywhere. Any ideas?

LONG VERSION:

Everything I have been doing so far in Team System, I have been logged in as the TFSSetup user. This user has administrative rights on all the VPCs, and is set up in the Global\Namespace Administrators group in Team Foundation. I'll blog later on the different default groups and such. Basically, the Namespace Administrators group can do pretty much everything.

I created myself a new domain user, called Developer1. I gave him Power User rights on the VPC which runs VS2005, but no specific rights on any of the other servers.

While logged in as TFSSetup, I created myself a new Team Project, called StarWars1 (warning, be prepared for very goofy names in future blog posts.) I opened Team Explorer, went to the project settings for StarWars1, and added Developer1 to the StarWars1\Contributor role. I then logged out and logged back in as Developer1.

I opened VS2005, and opened Team Explorer. It opens with no projects displayed, as expected. I right-click and select Add Team Project, select StarWars1, and click OK. The StarWars1 project is added into Team Explorer. I then select File->New->Website, and select ASP.NET Web Site, to create a new web site. I left the Location set to File System, "My Documents\Visual Studio\WebSites\deathstar". I selected C# as my language, clicked OK, and it created my ASP.NET web site. Everything is looking good.

In the Solution Explorer window, I right-clicked on the deathstar project, and selected "Add Solution To Source Control". Nothing happened. No window popped up, no error message, nothing. So I tried to open the Source Control Explorer window. I recieved the following error message:

"Access Denied: User VSTS\Developer1 needs the UseSystem global permission(s)"

Ok, so my Developer1 user doesn't have the ability to add the project into source control, especially since he can't even open the Source Control Explorer. I log out and log back in as TFSSetup. I move Developer1 from the StarWars1\Contributor role to the StarWars1\Project Administrators role. I log out and log back in as Developer1. I open VS2005, and try to open the Source Control Explorer window. Same error.

So I log out and log back in as TFSSetup. I open the deathstar web site that I created earlier. I right-click on the project and select "Add Solution To Source Control". It asked me to save the solution file, which I did. It then opened the "Add Solution To Hatteras" dialog.

I selected "vsts-tf" (my application tier server), as the server from the DDLB. I left the workspace as its default, "VSTS-VS2005". I selected StarWars1, which highlighted it. I kept the default folder as "deathstar". When I selected StarWars1, it changed the "Solution will be added to:" to be "$/StarWars1/deathstar". I clicked the Next button. The "Add Solution to Hatteras" dialog appears:

I took the defaults and clicked "Finish".

And apparently it seemed to work. Which shows that you at least need some of the rights that a Namespace Administrator has, in order to add a project to the source control.

Here is what my IDE now looks like at this point:

Notice the "+" beside Default.aspx. This indicates a newly added file. If you look at the Pending Checkin window at the bottom of the screen, you see all the files waiting to be checked in. I clicked the Check In button to check them in.

Notice the little blue lock beside Default.aspx, showing it is checked in. Notice there are no files in the Pending Checkin window now.

At this point, I logged out and logged back in as Developer1. If I just try and open the project directly from File->Open->Website, and navigate to the directory, the website opens, but it does not open in source control.

If I select File->Source Control->Open From Source Control, nothing happens. No windows open, nothing. I then tried to open the Source Control Explorer, and received the same UseSystem global permissions error.

I logged out and logged back in as TFSSetup. I went to the permissions for the StarWars1 project, and set the Contributor group to have "Allow" on all permissions listed. I removed Developer1 from the Project Administrator group and added them back to the Contributor group. I logged out and logged back in as Developer1, and received the same error when I tried to open the Source Control Explorer window.

So, I am back to my original question:

What kind of Frickin' permissions do you have to have to be able to add a website into source control? Or at least be able to access the Source Control Explorer window?

Anyone have any ideas?

Comments On Today's VSTS Webcasts

2005-04-05T22:46:00.000-05:00

I attended both the Team Architect Webcast and the Process Guidance webcast. I was late for the Process Guidance one, because the Team Architect one ran over, which I was expecting. I would ask whomever is scheduling the webcasts to please not put related items in a series completely back to back like that, if at all possible.

The Team Architect webcast was presented by Geoff Snowman. He covered the three designers specific to Team Architect( Application Designer, Logical DataCenter Designer, and Deployment Designer). He also discussed Class Designer, which crosses over into Team Developer as well. This was a good webcast, and gave me a much better grounding on what Team Architect was about, and what it was trying to accomplish. Basically, he said that Team Architect was not designed to be a complete UML modeling tool, and should not be approached that way. It was designed to help people make sure their applications will run in their environment, and to provide an easy way to help understand, design, write, and refactor code. And he mentioned Rob's blog!

Geoff also made an analogy relating the VSTS editions and Team Foundation Server to Outlook and Exchange. Basically, you can use Outlook without Exchange, and you can Exchange without Outlook, but you get a real synergy when you use Outlook and Exchange together. By the same token, you can use VSTS without Team Foundation (and I suspect you might even be able to use Team Foundation without VSTS, if the APIs are there, but I don't know), but you get incredible synergy when you use VSTS and Team Foundation together.

The Process Guidance webcast was presented by Bindia Hallauer. She covered the process models which ship with VSTS (MSF Agile and MSF CMMI), and discussed exactly what a process model was. She mentioned there was a whole series of books in the queue for Team System and MSF Agile. She also showed how you can export a process model, make changes to it to customize it to your needs, and then import it back in. I found this webcast informative as well, but the audio quality was much poorer than in previous webcasts.

Both webcasts can be viewed at http://msdn.microsoft.com/webcasts. If you did not get the chance to participate in them, you should go check them out. Each of them lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes.

My Thoughts On The Intro To VSTS Webcast

2005-04-04T23:07:00.000-05:00

I attended the Introduction to Visual Studio Team System webcast today. It was presented by Anand Iyer, who I felt did an excellent job with the material. He managed to keep the audience, or at least me, interested and engaged with the material.

Basically, he told us what Team System was, and then spent a majority of the webcast doing a demonstration, which I think was a perfect way to introduce the product. He covered Logical Datacenter Diagrams, Application Connection Designer, how to use ACD to stub out your code, Class Designer. He talked about Test Driven Development, and ran through an example of it, and how VSTS helps facilitate TDD.

Overall, it was one of the better webcasts I have been involved in, and it makes me look forward to the rest of the webcasts in this series. He also made mention that Beta2 should be out in a couple of weeks. I am ready!

The webcast should be available at http://www.microsoft.com/webcasts. Please check it out, and make sure to send Anand some feedback!

Class Designer Overview...

2005-04-03T11:08:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to watching the Class Designer interview with Josh Stallo over at Channel 9. If you have not watched this yet, you really need to. It provides a great overview of Class Designer, as well as introducing its use in a couple of ways I had not thought of.

Specifically, I love how you can open up a system class (in his example, he uses System.IO) in Class Designer, and quickly and easily see its associations with all the other classes. Very Cool!

I'm Almost Scared To Post Anything..

2005-03-27T20:50:00.000-06:00

Concerning the new Visual Studio Team System pricing, as well as the changes to MSDN Universal subscriptions. There are so many people that feel passionately about both sides that blog servers around the world are starting to crumble under the weight of the comments. (Well, maybe not really crumble, but you get the general metaphor idea).

However, since I am writing this post, you have probably guessed that I am going to make some comments. I'm also going to try and provide you with some links to other blogs which I feel you might find interesting, and I may even insert my opinion a time or two. I've spent several hours trying to read every blog and comment I could find, and I finally gave up, as there was too much information.

First off, a couple of links that will explain the current pricing scheme. I'm not going to try and list it all here, because it's not exactly cut and dry. The following blogs contain what I consider the best overall picture of the new pricing scheme

Rick LaPlante - VSTS Licensing

It is in essence the “most” you would pay for the products on the Open License plan. Also remember that there are more volume license plans available and if you are purchasing in greater volumes, the price comes down substantially.

Rick provides a nice, concise chart of the pricing schemes. I did find it a little confusing though. A quick look at this chart tells you two things: paying retail price is INSANE, and it is much better to upgrade.

Mike Gunderloy - VS2005 Pricing and Licensing
This is the best breakdown of the pricing I have seen yet. It is very thorough and detailed, and should answer any questions you have concerning the pricing.

Ok, at this point, I'm going to assume you have read the above two blogs, and have a general understanding of the pricing situation. I'm mostly going to focus on MSDN Universal subscribers, because that is what I am. Basically, you can upgrade to any of the 3 role-based products (Architect, Developer, Tester) for free, and then renew every year for $2299, which is about what you were probably paying anyway. The blogs above make mention that you can upgrade to VS Team Suite from MSDN Universal. According to a comment I read made by Prashant Sridharan, that special upgrade price would be approximately $2299. And then your yearly renewal would be $4598. Basically, they are doing a "Get 3 For The Price Of 2" option.

If you didn't grasp it, MSDN subscriptions are changing as well. Microsoft is trying to promote MSDN subscriptions as part of buying VS2005 or VSTS. There are now two MSDN levels: Professional and Premium. VS2005 can be bought with either, but VSTS can only be purchased with the Premium level MSDN.

Is your head hurting yet?

Something that has a lot of people outraged is that the Team Foundation Server is NOT included in any of the above pricing or with the MSDN subscription. The Team Foundation Server, and associated CALs (Client Access License) must be purchased seperate. Pricing of the server is approximately $2799, with $500 per CAL sold in packs of five. However, the MSDN packages do include one CAL. I did see a comment where there will be an 180 day trial of both Team Suite and Team Foundation Server.

OK, my opinions, for what it is worth.

Personally, Microsoft did what I was expecting, which was change their model. Someone had mentioned to me at Tech Ed last year they might go this direction, so I was not caught off guard. As far as cost, it was also what I was expecting. I’ll admit, I was hoping to be able to upgrade to the Team Suite for about 1K less, but in the grand scheme of things I don’t think it is that big a deal. But Microsoft, as a company, is entitled to change their model if they want to. I don’t think the fallout is going to be near as catastrophic as some people think.

I personally have no problem with Team Foundation server being a separate product. I understand some of the argument of some MSDN Universal subscribers, that they expect it to be included, but again, MSDN Universal does not exist any more. Now there is MSDN Premium, and in actuality you are now buying a development tool and getting the MSDN subscription, as opposed to buying the subscription and getting the development tool.

So, the price-point and all were pretty much where I expected them. I figured the price would go up. So I'm not that up in arms about it, at least not yet. If I'm not able to convince management to shell out the extra money not covered in the budget, then I'll be a little unhappy. Which leads me into...

I do think, however, that maybe there should have been a better way of communicating this out. I don’t have an answer for what that better way is, but the way it was presented has apparently shocked the mess out of people. And that is where all the negative feedback is coming from. Unfortunately, I can’t think of a good way to damage control that. I think the biggest thing is that some people had already planned their budgets for this year, based on money from previous years, and assuming they would be able to get the latest product. I know I am in this boat. I’m going to have to convince management to pull some extra money from somewhere in order to get the level of VSTS I want, because we based renewal money on what we have been paying, and did not anticipate the increase. I’ll bet you if people had been given an idea of what to expect last October/November, when they were still working on budgets, the outcry would not be near as bad.

If nothing else, all the interest in the pricing has turned me on to some new blogs to start reading. Here are some links to some other blogs which contain some good insight and interesting comments:

Alex Lowe - Team System: wading through the blogosphere comments....

Eric Sink - Comments on the pricing of Team System

Chris Menegay - Team System Pricing

Dave Bost - Adding My $.02 to the Team System Pricing Debate

Jeff's Junk - re: Microsoft to developers: Here are the toys, now let the grown-ups play

Developer - VS 2005 Pricing and Licensing (sucks)

Eric Bowen - Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server NOT included in MSDN subscription!

Eric Bowen - Microsoft responds (and still doesn't get it)

Eric Bowen - Scoring the Visual Studio 2005 pricing and packaging debate: Everybody's a little bit right.

Like I said, I quit reading after a while, because I was getting overloaded. If you've got a blog you'd like me to check out and possibly link up to, email me the link or add it to the comments of this blog. Also, if I have quoted some of the pricing or information incorrectly (like I said, my eyes were starting to glaze over), please let me know and I'll research it more.

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!

Creating an ASP.NET 2.0 Project, sorry, I mean Web Site, in VSTS

2005-03-20T23:05:00.000-06:00

I'm kind of jumping around in Visual Studio Team System (VSTS), looking at things as they strike my fancy. In this post, I'm going to go through my process of creating an ASP.NET 2.0 Web Site in VSTS. (Note that it is not called a "project" anymore. I'll see if I can find out why at some point).

I opened Visual Studio 2005 (VS2005), and selected File->New->Web Site. This opens the "New Web Site" dialog box:

Figure 1 - New Web Site Dialog Box

VS2005 comes with five pre-installed templates for me to use for creating new web sites:

ASP.NET Web Site - A blank ASP.NET web site

Empty Web Site - An empty web site

ASP.NET Web Service - A web site for creating XML web services

ASP.NET Crystal Reports Web Site - An ASP.NET web site with a sample crystal report

Personal Web Site Starter Kit - Starter kit for creating a personal web site

There is a Language Drop Down List Box (DDLB), for selecting my development language. Currently, there are three options: Visual Basic, Visual C#, and Visual J# (does anyone actually use J#? Just curious)

There is a Location DDLB with the options: File System, HTTP, FTP. It defaults to File System->My Documents\Visual Studio\Websites\website1. You can click the Browse button, which opens the Choose Location dialog box:

Figure 2 - Choose Location Dialog Box

This dialog also gives you options, such as opening an existing website, or creating a new FrontPage website, among others.

I'm just going to build an ASP.NET web site, so I pick that option. I select C# as my Language, and File System as my Location. I changed the File System folder name to be: My Documents\Visual Studio\WebSites\MyFirstWebSite

I click the OK button and it creates the project...err, I mean web site, for me:

Figure 3 - IDE After Web Site Creation

So, I now have my web site open in the IDE. Currently, there is one file in it, Default.aspx, and the web site is NOT associated with a Team System Project or with any source control. Let's fix that.

I open the Team Explorer window, which is connected to my Team Foundation server. I click the New Team Project button. This opens the New Team Project window. I enter MyFirstWebSiteTeamProject as the Team Project Name, and the portal is set to http://vsts-tf/sites/MyFirstWebSiteTeamProject. I create an empty version control folder: $/MyFirstWebSiteTeamProject.

The project is created successfully. I told it to let me view both the Project Creation log file, and the Process Guidance Page. The Process Guidance page errored out in trying to be displayed, but I was able to view the Project Creation log file with no issues. This file is chocked full of information, and while it looks a little cryptic, I think with a little effort it will start to make sense. I'm going to tackle that in a later post.

So now I have my web site, and have it associated with both a Team System Project, and my project is displayed in the Team Explorer Window. Life is good.

The next several posts after this one are going to delve into adding this solution to the source control, what all is created automatically for you when you create a Team System project, and then I'll start delving into the security settings in Team System, for your Team System Projects.

Process Templates

2005-03-19T21:22:00.000-06:00

Team Foundation Weblog - Customizing Process Templates

Amy Hagstrom has a great introductory post concerning Process Templates and how to customize them, complete with screen shots. I found this to be a great introductory post. It provides you with more than enough information to start poking around with what all the process model does for you, and how you can modify it to suit your own needs.

I have an upcoming post in my blog, where this is one of the topics I begin to delve into. Customizing your process model looks cool!

Yahoo Begins Blogging Beta Test

2005-03-17T19:49:00.000-06:00

eWeek - "Yahoo Service Combines Blogging, Social Networking

Ok, I admit it, I am a very loyal Yahoo fan (except for searching, there I still use Google, but I digress). Never a day goes by that I don't access my "My Yahoo" page, and now that they allow you to link in pretty much any RSS feed, I find myself constantly revamping and remodifying my pages. Now, I don't think it will ever take the place of my RSS stand-alone news-reader, but I do like it all the same.

And now Yahoo is getting into the blogging business. And looking at their screenshots, I would say it looks like they have a good plan.

Here is a quote from the article:

Yahoo 360, which combines blogging tools with social networking, is being designed "as a place where people can go on and publish and share content and keep up with the people that they know," Brody said. It will provide access from one-page services that are now separate on Yahoo, such as photo albums, instant messaging, Launchcast music, special-interest groups and local services.

Admittedly, this sounds very similar to MSN Spaces, which Microsoft's MSN division launched in December. And I also will be the first to admit that I have not given MSN spaces a run-thru yet. But, because I am such a Yahoo loyalist, I'll probably give it a shot. I'll get around to trying Spaces at some point as well.

Unfortunantly, "Yahoo 360", as it is being called, only goes into limited Beta Testing by the end of the month, which means who knows when us peons will get the chance to give it a shot.

IE 7.0

2005-03-17T19:48:00.000-06:00

eweek - "CSS Support Could BE IE's Weakest Link"

Some of the rumors about IE 7.0 include tabbed browsing, and a built-in news aggregator. I have to admit that I love using Firefox, because I love the tabbed browsing aspect. I have found myself using Firefox more than IE now, because of that fact. Having a built-in news aggregator is not that much of a plus for me, because I am a happy .NET Bandit user, and don't see that changing anytime soon. However, I do see having that built in as drawing more people into using RSS feeds and understanding their power and simplicity.

And while I don't really use CSS too much at work, I do think it would be a shame if Microsoft does not include full support for it in IE 7.0, because it is an accepted standard. To quote the eWeek article:

One partner said that Microsoft considers CSS2 to be a "flawed" standard and that the company is waiting for a later point release, such as CSS2.1 or CSS3, before throwing its complete support behind it.

If this is a true statement, I would be interested to hear why Microsoft believes CSS2 to be a flawed standard. Who knows, they may have a good point, but until some people start talking about it, we'll never know.

Other links of interest:

Microsoft Watch Article on IE 7.0 Details

IE Blog

Team System In The News

2005-03-10T03:11:00.000-06:00

eWeek - Microsoft, Borland Offer Process Guidance for Developers

Microsoft Wednesday announced it will be offering two new process templates with the Visual Studio 2005 Team System's MSF (Microsoft Solutions Framework) to help enterprise developers get started with various development processes. One is the MSF for CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) Process Improvement template and the other is MSF for Agile Software Development.

The December CTP ships with the MSF Agile, which I will admit I know next to nothing about. I do know that when you create a new Team Project, it automatically shoves 48 tasks into the database for you though!

Sorry....

2005-03-08T06:47:00.000-06:00

I had some more posts for today, but viewing my images is not working correctly. I hope to get the problem resolved today. Thanks for your patience!

Develop XBox games with Visual Studio Team System...

2005-03-08T06:38:00.000-06:00

John Lawrence – “Team System to be used in XNA XBox Game Development Platform”

This is too cool. Good Job guys!

Let's Get Back To It

2005-03-08T06:08:00.000-06:00

Ok, its about time I got back to updating my blog. I've got my laptop back up and running, and have recovered my virtual machines. Life looks good.

I fired up all my VPCs and started up VS2005. When I started up VS2005, it prompted me to connect to the Team System Server. My "Hello Gumbi" projected is listed in the list of existing projects, so I click it.

I'm not really sure what I should do now, so I am just going to play some, and see where it leads me.

I recieved an "unable to connect to Team Server" message. A quick check of the event log on the AT (application Tier) shows the TFSServer Scheduler failed to start. I attempted to start it manually, and it worked fine. I checked the DT (Data Tier) and everything there appears to be working smoothly.

I started up VS2005 again. This time it did not prompt me to connect to the Team System server, it just made the connection automatically.

The moral of this story: Event logs are your friend.

Catastrophic Computer Failure....

2005-02-23T20:36:00.000-06:00

Sorry for not posting in the last week, but as I went to update my blog last night, Windows decided to go all corrupted on me. So I've spent the past 24 hours rebuilding my machine. Good news is I was able to save all my VPC hard drives. But, of course, now I have to get my laptop back in working order. Look for new posts really soon!

Move on folks. Nothing to see here...

2005-02-09T07:33:00.000-06:00

This is a test. This is only a test. In the event of a real blog post, there would actually be something interesting to read here.

Check This Out

2005-02-08T22:17:00.000-06:00

Jon Box, a friend of mine, is talking about Team System at TechExpo 2005 in Little Rock, AR. Billy Hollis will also be talking on Smart Clients, and there is a SQL Server 2005 track as well. All in all, it looks like a great day of information, and I really wish I could go.

Did I mention the event is FREE? And there will be PRIZES?

If you live in or around the area, you should head over and check it out. You won't be disappointed, especially with Team System!

On a side note, I am laid up with the "creeping crud", as my Dad used to call it, so my foray into VSTS may slow down this week. I'll do my best to get a couple of more posts up though.

EDIT: Change the state to be AR instead of AK (it is supposed to be Little Rock, Arkansas (AR), not Little Rock, Alaska (AK). And I'm born and raised in the South!) Sorry for the confusion, and my thanks to Rob for catching that for me.

This And That...

2005-02-08T22:16:00.000-06:00

Peter Varhol - Microsoft Team System Combines Established With New

I find this to be an interesting post. I do disagree with him on a couple of things.

First, the bulk of these features work only with code developed in Visual Studio 2005

Not trying to sound too flippant, but I think that is pretty obvious. I agree that for some teams, it may take them a while to move to VS2005. For my department (which is a small department, I admit), we are already making plans to move to it as soon as it is released.

Second, as a first release, the Team System will lack the reliability and breadth of features that will make it truly useful

I completely disagree with this statement. I have only scratched the surface in my testing of the December CTP, but from what I have seen, and what I have read on blogs and other sources, I feel VSTS will make an impact out of the box. Heck, just the version control aspect has me all excited, because it is SOOOOOOO much easier than what we are currently using. And all the task and project management tasks are going to allow my little developer shop to be more productive, without an excessive overhead. (at least, that is the plan!)

I think that development groups will be able to take the pieces that they like of VSTS, and make them work for them. And I don't think that Microsoft is abandoning the individual or small group developers. Obviously, as an individual developer, there is a lot of VSTS that you probably would not use. But then again, it is there if you want to use it (and I am geeky enough that I probably would). I don't believe MS is going to leave anyone in its community behind, because lately they are making a big push to include the community.

Let's keep the excitement about VSTS up. Its going to be a great product!

Creating A Project And Adding It To Source Control

2005-02-03T23:09:00.000-06:00

In VS2005, I selected File->New->Project. Under Project Types I chose Visual C#, and Windows Application. I entered "HelloGumbi" as the project name, and did NOT check the "Add to Source Control" checkbox. I clicked the OK button to create the project:

Figure 1 - New Project Window

The new project was created and displayed in the Solution Explorer. I right-clicked on the solution, and selected "Add To Source Control". This opened the "Add Solution To Hatteras" window:

Figure 2 - Add Solution To Hatteras Window

It defaults to the Team Project I have already created. The folder name defaults to the solution name of my project. I took the defaults and clicked the Next button. This opens the next page of the wizard:

Figure 3 - Add Solution To Hatteras Step 2

On this windows you can change the name of the repository folders, if you want to. I took the defaults and clicked Finish. A progress window opens, showing the progess of adding the project into the version control system. Once the project has been added, the progess window closes, and the IDE looks as follows:

Figure 4 - IDE After Adding Project To Source Control

Notice all the files have + signs beside them in the solution explorer. They are waiting to be checked in. In the Pending Checkin window at the bottom of the IDE, I click the Checkin button. I recieve a message telling me to add a value to the Code Reviewer, so I did this and clicked the Checkin button again. My files were checked into Hatteras, and the IDE now looks like this:

Figure 5 - IDE State After Check In

Notice the little blue locks by the files in the Solution Explorer, showing they are currently checked into Hatteras.

Up Next: I start trying to check out files.

Why change a good thing...

2005-02-02T20:23:00.000-06:00

Sometimes change is a good thing. And sometimes you should just leave well enough alone. I adhere to the latter statement concerning creating a new project in VS 2005, specifically, creating a new web project.

To recap my adventure so far, I have Team System up and running using VPCs, and I have created a Team Project. My next step is to create an actual project to do some work in. So I click the New Project button, and the New Project window opens.

Figure 1 - New Project window

I click the + sign beside Visual C#, and begin looking through my template options, looking for ASP.NET. After going through the list twice, I realize its not there. "Oh my", I think to myself (at least, that's the G-rated version of what I think), "did I install something wrong? Where are the ASP.NET templates?".

I cancel out of the window, and then select File->New->Project. The same window opens as above. No ASP.NET option.

I go back to the File->New menu option. That's when I notice that under the New option, there is a choice for Project, and another choice for Website. Under the Website choice are what is needed to create an ASP.NET website.

I think I understand why they did it this way. Logically, in some respects, it makes sense. But at the same time, when I click the "NEW PROJECTS" button, or go File->New->Projects, I expected to be able to create any kind of C# project, as I could in VS2003. So while I understand logically why they split it out this way, I don't like it. I wish you would let me be able to select an ASP.NET project from the New Projects dialog window.

I decided to go ahead and create a Windows Form app, just for the heck of it. I have not built one before (I'm an ASP.NET kinda guy), so I figured it would be a learning experience in several ways.

Tune in next time to see me create this new project and add it to the source control.

A Quick Look At The Team Explorer Window

2005-02-01T22:58:00.000-06:00

The following screen shots show the different folders and subfolders located in the Team Explorer window, after I finished creating the initial Team Project, discussed in my previous post:

Figure 1 - Team Explorer Window Part 1

Figure 2 - Team Explorer Window Part 2

Figure 3 - Team Explorer Window Part 3

I then decided to check out the Team Project website, to see what happened:

Figure 4 - IAmGumbi Project Website

Yikes! Look at all the Reporting Services errors! I don't know if those are because I have done something wrong, or that piece is not working. I'll put that on my list of things to investigate.

Up next, I create my first VS2005 project (and for some reason, I make a Windows Form project instead of an ASP.NET project...)

My First Foray Into VSTS

2005-01-28T18:18:00.000-06:00

WARNING: This may be kind of a long post. I'm actually going to split it over several posts, I think. Also, I have included links to my pictures instead of the actual pictures themselves, because I haven't figured out if Blogger will allow me to upload pictures to it yet (AKA: haven't even researched it yet). I tried to not make the pictures too big, and still make them readable, so I hope it all turns out ok.

I cranked up all three of my VPC sessions, and logged them in. I started VS2005. My Team Explorer window was already docked on the left of my IDE, from where I had initially connected it last time. (See installation instructions for that part).

Figure 1 - In The IDE

In Team Explorer, I clicked the "New Team Project" button. This opens the New Team Project Wizard

Figure 2 - New Team Project Wizard

I considered for a second naming my project HelloWorld, but I just couldn't do it! So I entered "IAmGumbi" as the name of the project, and "My First VSTS Project" as the description. I then clicked the Next button, which took me to the Select A Process Template screen.

Figure 3 - Select A Process Template

My only choice in the DDLB (Drop Down List Box for the non-programmers out there) was MSF Agile (which is something I am interested in, but again has not made it to the top of the "need to look at now" stack), so I selected it and clicked Next. This opens the Specify Settings For Project Portal screen of the wixard.

Figure 4 - Specify Settings For Project Portal

There is already default information entered on this screen for you. The Team Project Portal Title defaults to the Team Project name entered earlier. The Team Project Portal Description defaults to the description you entered earlier. This screen also shows you the Team Project Portal Address, which is http:///sites/. This address is not editable. I accepted the defaults and clicked Next, which opens the Specify Source Control Settings screen.

Figure 5 - Specify Source Control Settings

There are three options on this screen

Create An Empty Version Control Folder - This is the default.

Create A New Version Control Branch - This option is grayed out right now

Do Not Create A Version Control Folder At This time - Pretty self-explanatory, I think

I took the default, and clicked Next. This opens the Confirm Team Project Settings screen.

Figure 6 - Confirm Team Project Settings

Everything looked good, so I clicked the Finish button. A progress bar appears, and the Team Project is created. On my laptop, using 3 VPCs, it took about 12 minutes to create. Here are some of the phrases that popped up on the progress bar during that time:

Downloading Process Template

Groups and Permissions Created

WorkItemType for Bug Uploaded

WorkItemType for Task Uploaded

WorkItemType for QoS Uploaded

WorkItemType for Scenario Uploaded

WorkItems Uploaded

Queries Uploaded

Source Control Created

Doc Templates uploaded to project site

Process Guidance uploaded to project site

Project Site Created

Figure 7 - Team Project Created

Great! My project was created. I decided to take the defaults and click Close. I think that is what led to the next two images. I have not confirmed this yet, but I'll bet that if I had unchecked View Process Guidance Page, I would not have gotten the error message that follows.

Figure 8 - Online Help Settings

This window opened up. I decided to take the default (Use online Help as primary source), because it said it would go to local help if I was not connected to the Internet (which I am not). I agreed to the Privacy Policy, and clicked OK.

Figure 9 - Error Message

The Help Application tried to open, and I recieved the above error message. I just hit Continue, and closed the Help application, and I was back in my IDE.

And Voila! I have successfully created my first Team System Project!

Figure 10 - My First Team System Project

In my next post, I'll show you some screen shots of what's in all those folders, as well as go into creating my first coding project, and tying it to my VSTS project.

Rob will be so proud!

2005-01-28T18:17:00.000-06:00

I finally have VSTS up and running! Rob Caron will be so proud! ;)

I am running everything using Virtual PC (VPC) on my laptop. My laptop is a 2.6Ghz machine with 1GB of RAM.

I have created three virtual PC sessions, one for each tier. My Database Tier (DT) is also my domain controller. I have the network settings on each VPC session to be set to "local" only, so that they can only communicate with each other. I currently have each tier set to use 200MB of memory. I also set each session hard drive to be 10GB, and to grow as needed.

Installation on each tier went off without a hitch.

Before I start up all three sessions, I shut down everything on my laptop, including virus scanners. I also go into Services and stop as many services as I feel I safely can, without hosing the computer, just to free up as much memory as possible.

So far I have not encountered too many problems with this configuration (though it is early). I have done a couple of things with VSTS (more on that in an upcoming post), and, while a little slow, everything has worked. So I feel comfortable with my configuration. I wish I had more memory, but I'll make do for right now. I don't see the Laptop Fairy visiting me anytime soon.

Team System Articles

2005-01-18T22:16:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Rob Caron for the heads up on these articles.

Matt Nicholson - "VS2005 Team System", "VSTS: Team Foundation"

I found the overview article, "VS2005 Team System", to be a good overview, especially for a newbie to VSTS, of what is going to be provided and what Microsoft is trying to accomplish. I sometimes forget there are going to be three different editions of Team System (I'm leaning toward Team Developer personally). Ian, the author of the article, does bring up an interesting point that I had not considered before, concerning development shops already invested in SCM software:

"However, for SCM vendors, the process of simply changing the repository they use is a significant issue. For IT development teams that are heavily invested in SCM, this could be a make or break deal."

In my current environment, we have SCM software, but we have never used it, because we found it to be too complex, and it did not integrate intuitively with Visual Studio, so this will not be a problem for us. I am looking forward to using SCM software which is designed with Visual Studio in mind. However, I can see how some shops might not consider using Team System if it does not integrate quickly and easily with their current repository. I'll be looking to see some more information on this.

READ THE SECOND ARTICLE!!!!! "VSTS: Team Foundation" is a great overview and primer to using VSTS. 'nuff said.

Compuware may be feeling a little heat...

2005-01-17T14:24:00.000-06:00

eWeek - Tools Up Visual Studio Ante

"Compuware Corp. is launching two tools that extend the capabilities of Microsoft Corp.'s Visual Studio development platform beyond Microsoft's Visual Studio 2005 plans.

Compuware DevPartner Fault Simulator 1.0 and Compuware DevPartner SecurityChecker 1.0. will help developers build in error-proofing and security when coding applications."

Both tools sound interesting. I honestly do not know what in Team System would be equivalent (thought I am sure there is something).

I think Compuware is beginning to see the competition that will be provided by Team System. I also think it is a good thing, because Compuware is beginning to innovate, as seen by the above products.

The Beta/CTP Process

2005-01-16T18:13:00.000-06:00

VSTS is the first time I have seriously gotten involved with beta testing (well, pre-beta testing really) a product. I love how Microsoft has opened up the development process of their next generation tools to all developers, and not just a select few. That said, there are some people who are not so happy with what they are doing.

Rick Strahl sees Microsoft's current approach as Beta Perversion. While I think he raises some interesting points, I think his biggest hangup is with the words "beta process". After reading his blog, I have an understanding for how Microsoft has done beta testing in the past, and how they are doing it differently now. I like how they are doing it now. I think, however, they should remove the word "beta" and stick with calling things CTPs (Community Tech Previews).

As Rick mentions, the word "beta" denotes a certain stability. In the same vein, it also denotes a certain inflexibility, in that usually when a product is in beta, only the major bugs get addressed. In contrast, with the way Microsoft is doing VSTS with the CTPs, we are getting the ability to influence and make changes to how the software works, which I think is a cool thing.

Josh Ledgard has written a good response to Rick's post. He also makes mention that maybe they should not use the word "beta", and that the word "beta" might be what is hanging some people up. Here is a quote from his post:

"What needs to happen, in the future, is that more teams need to act like the Foxpro team and treat the MVPs (or best customers) as part of the product team. These customers should have the opportunity to be reading our specs for Orcas soon after they have been written and ever before any code has been produced."

Not that I am an MVP, or would probably be included in the above class of people, but I think this is a great idea. I would kill to have the kind of early access, and I do think it would be fitting for MVPs and other select customers to have that access.

Rick also made mention about all the press about the "next great development tools", at the expense of the current development tools. I agree with him here. Sometimes the press does run with the "latest and greatest" at the expense of the "here and now". I have suffered from the "do I try and do it now, or do I wait for the new tool, which will do so much more for me" syndrome. But then again, I love having all the information at my fingertips. Its being able to process all that information that is difficult sometimes, but that is my problem, not the people writing the information.

Here is part of Josh's response to that concerning VS2005:

"The funny thing is that I think marketing had less to do with this perception than the product teams being told they could be more open and then being publicly excited about what they where working on. It's a period of adjustment for us and customers as we learn how to be more open."

I think blogs have had a heck of an impact in letting people know about the latest product information. And I would never want to go back to the pre-blog days. I love how open the people at Microsoft have become, and how I can make a comment on their blog, or send them an email, and I get a response! Rob Caron, who I had the pleasure of meeting at Tech Ed 2004, has been instrumental in helping me get up and going with VSTS. I've traded emails and blog posts with several other members of the Team System Team, and the blogosphere in general. I'm digressing from my original topic, but I think blogs are the best thing to happen for developers in a long time.

Rob asks the question, in his post "Write about the 'here and now', or the 'soon to be':

"What about 1.0 products? When is the right time to write about them? I think back on the deluge of books that was published for .NET long before it shipped, and I can’t help but wonder what to expect for Team System."

I don't think there is any good answer to this question. Personally, I don't think they should start cranking out those books until the first solid Beta 1 release. (There's that word beta again! I'm going to have to do like Scoble did with the word "blog", and start donating money!). However, there really is no way for Microsoft or any other vendor to stop people from writing books about pre-release software. I know of a couple of people who have already started a Team System book, using a CTP from a couple of months back. As long as it is promenently displayed on the book that the information may not be current, I guess there is no big problem with it. Some people prefer to have the information consolidated into book form for them. Others like reading it on the Web and piecing information together from different blogs. To each his own, I suppose. I'll admit, I have bought a couple of ASP.NET 2.0 books, and I will probably buy a couple of Team System books as soon as they come out.

Ok, this is by far my longest post to date. To wrap it up, I think Microsoft should consider not using the word "beta" until the software is at a much more stable, and unmutable, point. I think they should continue to use the CTP moniker, and I think they should continue to release CTPs every three months. I for one love having the latest CTP to play with.

Your Voice Does Count

2005-01-11T22:31:00.000-06:00

Brian White is asking for your opinion and customer feedback via his blog. Make your voice heard!

Software Factories, I Think I Get It!

2004-12-21T22:41:00.000-06:00

I just finished watching Keith Short and Jack Greenfield on MSDN TV, talking about Software Factories, and I think I finally get it. Jack made the following statement:

A software factory is a collection of domain specific tools, processes (methodologies), and content (including templates, project structures, frameworks, and patterns).

This just suddenly clicked with me. Its an overall development process used to develop a specific application, where that application is a subset of a general application for which the above information has been defined. Does this sound about right, or am I completely off base? I am going to follow up with some of the other material located on the Software Factories website, as my interest is now piqued (gosh I hope that is a word!).

I am definetely interested in reading their Software Factories book now. Too bad Amazon is blocked from work during the X-mas season. Hey Santa, I want a copy!

Software Factories Article

2004-12-21T22:40:00.000-06:00

Application Development Trends, in their December 2004 Issue, has an article on Software Factories.

Overall, it is a good article, but again, as most articles on this subject seem to be doing for me, it raises more questions than it answers. Several times, it makes reference to "encapsulating domain expertise". How exactly do you do that? Can someone give me a concrete example of this that I can wrap my brain around?

The article makes mention that Microsoft, when discussing the "factory" actually means:

A Development Infrastructure

A Development Strategy

Intelligent Automation

Stop the buzzwords now! LOL Seriously though, if you have not read the article, you should, if for no other reason then this one phrase:

A programmer's understanding of the problem he or she is trying to solve changes as he or she tries to solve it

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Team System Install Instructions

2004-12-21T22:39:00.000-06:00

Rob Caron has written up new installation documentation for the next Team System CTP release, due out in December, and is looking for feedback. I have read through the documentation, I think it is pretty well done. Reading through it now has me itching to get my hands on the next CTP, to see if the installation goes any easier than with the current one.

You can also download the latest version of the documentation here.

Please read this and give Rob your feedback. I know I want VSTS to succeed as much as you do!

DSL Tools

2004-12-20T23:51:00.000-06:00

That would be Domain Specific Languages Tools. Harry Pierson, in his blog, has made note that there is a new release of the DSL Toolkit.

Relevant Links:

DSL Tools Main Page

DSL Toolkit Download

I'm hoping this will be a slow week at work, so I can download this, check out some of the walkthroughs, and see if I can get a grasp of what all this DSL stuff is about.

Software Factories

2004-12-20T23:39:00.000-06:00

Jack Greenfield, one of the authors of the Software Factories book, now has a blog.

In his first post, he refers to a blog entry by Grady Booch, concerning Microsot and Domain Specific Languages.

I will be the first to admit that, after reading Mr. Greenfield's blog, I did not catch half of what he was saying. After re-reading it, I believe the point he is making is that UML is not designed to be the end-all be-all for solving problems, and that it is not the best solution for model-driven-development. Having never used UML, I really can't comment one way or the other. I do know that the OMG is pushing it as a MDD standard though. I also know that Microsoft has a push going on for Domain Specific Languages (DSL), which I have also not been able to wrap my head around. If anyone can point me to some resources, which can explain this in English without the use of esoteric terms, that would be great.

I will also admit that I am having a hard time grasping the whole "Software Factory" concept as laid out by Microsoft. I think my biggest hang-up is in the word "Factory". I think I am taking the use of that word one way, when they mean it differently. I need to do some more research on this before I stick my foot too far in my mouth.

I can't wait for the next CTP of VSTS, so I can hopefully get down and dirty with all this cool stuff!

Non VSTS Interesting Bits

2004-11-21T23:15:00.000-06:00

The Uncertainty Principle
Good Intro To The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

Ads in RSS Feeds
I subscribe to several Infoworld RSS feeds. looks like starting this week the have begun including ads at the end of their feeds. Interesting....

Overture tests RSS Ads
More on ads and RSS. Very Interesting...

Microsoft Previews Avalon for Developers
eWeek Coverage
CNet Converage
If you have MSDN access, you can download the CTP for evaluation on XP and Server 2003.

MSN Launches Web Messenger
Now we can message again at work. Woo Hoo! ;)

Scott Guthrie on Tracking Bugs

2004-11-03T23:10:00.000-06:00

Scott Guthrie has a post on how his team goes about tracking bugs, and mentions that VSTS will basically be the same thing as what they are using. The screenshots are cool as well.

And Scott, I like the comment idea about adding RSS feeds to VSTS. Please pass that along!

UPDATE:

John Lawrence also provides a link to Scott's post, and makes some comments about taking an internal testing tool and making it shippable code. Keep up the good work John, cause I love Team System!

I figure everyone has one now...

2004-10-19T20:09:00.000-05:00

but I have a couple of GMail invites to give out. Three to be precise. If you are interested, leave me a comment to this post with:

Name
Email Address (so I have a place to send it)
Favorite Ice Cream
Favorite Super Hero
The Air Speed velocity of an unladen swallow in flight
Anything else you might find amusing

I have no set criteria for distributing these, so we'll see what happens!

(Bribes are welcome! LOL)

In Search Of The Perfect Install, Part 5

2004-10-19T20:01:00.000-05:00

I hit the AskBurton faq, and submitted this error code as a question. I recieved an immediate response(Thanks Rob!), pointing me to the correct spot in the FAQ. It made mention that this was a SQL related error, and gave some suggestions to try.

I did them all and tried again. Same error message.

I cleaned everything up, added the domain IP address to the HOSTS file on the TF server, and tried again. Same error message.

I finaly got smart and decided to look at the install log files (c:\Dpcuments and Settings\administrator\localsettings\temp) that I had seen others mention. In that file, the install errored out when trying to call the following stored procedure:

exec sp_grantlogin @loginame='VSTS\TFSIdentity'

I tried to run this statement directly against SQL Server in a query window, and it failed with a message saying it could not find the user in the domain. I added the domain to the HOSTS file on the database server and tried to run the statement. I recieved the same error message as before:

Windows NT User or Group 'VSTS\TFSIdentity' not found. Check the name again.

Added TFSIdentity to the admin group on the database server, recieved the same message.

Then I had a thought. I installed SQL Server before joining this computer to the domain. Hmmmm, I wonder if that could be the problem, and that I needed to be a member of the domain before installing SQL Server, to make sure all the plumbing works right? Can't hurt to try it.

So I uninstalled/reinstalled SQL Server. Ran the install. Same error.

Just wait till you see what the REAL problem was....

In Search Of The Perfect Install, Part 4

2004-10-19T20:00:00.000-05:00

OK, so I have the database server up and running, and the VS2005 client machine up and running. So, time to tackle the Team Foundation Server.

Install Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition. No Problem.

I enlist the help of one of the network guys to turn this machine into a domain controller. No Problem.

I create the TFSIdentity user. No Problem.

Install/Configure IIS. No Problem.

Install Sharepoint Services 2.0. No Problem.

Install ADAM. No Problem.

Install 2.0 Beta Framework. No Problem.

I add my database server to the new VSTS domain. No Problem.

I check to make sure my database server and application server are logged in as the same person, with admin rights. They are.

I kick off the TF install. Everything is looking good. Until:

Unexpected Error installing this package. Error code is 26204

What? Or as Charlie Brown would say: "AAARRRGGGHH!!!!"

Stay tuned for what happens next.

More On User Interfaces

2004-10-19T19:58:00.000-05:00

First off, I think it is so cool that I was mentioned in three different blogs, and quoted in two of them, especially when I read all three of those blogs. Very cool.

I agree completely with the statement John made:

If software looks bad, then it send a message about the quality of the product underneath

This statement speaks volumes of truth, and I have actually printed it out and posted it in my cube. (mmmmmm, cubes...)

Most of the development I do is ASP.NET. I usually sketch out a rough first draft of the interface while I am gathering the requirements and figuring out exactly what I will be doing. But I usually don't put a lot of time into making it look incredibly nice in the beginning, especially while we are proto-typing, because I feel the web interface can be easily modified, so it can wait until later in the process.

The problem I have found, which everybody knows about, is that, similiar to testing, by the time you get to later in the process, you no longer have any time, so the interface is slapped together, and it looks like it. (Wow, could I have put more commas into that sentence?) So I am taking something Steven just said to heart, before I start on my next project, which is:

don't forget the UI at EVERY stage of development

I think I might print this out too.

I have finally come to understand, as I mentioned in my previous post, that, to many end users, appearance means a heck of a lot, and the appropriate amount of time should be spent to make the UI of the application just as important as the actual meat of the app.

Ok, enough babbling, back to trying to install Team Foundation Server.

In Search Of The Perfect Install, Part 3

2004-10-19T19:57:00.000-05:00

Up next, VS2005 Beta 1. Installed Windows XP SP1a. No Problem. Ooops! Dang registration again. I will have to figure out how to handle that soon. Installed Word, Excel, and Project. No Problem. Followed directions and installed VS2005. I only installed C#, VB, and Web parts. No Problem. Rebooted the machine.

As I logged back in and clicked on the icon, I felt a sense of dread fill me. What if I start getting those error messages again? I don't want to reinstall the operating system yet again!

The splash screen appears. I feel my pulse racing.

And the IDE opens! Hurrah! Let there be dancing in the streets and much celebration. We are so happy, we do the dance of joy!

Little did I know I was about to be dealt a major blow.

(ok, ok, it wasn't so major, maybe better classified as minor, or even just annoying, but you have to try and end on a cliffhanger, to leave your public wanting more)

As An Aside

2004-10-16T09:28:00.000-05:00

I find it really annoying that my company has blocked access to Yahoo Mail and Hotmail. Especially when I am using both those accounts for tracking information in relation to Team System and Beta Testing.

If for some strange, cosmic reason, you would like to reach me during the normal work day, email me at mickey.gousset@NOSPAM.bxs.com (obviously, take the words NOSPAM out of the email address).

In Search Of The Perfect Install, Part 2

2004-10-16T09:26:00.000-05:00

I obtained a slightly better machine, so I am replacing the oldest of my machines with this one, which will be the SQL Server. For those who really care, my oldest machine's processor started with a PII, and the MHz started with a 2. I would like to point out, however, that SQL Server 2005 did install on the machine, and ran, albeit slowly, but it ran. But I digress.

Warning: for the next several posts, I may be attempting to discuss some networking topics. I am a programmer. Therefor, if I say something that is a blatent lie, it's just because I am stupid about some networking stuff. Ok, a lot of it, but that is why I have an MVP here at work (Congratulations to John Hann, who was just awarded it!) who I can bribe to help me.

Dang, two paragraphs and I still haven't gotten to my topic. Sometimes I ramble. Deal.

A quick mention about my setup. I have three machines, connected through a hub. They are on their own little network, and are not connected to our main network at all. My laptop is the only machine that has a DVD drive in it, so I connect my laptop into the hub to install things off the DVD.

I decided to take a different approach to my install this time. Let's tackle the SQL Server first. Installed Windows Server 2003 Standard on this machine. (Thank you again MSDN Universal!). First thing I did not think of was that Windows will want to register itself, and none of these machines have Internet access. Oh well, I'll try and deal with that before my 60 days runs out. No problem with the Windows install. Then I just followed the install instructions for the database tier. I set up IIS and installed SQL Server 2005.

I rebooted, voila, there was SQL Server. I feel much better about myself now, after my previous attempt at VS2005.

I haven't completely decided if I like the new Enterprise Manager, or whatever it is called now. I'm sure I will be using it a good bit, so we'll see how the interface grows on me.

In Search Of The Perfect Install, Part 1

2004-10-16T09:21:00.000-05:00

I finally recieved (i.e. stole) three machines so I could try and set up the triumverate(SQL Server 2005, Team Foundation, and VS2005 Beta 1). First off, yes the machines are woefully underpowered, but beggers can't be choosers. They should still limp along well enough to evaluate the software. As an example of their under-poweredness, all three machines run at speeds less than 1GHz, and two of the machines have hard drives with less than 10GB space.

Should anyone feel like donating any machines to my cause, feel free! ;)

I decided to install VS2005 first, figuring it would be the easiest of the bunch. I install Windows XP SP 1a. No Problem. I install Word, Excel, and Project. No Problem( Thanks MSDN Universal!). I install VS2005 Beta 1, following the instructions. No Problem.

"This is GREAT!" I think.

Well, the install went great, so lets open up VS2005 and see what it looks like. I click on the icon and the splash screen opens. So far so good. Then I get the following error message:

Package 'VSDesignerPackage' has failed to load properly (GUID = {808529D3-625D-4496-8354-3DAD630ECC1B}.) Please contact package vendor for assistance. Application restart is recommended, due to possible environment corruption. Would you like to disable loading this package in the future? You may use 'denenv /resetskippkgs' to re-enable package loading."

I am presented with Yes/No buttons, and I choose NO

I get the same message again and I choose NO.

The application opened. Of course, now I am a little scared.

I decided to create a new ASP.NET web site( cause ASP.NET is da bomb!). I select File->New->Web Site->ASP.NET Web Site, and I get the following error message:

The format of the file 'System.Window.Forms, version=2.0.3600.0, culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' is invalid.

I clicked the OK button, and am returned to the IDE.

So at this point, I do a google search on the above error messages, where I find a couple of people have had the same thing happen to them. Apparently though, MS has not been able to reproduce the error effectively, so the only solution at this point is to reformat and reinstall.

The Testing Time Bomb

2004-10-16T09:16:00.000-05:00

ComputerWorld has an opinion piece about testing:

Here's the detonator: If a new release adds just 10% to the existing code base, the amount of testing that's required to be sure the new stuff works, and everything that used to work still does, is 110% of the previous release -- yet the time and resources applied to testing all of this functionality are at best flat release over release, and more likely declining. And, it was never more than a fraction of the development effort to begin with.

I liked her position that semantics does matter, and that we should possible call regression testing something else. Her idea of "operational assurance" is just as good as anything I can come up with.

Of course, with testing tools like Team System, we can always make sure we cover our bases! (Had to put the plug in there!)

IBM - Code Name "Atlantic"

2004-10-12T22:38:00.000-05:00

Infoworld has an article on the upcoming IBM Software Development Platform, Atlantic:

Discussed at the Rational Software Development User Conference in July, Atlantic is set to focus on modeling and testing along with remote clients. The platform is due to ship later this year, IBM said at the conference.

Hmmmmm, sounds kinda like Team System, in my opinion.....

My Day At Work a.k.a SQL Server 2000 rears its ugly head

2004-10-12T22:18:00.000-05:00

A shameless plug for my other blog.

Look, a Team System Post(kinda)

2004-10-12T22:14:00.000-05:00

Finally got three machines at work to begin installing the latest Beta on. Of course, they are horribly underpowered, but one step at a time.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Shipping Software: The End Game

2004-10-12T22:12:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Rob Caron for pointing out this interesting article at Directions on Microsoft, concerning the stages Microsoft goes through in releasing software.

As Microsoft’s products move from development to shipping, they go through a set of interim releases designed to give Microsoft feedback on their contents and quality and help customers plan for deployment. Earlier releases help determine the features and architecture of the product while later ones serve primarily to shake out bugs. Customers and partners involved in these programs must understand their purpose to avoid either wasting time by evaluating a product too soon or missing opportunities to influence design by waiting too long.

Being an internal corporate developer, building apps for departments, I suppose we go through a similiar process, but it is not near as rigid or defined. I more follow a rapid prototyping, which would be more like a series of Alpha stages (or maybe Beta, I try not to show the customer too much that does not work).

One thing I have found though, is that appearance is everything. I can have all the functionality working perfectly, and it does everything the customer wants, but if I have not prettied up the final site, they are always very negative towards testing it. However, if I have prettied up the site, even if have the stuff on there does not work, they are always more positive toward the application. Go figure.

Dev Days Online...

2004-09-27T21:04:00.000-05:00

Michael Swanson put up a quick note about the Microsoft Dev Day seminars being available online now:

For all of you who missed the DevDays 2004 sessions, or if you simply want to “attend” them again, you can now view them on-line.

Sweet! More things to watch!

Visual Studio Team System: Reston, VA, Wednesday, October 20th

2004-09-27T21:01:00.000-05:00

Geoff has some information on a partner dinner coming up on October 20th, with a presentation on VSTS:

The public sector developer team is holding another of their legendary partner dinners on October 20th. This will be a presentation on the new Microsoft Team System, Microsoft's new software development lifecycle tools that will ship with Visual Studio 2005.

Microsoft Partner Companies only though. Sucks to be me. ;)

New Compuware Tools

2004-09-27T20:49:00.000-05:00

eWeek has an article on two new tools being developed by Compuware for use with Visual Studio.Net:

In that light, Compuware will be announcing two new products down the road. The first will ensure that the applications developers create are secure, Straight said. The new product, as yet not formally named, will perform security vulnerability analyses for applications being created in the ASP.Net environment.

The second product, also unnamed, will be a new technology that "makes it very easy to simulate all the errors that could happen at runtime, but in an emulation mode," Straight said. This product is part of Compuware's focus on "extending the concept of creating reliable applications," he said. "It's hard to simulate errors that might occur at runtime."

They make the comment that they are both competing and complementing Team System. I guess time will tell. I have evaluated the Devpartner Studio tools, but I believe I will get similiar functionality with Team System, so I cannot justify the extra cost.

VS.NET tops Websphere as development tool

2004-09-16T05:30:00.000-05:00

Eweek has a story on a study done on how VS.NET allows developers to be more productive than Websphere.

Microsoft Corp. has commissioned a study showing that its .Net development environment is more productive than comparable Java environments, a top company executive said at the VSLive! Orlando conference here.

Installing VSTS

2004-09-14T05:18:00.000-05:00

Paul Andrew is installing the latest VS2005 Refresh with Team System. He is also doing the 3 Virtual PC image system, similiar to what some other people have done:

I'm building a 3 Virtual PC image system similar to Michael Lehman. The whole domain controller thing had me asking questions around the office. I thought I could just run dcpromo and accept all the defaults.

I tried to do this with my laptop, but 1GB of memory is definently not enough, in my opinion. Everything slowed to a crawl when I started up more than one session. Of course, it could be because I was lazy and didn't shut down any extra apps that were running.

More on my installation of VSTS coming soon!

Installing the Refreshed VS2005 Beta 1

2004-09-07T22:38:00.000-05:00

Darren Jefford: Installing Visual Studio Team System

Darren gives a great overview of the different components involved, and a couple of shortcuts you can take if you don't have three different machines to test on.

Static Analysis

2004-09-07T22:33:00.000-05:00

Jason Anderson: Static Analysis with VSTS

Adding Static Analysis to the development process is very simple: Once you compile your code, you use Static Analysis technology to do a more extensive set of checks than what the normal compiler can do

This is an excellent blog about static analysis and VSTS. Jason provides screenshots, walkthroughs, and detailed explanations. A must-read for anyone investigating this portion of VSTS.

Improving .NET Apps Performance and Scalability

2004-08-24T16:29:00.000-05:00

The Enterprise Performance Tools Teams Blog has provided a link to this very interesting, and very long, article/book.

Great, something else I really want to read, and don't have time to! Help!!!!

Web Test

2004-08-24T16:22:00.000-05:00

Josh Christie has put up a nice little primer on how to do web tests and what they are, in relation to VSTS.

I found it very interesting. It has got me wanting to get the CTP reinstalled so I can try it out!

Currituck...

2004-08-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

John Lawrence lets loose with this little tidbit, that Currituck is the code name for Work Item Tracking within Team System

Fawcette on Modelling...

2004-07-30T23:32:00.000-05:00

Jim Fawcette has a blog piece on Microsoft and IBM's different attempts at modeling, and how they are pursueing different markets.

I'll be honest, I have never tried using Rational or UML, mostly because I work in a small development shop, where most modeling, if any, can be done with a sheet of paper. However, I am very excited about Whitehorse, especially the Class Designer.

Korby Parnell on Changesets

2004-07-29T22:56:00.000-05:00

After all the struggles I have had lately with our current version control system (which shall remain nameless, but comes from a company with the initials CA), this sounds very nice. I can't wait to get a CTP that has these bits on it.

Gates Talks About Modeling

2004-07-29T22:16:00.000-05:00

Once again, Bill Gates is talking about modeling and how important it is to the company's development strategy. Given all the work that appears to have gone into Whitehorse so far, and all of VSTS, I think Microsoft is on the right track. All the .NET developers I have talked to are extremely excited about VSTS.

Rick LaPlante eWeek Interview

2004-07-29T22:09:00.000-05:00

Rick shares his views on VSTS. Its a six-page interview, but it is very interesting the whole way through.

On Break Till October...

2004-07-26T07:14:00.000-05:00

To all my readers (of which I hope I still have a few). *wink*

I will be on break from working on Team System stuff until October. I have some events happening outside of work and testing which are taking up most of the time I had devoted to Team System and this blog. However, those events will be resolved around the end of September. So I plan to be back at it with a gusto come October.

Keep me in your RSS feeds, and I'll see ya in a couple of months!

I Promise to get back to Team System

2004-07-01T08:21:00.000-05:00

I really do! However, this is too good to pass up. I really hope I get the chance to meet Pat Helland, Don Box, and David Chappell one day. But you HAVE to check out their rendition of "Bye Bye Mr CIO Guy". You will laugh yourself out of your seat (and in the back of your mind, where you are comprehending what they are singing, you will also begin to get a little scared)

SQL Server Best Practices Analyzer

2004-06-29T08:56:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know, this blog is supposed to be about Team System, but since Team System will have a SQL Server backend, I thought I could digress quickly, because any developer worth his salt is going to want to take a look at this.

Yep, its just an app that analyzes your SQL Server for Best Practices. But its still cool. Here are some links:

MSDN TV Show of BPA

Download BPA

SQL Server Developer Center

VS2005 Beta 1 announced

2004-06-29T08:14:00.000-05:00

VS 2005 Beta 1 has been released. It should be available for download for MSDN subscribers within a couple of days.

Only the Team Architect portion of Team System is included with Beta 1. I have emailed a couple of people, asking what we are supposed to do if we want to continue being able to test the other pieces that were included in our May preview. I am afraid the answer is going to be have two different machines, one with the Beta on it, and one with the May bits on it. We'll see.

I was planning on starting to play with the coder coverage and testing areas of the May Preview, as that is what the walkthroughs at GotDotNet cover, but I may have to step back and go with the Architect piece. I'll wait and see.

Microsoft is also releasing what it is calling its Express Products. These are lightweight products for enthusiasts who want to experiment with MS tools and technologies, but don't have the cash to drop on a full-blown version of Visual Studio at this time. I think this is a great idea to suck new developers in, who otherwise would not be interested because they did not have access to the tools. I'll have to put playing with these on my list of things to do at some point.

Also, check out the MSDN Product Feedback Center. This is going to be a great way to help MS find bugs and provide feedback on what you think of VS2005.

Now I have to sit and wait on the Beta to be posted....

(EDIT: Infoworld Article, CNET Article)

Rob Caron Rocks..

2004-06-28T12:30:00.000-05:00

That's what I get for not keeping up with my blog reading. Rob goes and gets all the cool links before I do. Wait, no, he was doing that even when I was keeping up with my blog reading.

Anyway, check out the following posts by Rob

SDTimes on Visual Studio Team System

Microsoft Research on Righting Software

Danger as a Teaching Mechanism

Keep up the great work Rob!

Reporting in VSTS...

2004-06-28T12:22:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know I am behind the times, but Keith Rowe has a good blog on reporting and VSTS. I am really excited about how flexible the reporting system is going to be, and how much information you will have access to.

It's Good To Be Back...

2004-06-24T14:15:00.000-05:00

Yes! Its good to be back! Sorry for the long delay in posts. I've had several non-technology things pull me away (imagine that!). But I am back and ready to get back in the groove. Plus I have a cable modem now, so fast access at home. Woo Hoo!

There is a good interview with Harry Pierson at TSS.net. It doesn't focus on VSTS specifically, but its give you a good understanding of what Harry is trying to do.