Allen Clark

I moved

Allen Clark - MSFT — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 22:20:09 GMT

I'm blogging on the VS ALM/TFS blog now. Today, I posted this ....(read more)

Team Foundation SDK Updates: VB Samples + More Samples using the Version Control APIs

Allen Clark - MSFT — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 05:18:00 GMT

We've just updated to the Team Foundation SDK content ( Extending Team Foundation ) to include VB samples alongside the C# samples that we had previously published. We've also added some new sample code for working with the version control APIs: ...(read more)

How do You Prioritize Content Work? Here's What We Did for Team Foundation Content

Allen Clark - MSFT — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 18:57:00 GMT

Once we identified most of the items (stories) in our backlog, we started to prioritize them. In our first pass, we adapted a technique that Mike Cohn teaches called Theme Scoring . I say adapted because we didn't identify a small number of themes and...(read more)

The Content Backlog for Team Foundation: It's About What the Developer Does, not What the Product Does

Allen Clark - MSFT — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 23:13:00 GMT

In the past, we managed our work by defining the topics that we need to write, and then estimating and prioritizing the work to write those topics. Before VS2010, that worked really well. We documented the features that the product team created. As they...(read more)

Creating a Backlog of Content Work

Allen Clark - MSFT — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:32:00 GMT

I have posted a couple of series on how we plan content work for Team Foundation, one in 2007 Planning the Sprint Tracking Work Items Reporting Status and the other in 2009. How we Track Content Work Managing...(read more)

Using the Schemas to Edit Work Item Types and Process Templates for Team Foundation in Visual Studio

Allen Clark - MSFT — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 23:09:00 GMT

I've just posted the Team Foundation schema files for process templates and work item types on Code Gallery: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/TFSchemas/Wiki/View.aspx?id=25933 . You can drop the schema files in Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10...(read more)

Enabling new Application Lifecycle Management Features for Visual Studio 2010 in Upgraded Team Projects

Allen Clark - MSFT — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:18:00 GMT

When you upgrade your server to Team Foundation Server 2010, you will have a wealth of new features available. Generally, you don’t have to do anything except start using those new features. For example, you can use the new types of links between...(read more)

Team Foundation SDK Improved for VS 2010

Allen Clark - MSFT — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 19:01:00 GMT

Back in January, I wrote this post that showed that we really needed to change directions on the SDK content. The major elements of the new approach are Throw out what was there because it wasn't working Deliver a new set of SDK content that...(read more)

The 5 most read Visual Studio ALM help topics on MSDN

Allen Clark - MSFT — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:50:00 GMT

Curious about what other people are reading about Application Lifecycle Management in Visual Studio? Here are the 5 VS ALM topics that are read most often on MSDN: Topic Views Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management 130...(read more)

Streamlined: Extending Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management

Allen Clark - MSFT — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:31:00 GMT

I've been working on streamlining some content in an effort to make it easier for you to get the information that you need. The first place I did this was in the Team Foundation SDK, in Extending Team Foundation and Extending Work Item Tracking . I'm...(read more)

Team Foundation SDK Update includes the Server Object Model

Allen Clark - MSFT — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 20:19:41 GMT

We just published updates to the Team Foundation SDK , which now covers the server object model . We're making some other changes, too. Of course, we're adding more content to the reference material. For example, we've added information that we think...(read more)

Team Foundation Power Tools Update

Allen Clark - MSFT — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 23:12:00 GMT

A new version of the Team Foundation Power Tools has just been released. Some highlights: There's a tool to help you back up Team Foundation Server The Best Practices Analyzer has been updated...(read more)

Updated: Customizable Process Guidance

Allen Clark - MSFT — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:34:06 GMT

A couple of weeks ago, I posted customizable process guidance packages on Code Gallery. I've updated those to pick up a few minor changes that we published on MSDN yesterday. http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/VSScrumGuidance http://code.msdn.microsoft...(read more)

Customizable process guidance

Allen Clark - MSFT — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:50:00 GMT

I've just posted versions of process guidance for Visual Studio Scrum 1.0, MSF for Agile Software Development v5.0, and MSF for CMMI Process Improvement v5.0 on Code Gallery so that you can customize them and associate these customized versions with your...(read more)

Team Foundation SDK Feedback

Allen Clark - MSFT — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:55:00 GMT

Earlier this year, I noted that I had seen a bad trend in ratings for the Team Foundation SDK content , and that we were going to change course in order to try to correct that. We published the new Team Foundation SDK for VS 2010 in late June, and I've...(read more)

Microsoft Visual Studio Scrum 1.0 - Process Guidance

Allen Clark - MSFT — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:40:25 GMT

As Aaron Bjork decribes in his blog , we recently released a template for strict Scrum practitioners. The official name is Microsoft Visual Studio Scrum 1.0. Check out Aaron's blog post for the details. As he mentions, the guidance for this template is...(read more)

Team Foundation SDK for VS 2010

Allen Clark - MSFT — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:18:00 GMT

We have just published the first increment of the Team Foundation SDK for VS 2010 . Several months ago, I commented on the negative trend we have seen for the TF SDK content, and I explained that we had started an effort to attempt to turn that around...(read more)

New Sandcastle builds MSDN-style API Reference

Allen Clark - MSFT — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 19:59:00 GMT

There's a new version of Sandcastle on codeplex . It supports .NET 4, and it builds MSDN-style API Reference topics that are compatible with the new Microsoft Help Viewer that was delivered with Visual Studio 2010. I'm on the inside looking out, but that...(read more)

Sample Code: Create a Work Item in Team Foundation

Allen Clark - MSFT — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:09:52 GMT

You can create bugs, tasks, and other types of WorkItems by performing the following steps: Construct a WorkItem. Set the values of the required fields. Save the WorkItem. Depending on the type of WorkItem that you create, most required...(read more)

Sample Code: Refactoring to Handle Different Types of Work Items

Allen Clark - MSFT — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:46:00 GMT

When you write code that works with different team projects, your code may need to handle different types of work items that serve similar functions, but it different ways. For example, user stories in team projects that are based on MSF for Agile Software...(read more)

Where are those Team Foundation namespaces?

Allen Clark - MSFT — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:09:00 GMT

Some of the namespaces in the Team Foundation client object model aren't in namespace .dll. Sometimes, the namespace is spread over more than one assembly. Here's a table to help you find the namespace your interested in, and to make sure you have the...(read more)

Sample Code: Connect to Team Foundation Server

Allen Clark - MSFT — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:20:00 GMT

Connecting to Team Foundation Server programmatically isn't as obvious as you might expect. Here's a topic that describes how to do that that. It'll be included in the TFS SDK when we publish that. Let me know whether this info is helpful, and what else...(read more)

More about Pageviews for Project Management and Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management

Allen Clark - MSFT — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:59:00 GMT

The last time I posted, I pointed out the significant increase in pageviews for project management as a share of pageviews for all the content we have for Visual Studio ALM (fka VSTS). I know that pageviews for TF administration content are down, and...(read more)

Project Management page views

Allen Clark - MSFT — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:19:00 GMT

I've commented several times that page views for project management content are way up in Dev 10. I decided to look at that a little more closely. I looked at the page views for project management as a percentage of all of VSTS (or VS ALM). For comparison...(read more)

Opposing Trends in Feedback on my Help Topics for Team Foundation

Allen Clark - MSFT — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:12:00 GMT

When I look at the feedback that we've received for the topics that I wrote or that I've picked up to maintain, I see a generally positive trend. In VS 2008, ratings for these topics are slightly better than they are for my topics in VS 2005. In Dev 10...(read more)