After I installed the eScrum template everything seemed fine bar the reports, only the work item report showed anything, in fact on the other reports their parameter combo boxes were empty. The key difference is the workitem report is drawn form the SQL DBs, while all the other reports are drawn from the OLAP warehouse cube. If you connect to the SQL server and run the command select * from dbo._WarehouseConfig where id in (‘LastPRocessTimeStamp’,‘RunIntervalSeconds’) ...

Problem Today I tried to move VS2005 solution in TFS source control from one Source Control location to another (on the same server) as I had put it in a stupid location to start with. So I unbound the source control (File -> Source Control -> Change Source Control) and then went into Source Control Explorer and deleted the directory and then committed the pending delete. This removed the files in the source control BUT ALSO the local ones on my disk, due to the workspace mapping. This was not what I expected, you use source control so you always have copy, a safety net, I had just lost all of my copies by using source control! ...

When developing SharePoint add-in try to remember if you put a previous version of the DLL in the GAC or not. I have just wasted a couple of hours trying to work out why a new version of a DLL is not being read from a site collection’s bin directory, when there was an old version in the GAC. Of course this would not have been an issue if I had been checking the version number properly! A good argument for pair programming to avoid these stupid blind spots ...

I have been looking at writing some SharePoint 2007 (MOSS) web parts to show information about TFS workitems. This turned out to be a bit more complex than expected. I wrote a ASP.NET 2.0 webpart using the TFS WorkItem Tracking Web Project on Codeporject as a starting point. My first WebPart just listed workitems in a project. This went OK and the webpart worked fine in a simple ASP.NET Web Part Manager based test page. ...

I have just watched the Dot Net Rocks TV Show that Colin Mackay recommended during his DDD5 session on Mock Objects (and posted about in his blog). I cannot agree more that it is great practical intro to using the Model/View/Presenter pattern, easy to follow and not getting bogged down as is so often the case with anything on patterns. I must get round to watching more on DNR TV, I listen to to the DNR Radio Podcats regularly but subjects like this are far easier understand when you see the code. However between DNR Radio, DNR TV, Channel 9, MSDN TV etc. and wanting some form of home life I am not sure how I will find the time. ...

After not really enough sleep it seems a good time reflect on DDD5. My session I felt my session went well, and the initial feedback was good. It is always good to be asked question all day about your session, proves it got people thinking; I certainly learnt a few tricks for TFS from these conversations. A common question I got was ‘I am using Product XYZ should a change to TFS?’. To this my answer is always a question ‘Does your system, whether off the shelf or home grown work for you?’ If it does then don’t rush to change it. Certainly look at TFS and see if it is better solution for your project needs - if it is not don’t change to TFS. If you don’t a working system to manage software development certainly look at TFS, or anything for that matter. Good software only comes out of a structured process, whether the process is Agile or Formal in style all the team must know what it is and adhere to it. ...

I have just got back home from today’s DDD5 conference. Time for some more considered posting later, it has been a long day, but I thought I would get my slide stack up as quick as I could. You can find the Power Point stack (with the speaker notes included) at http://www.blackmarble.co.uk/SectionDisplay.aspx?name=Publications&subsection=Conference Papers, along with previous DDD presentation. Thanks to everyone who attended my session, I look forward to hearing some feedback, but now some sleep I as up at 5am…… ...

I have been looking at eScrum and first impressions are good. This is not the first Scrum process template for TFS, there is also the one from Conchango. My feeling over the Conchango one was that it seemed very like the standard MSF Agile template, more a terminology rename. Hence it felt a bit ‘clunky’ to use and not too agile. Sticking to a ‘post-it notes on a white board’ model seemed a better way to manage a Scrum sprint. ...

If you want to install TFS add-ins, such as Attrice Team Foundation Sidekicks and Teamplain, on the TFS Orcas release you have to install the TFS V8 Client (the one which is shipped with Team Foundation Server 2005). If you don’t have this version both products fails to start/install as they claim they cannot find the correct assemblies. Once you have installed the V8 client (as well as the Orcas V9 ones) both products work fine with Orcas. ...

It seems that DDD5 was full within a few hours of registration being opened.