SRL Group - All Comments

re: How “Get Latest Version” Really Works in TFS Source Control?

Michael — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:09:12 GMT

How about this scenario that happens on my machine once a month! I get latest version and ALL files on my machine except the solution and project files get automatically deleted from the disk!

The only way to fix it is to totally delete the solution from the workspace and download it again.

re: TF30224 error when creating a new team project

Roman Ogolikhin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:40:31 GMT

Instead of uninstall of TFS service pack, you can install VS service pack again.

It helped to me.

re: The connection between Software Configuration Management and Environments Management

Valentine Waturuocha — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:07:39 GMT

IT Environments Management is probably one of the most misundertood concepts in terms of the part it plays within the IT Organisation as a whole especially its contribution to the success of an IT Project in General. Most Programme, Project and Test Managers in running Projects sooner or later come across IT Environment related issues that can severly delay the delivery of their Project. Here is my atrempt at a high level in defining IT Environments Managements in its entirety.

IT Environments Management service clearly contributes to improving the overall quality of IT Software development and support through the lifecycle. IT Environments Management encompasses a set of best practices proposed to provide an effective, end to end management service for test software platforms or development environments. The software test bed or development environment could consist of a client server application, Relational Database Management System (RDBMS), middleware, interfaces, daemons, customised processes (written in any software programming language), FTP utilities etc.

Functional test phases such as Unit, Integration, Acceptance, all manner of performance or non functional testing and development phases all require IT Environments.

The primary clients of an IT Environments Management Function are Software Project and Test teams.

The service will cater for the following;

• Manage the creation, build, upgrade and support for all test and development Application Environments.

• Clearly defining auditable processes of allocating application environments, multiple bookings or shared usage, code upgrades, service level agreement, support, decommissioning and re-allocation.

• Manage data refreshes, collating test data and assist in the anonimising of production or other sensitive data if necessary.

• Supply, provision and manage all Application Environment Requirements from the Project and Test teams all through the software development cycle of a project.

• Assist the Project in establishing their application environment requirements, provide expert knowledge on an IT environment’s set up, connectivity and serve as a guide to the projects in using the environment in the most efficient manner.

• Review and contribute to the Project Initiation Document (PID) ensuring that the IT Environments Management function and its deliverables are clearly defined and captured.

• Create and maintain project plans to assist in managing all activities required to successfully carry out major code upgrades to all application environments.

• Provide reports on usage/utilisation, availability, forward planning and schedules.

IT Environments Management is clearly a new and emerging area which has arisen due to the following reasons:

• The increased IT Environment requirements for many companies who have several software projects running at any one time.

• The increased levels of interfacing and connectivity between several systems in most organisations also known as spaghetti. For example in some companies more than thirty systems are interfaced or connected with each other exchanging files and data flows etc and has meant that any changes to one system most times could require a change to many others and requiring large numbers of test and development IT environments.

• Increased awareness and more commitment to carrying out rigorous software testing especially with more companies opting to use the Prince 2 methodology and ITIL Framework

A typical IT Environments Management tool should be able to provide the following services: environments bookings and allocation, manage multiple bookings and re-curring bookings. Provide reporting on usage, availability, interconnectivity or interfacing environments, utilisation and conflict reporting etc. It must also serve as a repository of all information on an IT Environment to include Host Server names, Hardware Type, Operating System, IP Address and Interfaces if any.

The ideal background for an IT Environments Management personnel could be Software Development, Application or Technical Support, Infrastructure Project Management, Configuration and Release Management etc but must be exposed to at least the ITIL Framework, Client – Server development, System Architecture/Design, Networks, TCP/IP and Messaging systems etc.

Terminologies defined & explained:

Application Environment – A single test bed or development platform instance of a software application or system that can also be used for all manner of functional and non functional testing or could be the production instance (production environment). It could also be large, medium or small which normally refers to the size of data the RDBMS will be holding depending on the type of testing it is required for.

Integrated Application environments (also known as stripes): More than one application environment connected to each other also communicating with each other and exchanging files and data flows. Connections could be via Microsoft ODBC, via FTP, TCP/IP, daemons, middleware, defined interfaces and database links etc.

Anonimising of data

Anonimising of data refers to the manipulation or transformation of production data held in the RDBMS such as Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase, Microsoft Access, DB2 etc to be used in a test or development Application Environment ensuring that for example real names, addresses, date of birth, bank account details and other sensitive information or data is transformed to dummy data.

The data is transformed whilst still maintaining its defining characteristics in a Relational Database Management System table such as character length (Char 25 or Varchar 50) etc to ensure its usage in testing or development is not compromised and that the integrity is maintained. For example a valid name such as John Smith defined as Char 10 will now be updated in the table to become possibly a unique character string XXXXXXYYYY (comprising of ten characters including the space between John and Smith).

Pipe cleaning

Pipe cleaning caters for the all the activities required to be carried out before a test or development environment is handed over to the Test or Project team and includes disk clear down, archiving and purging logs, importing test data, killing off rogue processes, resetting passwords, changing environment settings, end to end connectivity or integration tests to make sure everything is working okay.

Depending on the complexity of the system a checklist of activities may be required and ticked off capturing all the checks and tests that have been completed on an environment or an integrated suite of environments prior to its hand over to a Project or Test team.

Smoke Test

A smoke test describes an initial end to end test of all the integrated or even stand alone environments very possibly using dummy data and carried out by the support teams who have created or built the environment or by the test team when the environment is handed over.

Author: Valentine Waturuocha MSC

Freelance IT Environments Project Manager

Email Address: waturuochav@hotmail.com

re: Move your project’s source code using the team source control “Move” command

Andy Foreman — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:07:12 GMT

On the one hand, thanks for the information, although really, its useless. On the other hand, why in the name of God does Microsoft feel so damn compelled to take the simplest of activities (source control) and make it as complex as a mission to the Andromeda galaxy?!?!?

I build a new Class Library and want to add the project to Source Control. I want it in its own folder. So I click "Add to Source Control" and where does TFS put it? Underneath a COMPLETELY unrelated project - why? Because Microsoft LOVES making me as LEAST PRODUCTIVE as possible.

I now try to move the project, and guess what? Does it work as easy as you explain? OF COURSE NOT!!! I want it at the Server root and a typical, very helpful, insanely stupid message box comes up and says "Cannot move to the root"... Why? WHO THE HELL KNOWS BECAUSE MICROSOFT CANT WRITE ONE DECENT ERROR MESSAGE, AND NEVER HAS...

I have wasted COUNTLESS hours tinkering with, and tolerating Team Foundation Server - and THIS was supposed to be making me MORE productive!!! And help? Oh, no problem - Microsoft only wants a couple hundred bucks to support a product I already paid a small fortune for, and DOES NOT WORK... What a wonderful racket for MS - almost as good as the Mafia - no wait - better than the mafia...

Build over-complicated, horribly documented, horribly supported, way-over-priced crap - and THEN (!) charge people for support of the most simple of things. Great formula - Hope Bill and Steve are banking plenty of our money away for their next mansion.

TFS is the software system from HELL - and I sure wish someone would send it back there.

Amazing, source code control is one of the most simple things in the world to do - but of course, Microsoft couldnt do ANYTHING without over-complicating the entire process.

How many Microsoft geeks does it take to change a lightbulb??? 20,000... 1 told hold the lightbulb, and 19,999 to spin the world. At MS, they NEVER do anything the simple, easy, and clear way.

AND I AM LIVING PROOF OF THAT!!! When I die and get to Heaven I am going to ask God for all the hours back I wasted unproductively with Microsoft products. It would be a second lifetime.

links for 2009-12-10 « dstelow notes…

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re: When To Stop Testing An Application?

Michael Bolton — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:26:35 GMT

Testers can talk about this sort of thing with the program manager (or whatever you might call the product owner), but it's the program manager that makes the decisions about how to schedule and staff the project, and when to release it. As such, the program manager is, ultimately, the person who decides when to stop testing.

I wanted to take a more helpful approach, in that I wanted to help testers and project managers determine when it might be a good idea to stop a given test, a test cycle, or testing for an entire project. There are many heuristics that are worth considering. My answers are here:

www.developsense.com/.../when-do-we-stop-test.html

---Michael B.

re: Team System Outlook 2007 Addin - v1.0

Barry — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:29:59 GMT

Does this work with TFS 2010?? If so how do you connect to a specific collection??

re: Team System 2008 Work Items Basic User Guide Was Released

John — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:54:37 GMT

The document doesn't seem to be there.

I've had a look through your personal blog and although the guide is fine, what would be more useful would be to have something like a CMMI Process Template guide that describes how to make best use of the specific fields and work item types - with good examples showing what's going on. I think the VSTS UI is reasonably self-explanatory - the difficulty comes from trying to figure out what to do with it.

re: Team System Outlook 2007 Addin - v1.0

Andreas — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:07:30 GMT

I really like this tool. Is there any way to create WorkItems from tasks as well? Should not be that hard, since all the prerequisites are already there.

re: When To Stop Testing An Application?

hatem — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:34:59 GMT

this answer is sooooooooooooooooooooooo wrong

re: How To Work with Team System using Excel - Rosario: Parent Child relation

MarkRight — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:04:48 GMT

Great article as for me. It would be great to read more concerning this theme.

re: Team System Outlook 2007 Addin - v1.0

John Byszewski — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:24:26 GMT

A great addin. Is there any way to be able to access the source code to add additional features that could be related to our system requirement

jbyszewski@ocsd.org

re: Team System Outlook 2007 Addin - v1.0

SzaboZsee — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:16:31 GMT

How I use this addon with Outlook 2010? The installer stops on version check. Can I install it manually?

Create TFS Work Items directly from Outlook Emails

Steve’s blog — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:36:05 GMT

This is a great little productivity tool for teams actively using Work Items to track dev activities

re: Team System Outlook 2007 Addin - v1.0

SzaboZsee — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:16:55 GMT

Can I use this addin with Outlook2010? I use the Tech Preview, but the install is stopped because the Outlook version check is failed.