As you probably know, Visual C++ projects in VS 2010 use MSBuild to build. That works fine when you have Visual Studio installed, but can you build your C++ stuff without Visual Studio installed? One could build C#/VB projects with only .NET Framework...

.NET 4.0 and MSBuild 4.0 are out there now, but resources are still ramping up. So as a quick time saver, I have created the biggest most complete no-nonsense 100% satisfaction guarantee MSBuild resources reference page . :) That will be updated as newer...

I have updated TFS check-in policy for StyleCop 4.3.3.0 and also compiled a version for TFS 2010 (now that it has RTM’ed). The sources and MSIs (one for TFS 2008 and one for TFS 2010) are now available at MSDN Code Gallery . Enjoy!

Can you connect to TFS 2010 server using 2008 client? Sure you can! There are couple of gotchas to be aware of, specifically you’d be better off installing an update for TFS 2008; if you do not the following message comes up: Grant Holliday wrote very...

When you login to TFS using object model, sometimes it may be useful to get information about logged in user (such as domain, account, email etc.). In TFS 2008 object model, one would get the logged in user display name, domain name, account name and...

When starting up with TFS 2010 object model, there are few gotchas to be aware of (especially if you did coding for TFS OM 2005/2008 in the past). See my previous post for high-level details: In 2008 one would establish connection to TFS as follows   ...

In my previous post , I was talking about using making your custom tools ready for TFS 2010 with SDK. But what about other tools, say you? And not to worry, here you go (and I included not only TFS but VS tools as well): Team Foundation Server Power...

So may be now you have finally got your hands on Beta 2 of TFS 2010 (for example, using one of the excellent VHDs prepared by Brian Randell ) and it is time to see how your custom applications written for 2008 fare (do not worry, you will be fine!). Here...

While everyone else is blogging about VS 2010 Beta 2 , I thought it still may be worth publishing this post that talks about VS 2008 behavior (yes, the old release ;). One of the features missing in VS 2005 and added in VS 2008 was destroy command ; people...

Recently while I was fixing up StyleCop checkin policy , I came across one small not-so-obvious snippet of knowledge worthwhile to share. Any custom checkin policy inherits from PolicyBase , which in turn implements IDisposable . Meaning – if you need...

One of the much-talked-about missing features of TFS is the keyword expansion feature. You know, the ability to place the template in the beginning of every single file and then have every revision tracked in the body of the file (in addition to tracking...

Usually I try not to repost the links, but in this case just could not; I must recommend absolutely awesome super concise and informative post on benefits of PDBs from John Robbins (author of debugging Necronomicon if you don’t know). And to add what...

In one of my previous posts I mentioned that I consider custom controls in WI one of the most complex types of customization to implement. Since I got asked related question let me expand on the topic. Custom work item controls provide a way to implement...

Today I’d like to talk about WIT customization recommendations that will mostly become applicable as your custom Work Item types increase in complexity. Keep the number of custom fields limited (per TFS server) One can have a maximum of 1024 fields...

One significant drawback of MSBuild UsingTask element is that you must specify exactly the task name you are importing. That is if the assembly you are importing contains 200 tasks, you will have to import them explicitly one by one. And since you probably...

Recently I got asked a small but unobvious branching question. Suppose you have a folder named FolderName , and for some reason you have renamed it to NewFolderName . All is well, but now you decided you want to create a branch from that folder, and to...

In my previous posts I have discussed various bits that are important know before taking on Work Item types customization. Today I’d like to talk more about approaching the whole process. I would like to advocate a conservative approach, since in most...

In my previous post I talked about management of large files in TFS version control database. Today I’d like to talk about what you can do to optimize space management in work item tracking database. As you know, it is possible to add file attachments...

These are the days of cheap storage - but even the cheap storage may run out. And running Team Foundation Server storing artifacts in its (multiple) databases may use up your space rack faster than you might have expected (and if you want to know what...

Hello everyone, My name is Eugene Zakhareyev, and currently I am working for Microsoft (duh?). In my non-Microsoft past I used to be software development consultant and Team System MVP. My professional interests touch upon Visual Studio Team System...