Kardum Software Development Storyboard

My new blog site at kardum.net

2012-02-09T21:46:00.000+01:00

For now on, I will post my new blog posts on my freshnew blog site at my domain kardum.net. Follow me at http://kardum.net/blog/

New blog site is powered by Wordpressblog engine. Sorry Google, but it's much better then Blogger.

Code Sample - Deserialize XML into an existing object

2012-01-04T08:52:00.001+01:00

Until now,in this blog you couldn’t find any code, but I decided to put some of my own codesamples together with my other posts. The first one is about how to deserializeXML into an existing and already initialized object. It's not completelygeneric solution and will not work for all kind of objects, but it works for mycase and many others and if you want you can extend it with your ownimplementation for some special cases. Here it is:

private static void DeserializeIntoExistingObject(string xmlData, object initializedObject)
{
XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
xmlDoc.LoadXml(xmlData);
XmlNode firstNode = xmlDoc.FirstChild;
if (firstNode != null)
{
foreach (XmlNode node in firstNode.ChildNodes)
{
PropertyInfo property = initializedObject.GetType().GetProperty(node.Name);
if (property != null && node.FirstChild != null && node.FirstChild.InnerText != null)
{
object valueObject = null;
if (property.PropertyType == typeof(string))
{
valueObject = node.FirstChild.InnerText;
}
else
{
Type propertyType = property.PropertyType;
if (propertyType.IsGenericType && propertyType.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(Nullable<>))
{
Type propertyTypeBase = propertyType.GetGenericArguments()[0];
propertyType = propertyTypeBase;
}
if (propertyType.IsEnum)
{
if (Enum.IsDefined(propertyType, node.FirstChild.InnerText))
{
valueObject = Enum.Parse(propertyType, node.FirstChild.InnerText);
}
}
else
{
Type propertyRef = propertyType.MakeByRefType();
var method = propertyType.GetMethod("TryParse", new[] { typeof(string), propertyRef });
if (method != null)
{
object[] oArgs = new object[] { node.FirstChild.InnerText, null };
bool canConvert = (bool)method.Invoke(null, oArgs);
if (canConvert && oArgs[1] != null)
{
valueObject = oArgs[1];
}
}
}
}
if (valueObject != null)
{
property.SetValue(initializedObject, valueObject, null);
}
}
}
}
}

Project planning with the TFS Web Access 11

2011-11-20T19:25:00.001+01:00

The requirements are defined and accepted by all stakeholders. What to do next? Before the start of implementation, it is necessary to plan the project or its next iteration. Whether you are using Scrum, or some other development process, it is necessary to define what are the scenarios or user stories which have to be implemented on the project/iteration. For the current iteration, we have to go deeper and also define tasks. Also with the definition of tasks, it is important to define the resources, people, our development team. Planning tool is a part of the new Team Foundation Server Web Access 11. Tasks and User Stories are defined on the page “Backlog”, and the development of these tasks and user stories are tracked on the page “Board”. New TFS Web Access also introduces a definition of the Team, as a new managed part of the project. In the older versions of TFS, including Version 2010, TFS Web Access was only used to access a small subset of the TFS data, and is mainly used for accessing work items. The new version of the TFS Web Access is completely redesigned, and offers many reasons to become one of the key tools within the TFS. In addition to completely new functionality of project planning, Web Access supports Build functionality and access to the source control. You can access, change, and track code changes within Web Access, without Visual Studio. Maybe this sounds unreasonable for software developers, which are using Visual Studio all the time, but for project managers or some IT stuff, which only want to change some setting in configuration file, it sound reasonable to use Web Access and not Visual Studio to do that. In fact, project managers and other team members that are not using Visual Studio as the primary tool, TFS Web Access 11 offers everything they need to have a complete insight into the project, from the code changes, work items tracking, build functionality, to the current state of development iterations and tracking resources with the Backlog and Board pages and graphical reports Burndown and Velocity.

Planning in the TFS Web Access starts with the definition of the team and their capacities and with the definition of the backlog. Also, begin date and end date must be defined for project iterations. For team member, you also have to define absences. Team Foundation Server with the new version is finally aware of the time dimension and can follow the development in relation to the current date and the current iteration. In the page Product Backlog you can define user stories. It also enables you to drag items and reorder them if you need to reprioritize the work. You can also reassign items to different iterations (sprints), again with simple drag’n drop. During the task allocation, we can automatically track the workload of the team as a whole and each individual member in relation to a defined capacity. Capacity is determined by the time duration of the current iteration, the number of average hours each developer spends on project and team members’ absences. After completion of planning, during an execution of iteration, we can follow development progress through the page Board (in Scrum Storyboard). On the Board we can track which tasks are completed (Done), still developing (In Progress) or have not even started (To do). By moving tasks from one state to another, we can track the progress of development in the real-time.

TFS 11 Requirements Management with PowerPoint

2011-11-01T14:57:00.001+01:00

Thedevelopment of a new software product, or one of iterations, starts with the requirementsdefinition. Microsoft with Visual Studio 11 for the first time offers adedicated tool for requirements management. It is called PowerPoint! This is MicrosoftOffice PowerPoint. Within the Visual Studio group of products, it’s called StoryboardingPowerPoint, but it is nothing else but a well-known tool for creatingpresentation documents with the Add-in that gives us shapes and templates fordifferent kind of user interfaces, so you can use all its functionalities you already know. Using this tool, an end-user or a business analyst, whoever defines the requirements, can simply define look and feel of the desired application. PowerPoint document created with this tool can be storedanywhere, but the best practice is to save it on the project portal of the TeamFoundation Server, together with other project documentation, so that allstakeholders can access them. During the project planning, this document shouldbe linked to a user story (in case of Scrum process) or any other work itemdepending on methodology template you use. With the PowerPoint Storyboardingyou can quickly build the mockups that simulate all user interaction for thenew requirements. Users don’t know whatthey want until they see that. With this tool, they will create requirementsand see the result at the same time. If you need a real prototype of yourapplication, you will find this tool too simple. If you need something morecomplex, with much more graphics and UI options to create prototype of yourapplication, you could use ScatchFlow.It’s not a new tool and it’s a part ofMicrosoft Expression family of tools.The intention of this tool is to create a real UI- functional prototype. But,in most cases, it’s more then you need. In the requirements phase, you have tobe agile and react fast. You need to use simple tool to change the UIrequirements faster. The best tool for that purpose is the new PowerPointStoryboarding.

Visual Studio and TFS 11

2011-10-28T06:30:00.000+02:00

VisualStudio over the last few versions has evolved from high-level developer’s tool ina set of tools for the entire process of application development. In theupcoming version, Visual Studio continues in that direction. Together with the nextversion of Team Foundation Server, Microsoft has completed the platform thatsupports all phases of the development lifecycle, and also introduced some newimprovements in the existing tools. In the next few blog entries, I will demonstratesome of the biggest new features for software development and applicationlifecycle management in the version 11 of the Visual Studio ALM tools andservices. At the beginning let’s just mention what are the biggest news inVisual Studio and Team Foundation Server 11:

· IDEImprovements:

o Projectand solution backward compatibility

o Browsingfeatures in Solution Explorer

o Filepreview in the Code Editor.

o Quickcommand search

o CodeEditor Enhancements for JavaScript

o Newimage editor

o DirectXVisual Shader designer

· Debuggerand quality analysis improvements:

o StandaloneIntellitrace

o CodeClones Analysis

o Simplifiedremote debugging

o DirectXGraphics Debugger

o NewUnit Test Explorer, nUnit supported

· Web/Windows/MobileDevelopment features

o .NET4.5 features

o ASP.NET4.5 web development enhancements

o IISExpress replaces the ASP.NET Development Server

o SharePointDevelopment enhancements

o Metro-styledevelopment

· TFSfeatures

o TeamExplorer new look and feel

o BacklogManagement

o Supportfor Feature Teams

o NewTFS Web Access

o Storyboardingtool

o CustomerFeedback tool

o Exploratorytesting in Test Manager

o CodeReview Workflow

o Suspendfor Work Interruptions

o NewMerge/Compare tool

Certainly it’snot all. If I forgot something important, pleas just add it in a comment and I’llexpand the list. In the next few stories (blog entries) I’ll write mostly aboutTFS 11 new features and also about some mostly some debugger and qualityanalysis improvements.