The Patterns and Practices Team has released beta 1 of the TFS Guide. This is a free download from CodePlex. Click here to download the guide.

Parts

Part I, Fundamentals
Part II, Source Control
Part III, Builds
Part IV, Large Project Considerations
Part V, Project Management
Part VI, Process Guidance
Part VII, Reporting
Part VIII, Setting Up and Maintaining the Team Environment

Chapters

• Introduction
• Ch 01 - Introducing the Team Environment
• Ch 02 - Team Foundation Server Architecture
• Ch 03 - Structuring Projects and Solutions
• Ch 04 - Structuring Projects and Solutions in Team Foundation Server
• Ch 05 - Defining Your Branching and Merging Strategy
• Ch 06 - Managing Source Control Dependencies in Visual Studio Team System
• Ch 07 - Team Build Explained
• Ch 08 - Setting Up Continuous Integration with Team Build
• Ch 09 - Setting Up Scheduled Builds with Team Build
• Ch 10 - Large Project Considerations
• Ch 11 - Project Management Explained
• Ch 12 - Work Items Explained
• Ch 13 – MSF Agile Projects
• Ch 14 - Process Templates Explained
• Ch 15 - Reporting Explained
• Ch 16 - Team Foundation Server Deployment
• Ch 17 - Providing Internet Access to Team Foundation Server

Source: Microsoft Patterns and Practices

 

Ed K.

We really apologize about the downtime for the last couple of days.  While we were changing web hosts we thought we would change blogging software and move all of the old blog posts over... Yeah that just didn't work out well.  Then the original dasBlog version we were using wouldn't work... We have had issues with some of the features in the past.

So what did I do????

I'm did the unthinkable... use a pre-ALPHA daily build dasBlog!  Naw, don't worry - it seems pretty stable (The dasBlog web site uses the version we are using: dasBlog 1.9.6315.0)

We're going to use the Akismet service to block comment/trackback spam (which if you didn't know we had turned off all trackbacks and stuff because we got so much SPAM that we still even need to clean up.)  We really HATE SPAM....

It's all turned back on now and we turned off CAPTCHA on the comment entry pages that people just hate.

Everyone is back up and going now so if you happen to find any problems please let us know!

Now, Ed K. is at TechEd 2007 right now and I'll be there later this week on Thursday.

 

Ed B.

It's out there and available:  http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions

MSRP:  $499.99 - OUCH!

Bad thing though is that Expression Blend (along with the rest of Expression Studio) is only available for Team Suite with MSDN Premium subscribers.  Expression Blend and Web are the only products released in the Studio as of now.  MSDN Premium subscribers without Team Suite are still licensed for Expression Web which is already available in Subscriber Downloads.

In the words of Rob Caron:

The best deal is reserved for Team Suite customers with MSDN Premium subscriptions, who will receive the entire Expression Studio. The value of Team Suite just gets sweeter.

You can read more about the Expression Studio for MSDN subscribers announcement here:  Listening to your feedback - Expression and MSDN

 

Ed B.

 

Just a quick note:

While modifing some NANT files today for our BizTalk 2006 deployment I notice the gacutil is no longer located in the framework folder i.e C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727  as it was in the previous versions of the .Net Framework. It is now located here: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SDK\v2.0\bin\gacutil.exe

Ed K.

 

Saturday, May 19th I'll be speaking in the Poconos in Pennsylvania at TECH Bash 2007.  If you'll be in the area, make sure you attend!

Session Topic:  Humanizing Software:  Creating Better User Experience with WPF

Session Description:  End Users today expect great and exciting experiences in their software that allow desirability, findability, and a high value of information presented. We will discuss Microsoft’s latest technology to enable developers to create great User Experiences by using Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF.) We will also briefly cover User Experience (UX) and related topics.

Location: 

Luzerne County Community College
1333 South Prospect Street
Nanticoke, PA 18634-3899
800.377.LCCC

 

Ed B.

Announced at MIX this morning...  Microsoft is giving people the opportunity to host up to 4GB!!!! of video.  That's crazy awesome!  Go visit the site for more info:  https://silverlight.live.com

Microsoft® Silverlight™ Streaming by Windows Live™ is a companion service for Silverlight that makes it easier for developers and designers to deliver and scale rich media as part of their Silverlight applications. The service offers web designers and developers a free and convenient solution for hosting and streaming cross-platform, cross-browser media experiences and rich interactive applications that run on Windows™ and Mac. Combined with the ability to create content with Microsoft® Expression Studio and other 3rd party tools, Web designers and content publishers wishing to integrate Silverlight applications into their online properties can enjoy complete control of the end user experience.

While the product is in pre-release, storage and delivery is free up to 4 GB, with outbound streaming up to DVD quality (700 Kbps). As we move out of Beta, developers/designers will have continued use of the service with up to 1 million minutes of free video streaming at 700 Kpbs per site per month. Unlimited streaming will also be available for free with advertising, or with payment of a nominal fee for the service for use without advertising.

 

Ed B.

Absolutely hilarious story of a banking computer system crash... I had heard it before from someone before but didn't know if it was true or not.  Take a look:  http://www.thehumorarchives.com/joke/A_true_story_of_computer_stupidity

In March 1992 a man living in Newtown near Boston Massachusetts received a bill for his as yet unused credit card stating that he owed $0.00. He ignored it and threw it away. In April he received another and threw that one away too. The following month the credit card company sent him a very nasty note stating they were going to cancel his card if he didn*t send them $0.00 by return of post. He called them, talked to them, they said it was a computer error and told him they*d take care of it.

The following month he decided that it was about time that he tried out the troublesome credit card figuring that if there were purchases on his account it would put an end to his ridiculous predicament. However, in the first store that he produced his credit card in payment for his purchases he found that his card had been canceled. He called the credit card company who apologized for the computer error once again and said that they would take care of it. The next day he got a bill for $0.00 stating that payment was now overdue. Assuming that having spoken to the credit card company only the previous day the latest bill was yet another mistake he ignored it, trusting that the company would be as good as their word and sort the problem out. The next month he got a bill for $0.00 stating that he had 10 days to pay his account or the company would have to take steps to recover the debt.

Finally giving in he thought he would play the company at their own game and mailed them a check for $0.00. The computer duly processed his account and returned a statement to the effect that he now owed the credit card company nothing at all. A week later, the man*s bank called him asking him what he was doing writing a check for $0.00. After a lengthy explanation the bank replied that the $0.00 check had caused their check processing software to fail. The bank could not now process ANY checks from ANY of their customers that day because the check for $0.00 was causing the computer to crash. The following month the man received a letter from the credit card company claiming that his check had bounced and that he now owed them $0.00 and unless he sent a check by return of post they would be taking steps to recover the debt. The man, who had been considering buying his wife a computer for her birthday, bought her a typewriter instead.

 

Ed B.

Okay... so in hindsight this is so stupid but I only post so it won't cause you as much time as it did me!

So I'm in VS 2005 after installing the Orcas Beta 1 and I needed to get something from the Team Foundation Server... BUT I COULDN'T!  All of the context menus on the files in Source Control Explorer kept telling me that there were "No Commands Available."  "I don't think so!  We're not playing this game" said me to the computer. :)

Of course my first thought was that it might have had something to do with the Orcas install.  So I did a reinstall of both VS 2005 and Team Explorer but it didn't help any.  Aggravated now I begin my quest for the answer.

I don't know how it happened but the fix is simple:  Make sure Team Foundation Server is selected as the source control plug-in.  You can go to Tools --> Options (make sure you have the "Show all settings" option is checked at the bottom of the dialog) and select this plug-in.

GRRRRRR... Okay... back to productive work now.

 

Ed B.

Right now there are limited training resources for learning WPF and pretty much a non-existence of proven patterns and practices.  All of these assets will eventually come to the developer community as more people adopt the technology.  For right now, I would recommend this book for learning and as a keeper for a decent reference book.

Title: Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed
Author(s):  Adam Nathan
ISBN-10: 0672328917
ISBN-13: 978-0672328917
Publisher: Sams

Some of the things that I really appreciated out of this book:

· This is truly a value-add, especially for a “visual” technology. There are other WPF books that don’t have a single screenshot and it is extremely helpful to have the visual side of WPF represented throughout the book.

· XAML Demystified and Important New Concepts Chapters -- I’m really happy that he did this at the beginning of the book and is where any beginner of WPF or Silverlight (formerly WPF/E) should start the learning process.

- Organized Extremely Well:  It's great if you want to read it from cover to cover or hit a particular topic.  I always give a book the "Index Test" and check to make sure I can easily find the most common WPF topics.

So, be sure to check it out!  Let me know what you think about it too.

 

Ed B.

Just a quick post to spread the word about supporting "Team Hanselman". Click the links below to help him support the "Fight Against Diabetes".

Click here to read the blog post
Click here to go donate

 

 

Ed K. and Ed B.