Working with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System (Pro-Developer)

Implementing MSF 4.0 with Team System

Visual Studio 2005 Team System uses a mechanism called the process template that defines both the configuration and initial content of new team projects. In effect, the process template defines the methodology for a new project by rigging the project to facilitate the methodology.

Team System supports multiple methodologies by containing multiple process templates. When creating a new team project, the user selects a methodology from the list displayed by the New Team Project Wizard, and Team System uses the corresponding process template to set up the new project. This turns out to be a simple and elegant way to incorporate methodology at the project level.

NOTE

Team System allows you to add, remove, and customize process templates as needed to reflect the software development processes of your team. This is performed at the Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server level and not at the team project level. Once a team project has been created with a given methodology, the process cannot be added or removed for that particular project. You'll learn how to manage process templates in Chapter 9.

Team System includes two process templates for MSF 4.0, one for each of the MSF implementations: MSF for Agile Software Development and MSF for CMMI Process Improvement. In this section, we'll walk through the structure of a Team System process template to see exactly how it implements a methodology.

The process template consists of the following components: project structure, groups and permissions, work items, project portal, version control, and reports. It's important to remember that the process template configures the initial settings for a new project. Once the project is created, most of these settings can be modified by an authorized user.

Let's take a closer look at each of the process template components:

• Project structure

  Team System manages project structure using the Classification Structure System (CSS). The process template defines the classification structure of a project. The classification structure for MSF Agile includes project hierarchy and iterations.

  Project classification also specifies the name of each iterative development cycle in the project. Examples of iteration names include Setup, Alpha, Beta 1, Beta 2, and Release.

  Refer to Chapter 4 for more information on configuring the project structure.

• Users, Groups, and Permissions

  Each Team System project has its own set of users, groups, and permissions. Visual Studio Team System uses the security infrastructure implemented by Active Directory® directory service to manage project security. Active Directory groups are created to represent process roles. These groups are then assigned permissions appropriate for the roles they represent. Finally, users are added to each group based on their roles in the project. When a new Team System project is created, the groups and permissions are automatically set up. These settings can be modified as needed by authorized users.

• Work Items, Work Streams, and Work Products

  A work item is a database record that Visual Studio Team Foundation Server uses to track the assignment and state of work. Work streams are a sequence of related work items. Work products are the documents, spreadsheets, project plans, source code, and other tangible output from the work items or activities. The work item types, work streams, and work products for each product are configured based on the process template selected.

• Project portal

  Team System uses WSS to create a Web portal for each new project. The process template specifies the initial content to be automatically added to the project portal.

  The project portal is commonly used to store project documentation, including the process guidance associated with the process template. In addition, the project portal displays key team reports generated by Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 Reporting Services.

• Version control

  Source plays an important role in the SDLC process. Visual Studio Team System includes a robust version control system that integrates with work item tracking and the build process to create a complete software configuration management system. Each Team System project includes version control settings that specify check-out settings, check-in policies, and check-in note requirements. When a new Team System project is created, these settings are configured based on the process template selected. Changes to the check-in policies must be made after the project is created.

• Metrics and reporting

  Visual Studio Team System records metrics from all the Team System tools in a central data warehouse. For example, these metrics include information about work items, check-ins, build results, and test results. Because all the process metrics are in a single data repository, the project manager no longer has to spend time collecting and cross referencing metrics across tools. More data is available to the project stakeholders, and flexible reporting via Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services provides an unprecedented degree of real-time visibility on project health. Standard reports for each Team System project are configured based on the process template selected.

Customization and Extensibility

Visual Studio Team System offers many ways to customize its tool set to match your development process. We'll discuss each briefly here.

Process Templates

Authorized team members can use the Process Template Manager in Visual Studio Team System to upload and download process templates. A team can customize an exported template without having to do any programming or use any proprietary tools. This enables the team to build their own processes into Team System and then continually refine Team System to reflect process improvements based on lessons learned.

Custom Reporting

Although Team System includes many useful reports out of the box, organizations can create their own custom reports using SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services. In addition, organizations can define, capture, and store custom metrics in Team System's central data warehouse, providing additional reporting capabilities.

The Team Foundation Server architecture allows teams to extend the capabilities of Team System by adding services to the Team Foundation Client API. This enables teams and software life cycle tool providers to add tools to the suite with the same rich integration found in the Team System tools. Read more about the customization and extensibility of Team System in Chapter 9.