How Do I Videos - Visual Studio Team Suite 2008

How do I: Change the Text and Visibility of a Menu Command?

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:28:22 +0530

This video demonstrates how to set dynamic text and visibility on a menu command. This is part four of a series, starting with "How do I: Add a Command to the Visual Studio IDE?"

How do I: Add a Command to the Visual Studio IDE?

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:19:31 +0530

This video demonstrates how to add a command to the Visual Studio IDE by creating a VSPackage project. The author also shows the relevant pieces of code and markup that determine the placement of the command and how events are attached.

Visualizing Runtime Object Graphs

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:51:12 +0530

One of the first questions people seem to ask when they see the Dependency Graph features of Visual Studio 2010 is whether it can also be used to visualize run-time object graphs. In this video, I will show you how that can be done using the SOS debugger extensions and specifically the GCRoot command. I've used this technique several times to help figure out some really complex memory leak bugs, so I'm confident you will find this to be a useful tool to add to your toolbox of tricks.

The code for the GCRootToDGML tool is available to download so you can try this out yourself. It should work with any recent version of Visual Studio 2010.

Standard Dependency Graphs

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:49:07 +0530

Soma Somasegar, Vice President of Developer Division, posted a blog about architecture tools in Visual Studio 2010, including some interesting dependency graph screen shots. To follow up on that, this video demos how this dependency graph feature works in more detail. The video is in lovely big HD resolution (1280 x 720) so you can really see what's going on. When I show this to customers, the reaction I get is excitement followed by "finally, I can see the big picture" of my code. Customers often find big things to improve in their code in the first 5 minutes of browsing with this tool.

Managing Large Graphs

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:38:31 +0530

The DGML dependency graph feature of Visual Studio 2010 includes some state-of-the-art Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)-based technology for visualizing and navigating large graphs, but I'm seeing customers still push this technology to the limits with some very large code bases. By default, the dependency graph features work best for code bases up to about 50,000 lines. If you need to visualize dependencies in solutions larger than this, use some of the tips and tricks that I take you through in this video.

This includes:

Garbage collection (2:00)
Filtering (2:23)
Limiting scope to selected assemblies (4:47)
Drilling into specific links (3:30)
Cut & Paste (5:20)
Untangling dense graphs using Quick Clusers, Neighborhood Mode and Butterfly mode (6:25)
Quick Grid mode on cancelled layouts (10:52)
Removing boring nodes using Find dialog with regular expressions (14:05)
Finding important nodes using "Hide Unselected" (16:08)
Splitting huge graphs into separate linked documents (17:02)
Custom reference attributes (18:23)

Directed Graph Documents

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:36:01 +0530

This video takes you through some great demos to give you an idea of what directed graphs and DGML can do. This is just a 10 minute teaser, in subsequent posts I'll drill into all the various software visualization features in more detail. The following download contains the DGML demos used in this video: Demos.zip (542.37 kb)

DGML with Style

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:20:12 +0530

In this video, I go through conditional styling in more depth to show you how to spruce up your DGML diagrams.

I also explain how to use the Legend box, talk about its limitations, and show how to edit styles manually in the DGML and get XSD IntelliSense, which will help you remember the various properties that are supported in conditional styles.

The thing that’s really interesting about conditional styles is how they make some hidden data in your graph really pop out. If you combine careful use of color, font, font size, outline, icons, and grouping, not to mention link styles and labels, you can convey a lot of information in one powerful picture.

In this video, you will learn about the Legend box, the DGML representation for Styles, and see how the GroupLabel and ValueLabel properties affect the Legend box. You will learn more about what you can do with Conditional Expressions and the importance of order when creating new styles. For more information on conditional styles, see the full BNF syntax.

Architecture Explorer

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:12:02 +0530

The Architecture Explorer in Visual Studio 2010 allows you to navigate through all sorts of interesting relationships in your code. It also allows you to create new Directed Graph Documents so you can visualize whatever relationships you explore and it provides a nifty ability to save and replay those queries using DGQL.

How Do I: File a Rich bug with Environment Snapshots?

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 22:43:35 +0530

This video shows you how to file rich bugs with the environment snapshot, as you run manual tests. Also shows you how the developer can connect to the environment snapshot from the bug to reproduce the error. The pre-requisites for this scenario are the following videos: Setup and Configure Lab Management, Create a Virtual Environment, Create Build and Test Artifacts, and Automate the Build-Deploy-Test Cycle.

How Do I: Clone Environments Using Network Isolation?

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 22:42:31 +0530

This video shows you how to create network isolated environments, how to use an application that needs the VMs to be domain joined on such an environment, and how to clone environments without creating conflicts on the network. The pre-requisites for this scenario are the following videos: Setup and Configure Lab Management, Create a Virtual Environment, Create Build and Test Artifacts, Automate the Build-Deploy-Test Cycle.

How Do I: Automate the Build-Deploy-Test Cycle in Lab Management?

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 05:18:21 +0530

This video walks you through the experience of authoring and running a workflow to build your application, restore environment to a clean snapshot, deploy the build on your environment, take a post deployment snapshot, and run build verification tests.

How Do I: Create Build and Test Artifacts with Lab Managment?

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 05:15:55 +0530

This video shows you how to create build and test artifacts needed to deploy your build on the environment and to run test cases. These artifacts are pre-requisites for the scenarios in the next two videos. The pre-requisites for this scenario are: Video 1 – Setup and configure lab management; Video 2 – Create a virtual environment; Source code is checked in.

How Do I: Setup and Configure Lab Management?

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 05:13:04 +0530

Walks you through the setup and configuration steps. Shows you how to setup the Virtual Machine Manager server and how to configure lab management on Team Foundation Server.

How Do I: Create a Virtual Environment with Lab Management?

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 05:10:11 +0530

This video walks you through the experience of creating your first virtual environment. Illustrates the two ways to create a new virtual environment – compose environment using running VMs and create a new environment using templates in the library. The pre-requisites for this scenario are: Video 1 – Setup and configure lab management; One or more virtual machines.

Visual Studio Lab Management Overview

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:14:26 +0530

Learn about Visual Studio Lab Management, which extends the existing VS ALM platform to enable an integrated Hyper-V based test lab.

UML Tools and Extensibility in Visual Studio 2010

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:41:14 +0530

In this video, Cameron Skinner will show you UML tools and the tools extensibility you'll find in Visual Studio 2010. Cameron will walk you through UML diagrams and help you build an understanding about model store, UML + DSL, extensibility capabilities and work item relationships.

How Do I: Use the TFPT Unshelve Command?

Tue, 2 Sep 2008 20:59:16 -0700

Join Richard Hundhausen as we learn how to use the TFPT UNSHELVE command, part of the Team Foundation Server 2008 Power Tools, to overcome a limitation when unshelving in a parallel development environment.

How Do I: Use TF.exe in a Multi-user Environment?

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:11:12 -0700

Join Richard Hundhausen as we look at some of the TF.exe command line utility features that are beneficial in a multi-user environment.

How Do I: Remove Resolve as the Default Check-in Action?

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:05:24 -0700

Join Richard Hundhausen as he answers one of the most frequently asked questions about checking-in: how to make Associate the default check-in action, rather than Resolve.

How Do I: Get the Most out of the Visual Studio 2008 SDK?

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:38:17 -0700

Join Richard Hundhausen as he explores the Visual Studio 2008 Software Development Kit (SDK) and discover the valuable source code and documentation contained within.

How Do I: Customize Team Foundation Server Reports?

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 17:38:43 -0700

In this video we will look at how to download and customize a Team Foundation Server report.

How Do I: Build and Deploy Database Projects Using Team Build?

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:42:03 -0700

In this video we will look at how to automatically build and deploy Visual Studio Team System 2008 database projects using Team Foundation Build 2008.

How Do I: Backup a Team Foundation Server 2008 Database?

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:06:52 -0700

In this video we will look at the steps required to backup both the Application Tier (AT) and Data Tier (DT) of Team Foundation Server 2008.

How Do I: Analyze Work Items Using Microsoft Excel?

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:16:45 -0700

In this video we will analyze our work item data using pivot tables and charts in Microsoft Excel 2007.

How Do I: Perform Code Analysis in a Visual C++ Project?

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 14:30:58 -0700

Join Richard Hundhausen as he shows you how to use the code analysis tool from within a Visual C++ project.

How Do I: Create and Run Unit Tests in C++?

Tue, 1 Jul 2008 02:41:37 -0700

In this video we will look at how to create and execute unit tests in Visual C++ 2008.

How Do I: Use the Checksum and ExpectedSchema Database Test Conditions?

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:30:38 -0700

In this video we will look at how to use the Checksum and ExpectedSchema database test conditions found in the Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition Power Tools.

How Do I: Destroy Work Items and Work Item Types?

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:25:49 -0700

Look at some enhancements to the TFPT.exe command line utility found in the Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server Power Tools. Richard Hundhausen demonstrates the DestroyWI and DestroyWITD commands to permanently delete work items and work item types.

How Do I: Use the Database Edition in a Real-world, End-to-end Scenario?

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:06:41 -0700

Use the Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition to import a schema into a database project, make improvements, deploy, refactor, generate test data, run database unit tests, and perform a schema comparison. Richard Hundhausen shows you how.

How Do I: Manage Test Results and Test Results Files?

Tue, 3 Jun 2008 00:21:35 -0700

Look at associate test results with work items and discover how to view and manage test results from the Test Results window, with all members of your team. Richard Hundhausen shows you how.

How Do I: Make Batch Edits to Work Items?

Tue, 27 May 2008 22:58:58 -0700

Join Richard Hundhausen as he demonstrates how to use Excel, the Web Access Power Tool, and the Team Foundation PowerToys (TFPT) command line utility to make various bulk-changes to your work items.

How Do I: Use the Refactor Command Generator Power Tool?

Tue, 20 May 2008 19:02:05 -0700

In this video we will use the refactor command generator, found in the Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition Power Tools, to convert our rename refactoring log into sp_rename commands to properly rename table and column names, preserving any data on our target databases.

How Do I: Use the New Database Refactoring Commands?

Tue, 13 May 2008 09:22:26 -0700

Use the new database refactoring commands, found in the Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition Power Tools, to move objects between schemas, fully qualify object names, and expand wildcards. Richard Hundhausen explains how.

How Do I: Use the Data Generation Wizard to Create a Data-bound Data Generation Plan?

Tue, 6 May 2008 14:42:55 -0700

Join Richard Hundhausen as he shows you how the Data Generation Wizard, found in the Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition Power Tools, can quickly generate a data generation plan from an existing data source.

How Do I: Use Team Explorer 2008 Enhancements?

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:20:51 -0700

In this video we will look at the enhancements to Team Explorer 2008 when you install the Team Foundation Server 2008 Power Tools. Specifically, we will look at the enhancements in Source Control Explorer that enable you to find files by wildcard, find files by status, open folders and files in Windows Explorer, and apply labels quickly.

How Do I: Model Class Libraries using the Architecture Edition Power Tools?

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:54:03 -0700

In this video we will install and use the Visual Studio Team System Architecture Edition Power Tools to model class libraries on the system and application diagrams.

How Do I: Generate Test Data using Visual Studio Team System Database Edition?

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:05:46 -0700

In this video we will create and use a test generator to generate random, yet meaningful test data, suitable for testing and development.

How Do I: Easily Bind Data to .NET Unit Tests?

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:01:46 -0700

In this video we will use the improved data binding support in Visual Studio Team System 2008 to help us more easily create data-driven unit tests.

How Do I: Write a Smple Custom Policy?

Tue, 1 Apr 2008 22:53:30 -0700

This video demonstrates how to write a simple custom policy to add to your existing Team Foundation Server development environment. It will walk you thru the design then deploy your masterpiece using the Visual Studio Setup project to install the Policy DLL n the right location and update the registry.

How Do I: Compare Performance Reports?

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:24:18 -0700

In this video we will use the new feature in the Visual Studio Team System 2008 Development Edition to compare two profiler reports. We will look for both performance regressions and improvements that occurred from one profiling session to the other.

How Do I: Compare Schemas Using VSTS Database Edition?

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:11:41 -0700

In this video we will use the schema compare tools in the Visual Studio Team System Database Edition to detect changes between the loaded database project and a deployed instance of the database, as well as comparing two different deployed databases. The scripts generated as a result of the schema comparison are then studied and executed to mitigate any differences.

How Do I: Compare Data Using VSTS Database Edition?

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:08:39 -0700

In this video we will use the data compare tools in the Visual Studio Team System Database Edition to detect changes between two different databases. The script generated as a result of the data comparison can be studied and executed to mitigate any differences.

How Do I: Use the Builds Check-in Policy?

Tue, 4 Mar 2008 22:51:32 -0800

In this video we will use the Builds check-in policy in our continuous integration environment to let us know when somebody has broken the build.

How Do I: Install and Enable the Build Notification Tool?

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:52:46 -0800

In this video we will install Team Foundation Server 2008 Power Tools and enable the Build Notification Tool to alert us when builds are queued, start, and complete. Notifications such as these are indispensable in a continuous integration environment.

How Do I: Automate Team Build 2008?

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:08:49 -0800

In this video we will explore ways you can trigger your automated builds in Team Foundation Build 2008. The first approach will be to trigger the build based on the day and time. The second approach will trigger the build based on a check-in – key to implementing continual integration.

How Do I: Secure Work Item Areas and Iterations?

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:26:35 -0800

In this video we will explore the work item area and iteration security settings and see how they can be used to allow or deny team members from changing areas or iterations and viewing or editing work items.

How Do I: Use the "Get_the Latest_On_Check-out" Feature?

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 18:41:50 -0800

In this video you will see the “Get Latest on Check-out” feature in Visual Studio Team System 2008. Just like the name implies, this feature will automatically perform a “Get Latest” as you check-out a file for edit.

How Do I: Use the Retooled System Designer in Visual Studio Team System 2008 Architecture Edition?

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:16:56 +0000

In this video we will create a top-down model of our system of applications using the retooled System Designer in Visual Studio Team System 2008 Architecture Edition.

How Do I: Use Visual Studio Team Foundation Work Item Templates?

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:23:18 +0000

In this how-to video, we will look at using Work Item Templates, found in the Team Foundation Power Tools, to increase your productivity when adding or editing work items.

How Do I: Use the Team Foundation Server Best Practices Analyzer?

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:45:27 +0000

In this how-to video, we will use the Team Foundation Server Best Practices Analyzer, found in the Team Foundation Power Tools, to scan and analyze your Team Foundation Server.

How Do I: Use the FolderDiff Command in VS 2008?

Tue, 8 Jan 2008 21:09:23 +0000

In this how-to video, we will look at using the FolderDiff command, found in Visual Studio Team System 2008, to compare the contents of two particular folders for missing or different files.

How Do I: Use the TF Destroy Command in Visual Studio Team System 2008?

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:21:47 +0000

In this how-to video, we will look at using the TF Destroy command, found in Visual Studio Team System 2008 to permanently delete artifacts out of Team Foundation Version Control.

How Do I: Work Offline With Team Foundation Server 2008?

Tue, 4 Dec 2007 19:34:16 +0000

When you cannot connect to Team Foundation Server 2008, you can work offline with you’re your version controlled projects and, later go back online and check-in your pending changes.

How Do I: Learn the New Features and Capabilities of Team Foundation Build 2008?

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:56:23 +0000

In this video, Richard Hundhausen explores the new features and capabilities of Team Foundation Build 2008, including defining and managing build definitions, agents, qualities, and retention policies.

How Do I: Write and Run Unit Tests Against Smart Devices?