VSTS Chat – Expert Answers

Q: we always felt that the multiple checkout of vss problem in our environment is there anything done for inproving that

A: Yes VSTS Source Control allows user to do multiple Check out;;

Q: Where can I find a list of changes from the previous CTP to the Dec CTP? (i.e. implemented feature changes, reports, etc)

A: Every CTP release has documentation that details out the features present in the release and what is working/not working. CTP is just a point release. At Beta time we would have a document that would detail the differences with previous Beta. Is there a particular feature you want to know about?

Q: Is there any guidelines to start working with Team System on an experimental basis so that non developers like Project Managers, Analysts and Testers get to have a feel of working of Team System.

A: We have different SKUs for people considered non developers. We have a SKU specifically for architects, project managers and QA. ELead team has a suite of features targeted towards project managers. We come out with CTP and Beta releases that are generally available for public download. You can start with those releases.

Q: Will PMs be able to create a new VSTS project, add team members and basically control the dev cycles solely from within MS Project? Or will they need to install / use Visual Studio? (in both the Dec CTP and Beta 2 releases)

A: No you cannot add team members from MS Project;; You need to install and use Visual Studio.

Q: Is reporting slated to make it in the Beta 2 release? Is the Beta 2 release in the February / March time frame?

A: Yes reporting will be there in beta 2. However it is not in the Dec CTP

Q: Does the scope include integration with Project Server for component development as tasks

A: In V1 of VSTS we are integrateing it with Project Server;;

Q: Does the scope include integration with Project Server for component development as tasks

A: I am sorry in V1 of VSTS we are not integrating with Project Server;;

Q: Will we be able to use either the sampling or instrumentation profile methods from within a VPC in Dec CTP? Beta 2? Gold Bits?

A: Some features of VSTS (code profiling) will never work inside a VPC.

Q: does it support Analysis and Design? any discipline not suportted?

A: Yes we will be supporting requirement analysis and design. We have Team Architect SKU which will have Class Designers, Logical Data Center Deisgner, System Designer, Application designer

Q: Sorry to harp on the same question… Is there a list of capabilities / features in the MS Project integration with Team System? I’m concerned that a PM won’t be able to do much except create work items for an existing project, and maybe attach documents

A: Using Micorosft Project Plan the project manager can create/edit/see the workitems in it;;

Q: Per Khusboo – Team system is a full cycle tool and integrates with various tools – so will that mean a single point of entry for a particular data like efforts, defects etc.

A: Rajesh, data like defects task etc will be stored in a single work item database which can be accessed through Excel, MSProject, VS. So primarily any of this can be your entry point. The Work Item tool in VSTS integrates with Excel and MSProject

Q: Hi, Can you explain some of the core automated testing features that will help to test the application rigourously.

A: Our unit testing features provide the ability to test pieces of your code much as NUnit and other unit test frameworks do. In addition, we provide great IDE integration, integrated debugging support, and support for additional types of tests through the Team Test and Team Suite SKUs. The test SKU will have lot of test types such as unit testing, load testing, static analysis, profiling, code coverage. We are also working on data bound testing. The testing is fully integrated within VSTS IDE and testers will be able to create/run selected tests from within IDE.

Q: What is the difference between BigBuild and MSBuild? (Sorry for the newbie question, but I haven’t used any of the integrated build functionality yet.)

A: Team Build (code name Big Build) uses MSBuild as the underlying build engine. It integrates your entire build process starting from syncing sources to the build machine, running tests, static analysis, automates email generation on build completion, automatic filing of bugs etc. Hence an integrated build lab out of the box. You can use the underlying MSBuild scripts to customise these build steps to suit your needs

Q: Khushboo: Thanks for the GREAT answer! Now that is functionality I just cannot wait to see! 🙂 Will BigBuild be the way that check-in policies are implemented?

A: Hey Thanks Steven . Typically checkin policies will be defined in the source control. Is that what you are asking for? BigBuild will have reports which talk about the general health of the build which includes the associated changesets and work items which went into the checkin included in this build

Q: Policies: I was wondering about Big Build, since I’d like to be able to create a check-in policy that forces code to pass static analysis before being checked in. Plus all check-in code will need (in my world) to pass the entire unit test harness.

A: checkin policies can be defined at the methodology and source control level.Big Build as of now comes into the picture once the check in is already done. The flow starts when BigBuild syncs the sources from the source control and pulls it down to the build machine. The tests and static analysis tools are run after the build and results reported. A ‘successful build’ in team Build is defined as you have suggested only when the tests also pass successfully.

Q: What will be the requirements for Team Foundation Server in terms of hardware and can it be used along with any existing server that runs for eg SQL Server or webserver.

A: As of now we require 2 machine to run TFS, one hosting the data tier and the other one middle tier. There could be any number of clients connected to middle tier. At the time of release, the goal is that TFS will install on single machine. As of now TFS requires its own install of SQL server, the new version code named Yukon. This SQL server will be included with TFS.

Q: What is the recommended resource requirements for TFS?

A: see my earlier reply

Q: Keith: Thanks! So the dev will run the test locally, and that will be noted at check-in. 🙂 Great news! Then I can use BigBuild for my nightlies!

A: Yes Steven. You can configure Team Build for your nightlies. You can also kick off builds on demand

Q: Can you please throw some light on SOA integration with VSTS ?

A: The prime purpose of Team Architect Edition is the distributed system designers, which are a set of design tools developing and deploying service-oriented applications.

Q: How tightly has the MSF 4.0 Agile methodology been implemented in this CTP? If I select MSF Agile as my methodology, will the templates and documents closely approximate the ‘final’ MSF Agile, or is that still a work in progress?

A: My understanding is that MSF 4.0 is well integrated in this CTP release. Process guidance document, group policies such as checkin permissions, work item templates is all there.