Eric Lee, Product Manager for Team Foundation Server, has been in town for a couple of days after TechEd. Last night, he spoke at a special combined meeting of the Sydney VFP User Group and the Sydney .NET User Group. Eric give an introduction to Team Foundation Server, demonstrated the conversion process from Visual SourceSafe to TFS (by the way, here's an intro to TFS for VSS users) and talked about the data warehouse that ships with TFS. Finally, I gave a demonstration of using TFS Source Control (and work items) with Visual FoxPro via the MSSCCI provider. Once again, I used the world's smallest TFS for the demo, courtesy of Dave Glover.
A couple of the links we discussed:
Brian Harry’s Bloghttp://blogs.msdn.com/bharryEric Lee’s Bloghttp://blogs.msdn.com/ericleeRob Caron’s Bloghttp://blogs.msdn.com/robcaronAnthony Borton’s Bloghttp://myvstsblog.comTFS on MSDNhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/teamsystem/team/default.aspxTeam System Widget List (courtesy of Adam Cogan)http://accentient.com/widgets.aspx
Following my TechEd session in Auckland, and in anticipation of my TechEd session in Sydney. All via Paul Stubbs - in particular his DEV303 post from TechEd Boston:
Download this brand new tool to make it simple to diagnose and remediate issues arising from missing or misconfigured prequisites on VSTO 2005 client machines. Gives a great report on the state of the machine and its components:
Sample application (with full source code) that allows you to inspect and update the application manifest file embedded in VSTO documents.
Not strictly a VSTO-related app (designed for ClickOnce manifests), but can be used with VSTO deployment manifests. Drag a VSTO deployment manifest into the MAGEUI window and inspect and update the manifest. Ships with the .NET Framework SDK. Details in MSDN.
Deploying Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Solutions Using Windows Installer (Part 1 of 2)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/odc_vsto2005_ta/html/OfficeVSTOWindowsInstallerOverview.asp
Deploying Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Solutions Using Windows Installer: Walkthroughs (Part 2 of 2)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/odc_vsto2005_ta/html/OfficeVSTOWindowsInstallerWalkthrough.asp
VSTO Security MSDN documentation
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/k64zb6we(VS.80).aspx
VSTO Deployment MSDN documentation
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/hesc2788(VS.80).aspx
Security and Deployment walkthroughs
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms404813.aspx
Visual Studio 2005 Bootstrapper
http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/04/10/Bootstrapper/
VSTO Outlook add-in architecture
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/odc_vsto2005_ta/html/Office_VSTOOutlookAdd-inArchitecture.asp
Tech•Ed looms ever nearerConsumes all my timeSee you on the other side
If you need a Tech•Ed Haiku for your OOF, see Dave in the Dev'Garten - he's offered to write you one.
A few others have posted their TechEd schedule, so I thought I'd pop mine up too.
Easy to read huh?
The Blue appointments are NZ sessions in my Developer Tools Track, Red(ish) are the AU sessions in Developer Tools, White are Cabana Sessions and ARCCasts. Looks like a busy week.
I had to go (dot) one better than Frank :)
[Update - fixed the DDLS link and added Cabana session titles for all sponsors]
[Update 2 - changed Object Consulting's Session Title]
Yesterday I posted that all the Developer Cabana Sessions were completely booked at TechEd less than 12 hours after they had been made available on CommNet. I pinged all of the cabana speakers and they've agreed to do repeats of all the cabana sessions. These are now available for booking, so if you missed out last time, I suggest you get in quickly now.
In addition to this, I've just found out that Sparx Systems are a late signing as Developer Tools sponsors at TechEd (and will therefore be presenting a cabana session currently entitled "Using Sparx Tools with Visual Studio Team System"). For completeness, here's the list of Dev Tools sponsors - all of whom are presenting cabana sessions:
Compuware (TechEd Silver Sponsor) - "Integrating Compuware with VSTS"
Readify - "How Readify deployed TFS in the cloud"
Object Consulting - "Injecting process into the heart of VSTS"
SQL Tools - "Enhancing SQL Server Management"
Dimension Data - "SQL Server 2005 Encryption Architecture"
Sparx Systems - "Using Sparx Tools with Visual Studio Team System"
There's a new off-line blogging tool in town. Frank's blogged about it, so have Jeff, Tristan and Rob. I've just switched from BlogJet. Not because I don't like BlogJet, but just because I was curious. I have to say that the coolest feature for me is the ability to insert Windows Live Local maps!
For example, here's a view of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, where we'll be holding TechEd this year. Click on the image to view it on Live.com and notice that the pushpin is active!
Download the beta and give it a whirl.
I was presenting on Service Oriented Architecture today to a group of developers from a large Australian wealth management company. There were a number of really cool things about this talk.
Firstly, the group I presented to was an internal user group (or as Dave would have it, an Eye Tee Cee). They meet monthly at lunch time and have technical sessions just like any community user group would.
Next, I used Team Foundation Server as the back-end for all of the code I showed. This wouldn't be so cool on its own, but this was the world's smallest TFS, sitting under Dave Glover's staircase in Melbourne. I was connecting to it over an iBurst wireless card, through the cloud and all with pretty acceptable performance.
Finally, taking a leaf out of Chuck's book, I managed to present for 75 minutes with no slides. All demo. It's fun! We played with the Application designer, the Logical Data Centre Designer and the System Designer in VSTS. We also implemented a Web Service and a VSTO application.
If you're interested in starting a developer group at work, read Dave's post and contact your local Developer Evangelist. If you're not in Australia and you don't know who your local Developer Evangelist is, drop me a note and I'll find out for you.
In response to Mitch's call for team leaders, I volunteered for the role of Excel Guy. I got this in reply:
Woohoo! We have a full complement of leads. I’ll send out a bunch of information tonight or tomorrow. Thanks
I'm really looking forward to hooking in and making this project a great success.
Following on from my previous post, there has been a great response to the Developer Cabana sessions - so much so that they're already fully booked! I've increased the room capacity slightly, so it'll be standing room only at the back, but it looks like this one is a winner.
Next, I'm pleased to announce a bonus DEV track session:
DEV219 Introduction to Games Graphics Development in Direct3D Friday, August 25 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM, Exhibition Cabana A (red) Speaker(s): Ross Brown Session Level(s): 200 Session Type(s): Breakout Session Track(s): Developer Tools Ross Brown. School of Software Engineering and Data Communications, Queensland University of Technology This presentation will introduce you to generating real-time graphics for games using Microsoft's Direct3D. This presentation will introduce you to the main programming components involved in getting 3D game content onto the screen and moving, including: the graphics pipeline, modelling objects, animating objects, and making them look realistic with lighting. It will end with a brief view of programming the video card for extra effect with shaders. The aim of this presentation will be to introduce you to the main areas required for further study. You will be able to use this talk as a basis for further investigation into Direct3D, and graphics programming in general. For this talk, it is assumed you are an experienced programmer, with a reasonable background in mathematics.
DEV219 Introduction to Games Graphics Development in Direct3D
Friday, August 25 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM, Exhibition Cabana A (red)
Speaker(s): Ross Brown
Session Level(s): 200
Session Type(s): Breakout Session
Track(s): Developer Tools
Ross Brown. School of Software Engineering and Data Communications, Queensland University of Technology This presentation will introduce you to generating real-time graphics for games using Microsoft's Direct3D. This presentation will introduce you to the main programming components involved in getting 3D game content onto the screen and moving, including: the graphics pipeline, modelling objects, animating objects, and making them look realistic with lighting. It will end with a brief view of programming the video card for extra effect with shaders. The aim of this presentation will be to introduce you to the main areas required for further study. You will be able to use this talk as a basis for further investigation into Direct3D, and graphics programming in general. For this talk, it is assumed you are an experienced programmer, with a reasonable background in mathematics.
Hot on the heels of the XNA Games Studio Express announcement, this might be just what you need to kick-start you on that games development career you always wanted.
Finally, I had forgotton to mention the MCP Testing area at TechEd - This year at Tech.Ed 2006, you have the unique opportunity to take the Microsoft Certified Professional exam (MCP) for only $60 inc. GST (normally $180 inc. GST). But hurry, registrations close August 19th. The first 120 people to sucessfully complete a MCP certification exam at TechEd will receive a bonus "I Got There" cap (that's all the caps I could bring back on the plane from the US). You can't get one without taking a test, so sign up now! Hey, I managed to pass four MCP exams in the week I was in Seattle last month (and yes, I got a cap), so you should be able to manage :).
There only 300 certifications vouchers available. The MCP centre is open at TechEd 2006 from 22-25 Aug – please check the agenda page for exam times.
Chatting with Kleefy today, it turns out that we're almost at the stage where (for the first time in Australia) we're going to have to put up the "SOLD OUT" sign and stop selling TechEd tickets. If you're tempted to come to TechEd, don't delay. Register Today.