Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) Blog - by Neno Loje : Third-Party Solutions

Ways to access Team Foundation Server

neno — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:16:29 GMT

Pick your favorite tool for your task/job:

From Visual Studio:

Visual Studio 2008: Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Explorer (+ SP1)
Visual Studio 2005: Visual Studio Team System 2005 Team Explorer (+ SP1)
older Visual Studio versions and VSS clients: via MSSCCI-Provider*
(includes Visual Studio .NET 2003, Visual C++, Visual FoxPro, Visual Basic, MS Access, SQL Management Studio, FinalBuilder, etc.)

From the command line:

tf.exe *: Version Control
tfpt.exe *: Work Items, Work Item Types, Version Control
PowerShell scripts (soon to be released)

From the web browser:

Visual Studio Team System 2008 Web Access (TSWA)*

From Microsoft Office products:

Excel (2003+): built-in*
Excel (for reporting): How to: Create a Report in Microsoft Excel for Team System
Project (2003+): built-in*
(for project server integration use: Project Server 2007 VSTS Connector)
Outlook (2003+): TeamCompanion* ($) by Ekobit
Word (2007): TeamSpec* ($) by Personify Design
Visio Pro (2003+): stpsoft Storyboarding for VSTS* ($)
Visio (for reporting): How to: Team Foundation Server Reporting and Visio

From other platforms or IDEs:

Java UI and console client: Teamprise Explorer and Command-Line Client ($)
Eclipse IDE: Teamprise Plug-in for Eclipse ($)
Borland IDEs: SourceConneXion (via MSSCCI) ($)

From Windows Explorer:

As part of Team Foundation Server Power Tools* (soon to be released)
TortoiseSVN: via SVNBridge
Dubbelbock TFS by Benjamin Day Consulting

From other products:

MindManager Pro 7: Requirements Manager for VSTS*
SnagIt: SnagIt Output for Microsoft Visual Studio Team System*

From Windows Taskbar:

Tray icon client: Fissum*

Footnotes
(*) requires Team Explorer to be installed.
($) means the product is a commercial third party solution.

CVS / StarTeam to TFS migration tools (3rd party)

neno — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:40:31 GMT

From their website:

"Timely Migration currently provides modules that support migration from CVS and Borland StarTeam. Support for additional products will be added in the future."

Link to website: Timlely Migration

Documentation: Team Foundation Server SDK (online version)

neno — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 13:55:34 GMT

From the contents:

Team Foundation Server Extensibility

Team Foundation Server SDK Architecture

How to: Run Team Foundation Server SDK Samples

Team Foundation Core Services

Work Item Tracking Extensibility

Source Control Extensibility

Data Warehouse Extensibility

Reference for Team Foundation Server SDK

Link: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb130146(VS.80).aspx

Free Add-On: Team System Web Access (TSWA) Power Tool by Microsoft

neno — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:10:07 GMT

Microsoft now offers version 2.0 of the Team System Web Access (formerly known as TeamPlain Web Access from DevBiz, which was acquired by Microsoft ) free of charge as a Power Tool with official Microsoft Customer Service support!

Download it from here.

Get a detailed list of all improvements here.

Make sure to read the Visual Studio Team System Web Access FAQ.

Get the free unlimited TeamPlain Web Access license

neno — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 21:07:30 GMT

Wow, now where TeamPlain Web Access is free for all TFS customers [1] you need to 'upgrade' your license to the unlimited license.

The creators - DevBiz - describe the process (which is as easy as downloading a ZIP file and placing it to a specific directory) in their blog at [2].

Enjoy! :-)

-Neno

P.S. BTW: If you've bought TeamPlain Web Access within the past 30 days before the Microsoft you can reclaim the money, but you need to do it asap since it is only a short time offer (see [1]).

[1] http://blogs.msdn.com/bharry/archive/2007/04/02/update-on-devbiz-acquisition.aspx

[2] http://dev.devbiz.com/blogs/teamplain/archive/2007/03/28/unlimited.aspx

stpBA: A Storyboarding solution for Team System

neno — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 11:10:00 GMT

stpsoft ltd., "The Software Requirements Company", created an interesting Visio add-on that let's you storyboard your scenarios withint Visio and post them back into Team Foundation Server.

That's what the producers say:

"Capture, elaborate and validate software requirements in Team System projects, and generate storyboards, specifications, work items and test scripts."

Overview - Team System Edition

Screenshot

Quick Tour - Team System Edition

Partner solution: Requirements Authoring Solution (by Softagon)

neno — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 13:14:00 GMT

Solution Summary
The Requirements Authoring Solution by Softagon (“RASS”) turns Microsoft® Office Word, the preferred tool for software developers and analysts responsible for creating software requirements, into a more powerful and yet user friendly front-end for managing structured XML requirements data. RASS drives greater collaboration and productivity throughout the software development lifecycle and provides a significant boost to organizations seeking to improve software development processes and create a knowledgebase built on structured requirements data. Softagon Corporation, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner based in San Francisco, California, provides expertise and custom development and implementation services for companies interested in exploiting RASS, as well as the related Microsoft technologies, including Microsoft Office, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System

Link to profile in Microsoft Office System Solutions Directory

Partner solution: TeamPlain Web Access for Team System

neno — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 23:10:00 GMT

A web interface for Team Foundation Server:

TeamPlain Web Access is a web interface for
Team Foundation Server that allows you to
manage work items, documents, reports and
source control repositories.

Link

Borland Brings Requirements Engineering Rigor to Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2005 Team System Users

neno — Sun, 03 Jul 2005 00:21:00 GMT

[...]

Below are specific use case scenarios of the planned integration of CaliberRM and Visual Studio Team System, as defined by roles within the application lifecycle:

Linking Requirements to Tests – Once analysts enter requirements with CaliberRM, they become visible within Visual Studio Team System with test creation and development tasks linked directly to them. Consolidated test results will be available so analysts can verify not just that code was developed to meet a requirement and tests were created to test a requirement, but that the tests passed and the requirement has been successfully fulfilled.
Developers Implementing Requirements – When a requirement is created or updated in CaliberRM, the changes will immediately become visible within the Visual Studio Team System environment, and development tasks will get assigned to make sure that the product code reflects the latest requirements. When a task gets completed, its status will be available for all team members so the analyst knows the code meets the correct requirements and the tester knows there is new code ready to be validated against the updated tests.
Creating Business Stakeholder Transparency – CaliberRM provides transparency of product status through reports which show requirements, test and development task status. The integration between CaliberRM and Visual Studio Team System allows users to generate reports showing each requirement and test plan associated with the approved requirements as well as the test plan results so business stakeholders can see which requirements are being satisfied in the product for each reporting period.

[...]

Read press release

SourceGear announces Project "Allerton"

neno — Sun, 03 Jul 2005 00:19:00 GMT

[...] We have decided to announce the fact that we are developing a new product which will be released later this year. The code-name for this new product is "Allerton". In a nutshell, Allerton is a Linux/Solaris/MacOS client for Team Foundation. [...]

Read blog post

Compuware Previews Quality Solutions for Microsoft Application Development Life Cycle Tools at Microsoft Tech•Ed 2005 Conference

neno — Sun, 03 Jul 2005 00:12:00 GMT

[...]

Also at Tech•Ed, Compuware will preview the next release of QACenter Enterprise Edition’s functional testing solution, TestPartner. Compuware TestPartner 5.4 will offer automated functional and regression testing integration with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System. By extending Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System test capabilities to include Compuware TestPartner’s GUI testing, organizations will lower project risk and maximize productivity. This gives developers integrated access to the same testing assets as testers, allowing them to find and resolve errors more quickly, enhance communication and collaboration while improving application quality. TestPartner 5.4 will go into beta later this year.

[...]

Read press release

AVIcode Announces Integration With Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 Release

neno — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 23:12:00 GMT

[...]

AVIcode's Enterprise Edition of Intercept Studio extends the functionality of Visual Studio Team System to enable enterprises that support business applications based on the Microsoft .NET Framework to design, validate, and deploy application health monitoring infrastructure on the Visual Studio Team Architect design surface. In addition, it enables developers to collect root cause error information and analysis provided by Intercept Studio's monitoring agents in the event of an application error or degraded performance.

[...]

Read article

Identify Announces Integration of AppSight with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System

neno — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 23:10:00 GMT

[...]

AppSight is integrated with Visual Studio 2005 Team System, through the addition of embedded user interfaces for all members of the application lifecycle, including architects, developers, and testers. While testers execute manual and automated tests through Visual Studio Team Test, AppSight’s problem resolution system leverages Black Box technology to transparently capture a complete execution record. AppSight's Black Box software monitors application execution and captures a synchronized, real time log of user actions, system events, performance metrics and code level trace across all tiers of a distributed application, much like the "black box" flight recorder on an aircraft captures a real time record of a flight. This saves the tester the time-consuming tasks of problem replication and documentation. The AppSight Black Box log files, linked to Work Items, are automatically saved in the Team Foundation Server. Developers analyze the logs to determine the root cause of any application problem – hangs, crashes, incorrect logic, slowdowns, interoperability issues, misconfiguration, and more. By providing a "common language" between testing and development teams, Identify's Black Box accelerates application testing and delivery, enhances software quality, and helps development teams deliver on time and within budget.

[...]

Read on

Serena to Demonstrate ProcessView Composer Integration with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System at TechEd 2005

neno — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 23:09:00 GMT

[...]

Also at TechEd 2005, Serena will demonstrate its other enterprise-class application lifecycle management (ALM) solutions in booth 945, including how Serena enables cross-platform development and change control through native integration with both Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and Eclipse-based development environments. The demo will also feature use of Serena's TeamTrack software to manage issues and automate lifecycle workflows from inception through implementation.

[...]

Read press release

Mercury Announces Integration Strategy for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System

neno — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 23:06:00 GMT

[...]

The Mercury strategy details how the integration will be designed to help customers using Mercury’s market leading application testing products and Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 to:

Share testing assets such as unit tests, functional and load tests in both development and quality assurance through integrations with Mercury Quality Center™ and Mercury Performance Center™;
Collaborate on the diagnosis and resolution of application defects, performance bottlenecks and scalability problems across the entire application lifecycle using Mercury Diagnostics™; and
Provide full visibility of the application testing process through the Mercury Application Delivery Dashboard™.

[...]

Read the complete press release

AutomatedQA Adds GUI Testing to Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System

neno — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 23:00:00 GMT

ORLANDO, FL, June 7
AutomatedQA today announced that it will integrate its tool, TestComplete, with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System and bring functional GUI testing to the hands of Visual Studio 2005 developers. While Visual Studio 2005 Team System offers basic test types for unit, manual and Web load testing, TestComplete extends Team System with automated GUI testing. Together, TestComplete and Visual Studio 2005 Team System provide developers with a complete and well-integrated testing solution.

[...]

Read the complete press release

View details on Team System integration