mikeparks - Developer IT

Metro-Bootstrap + jQuery + Overscroll

- by MikeParks

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/MikeParks/archive/2013/10/19/dashboard--metro-bootstrap--jquery--overscroll.aspxJust playing around with some jQuery. Pretty cool stuff :) Metro-Bootstrap: http://talkslab.github.io/metro-bootstrap/ Overscroll: http://www.azoffdesign.com/overscroll Dashboard Demo Apps App 1 App 2 App 3 App 4 App 5 App 6 App 7 App 8 App 9 App 10 App 11 App 12 App 13 App 14 Tweet

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TFS Auto Shelve - New Visual Studio 2010 / TFS 2010 Extension

- by MikeParks

We've been working with the Visual Studio 2010 SDK and the TFS 2010 SDK a lot recently to create new Visual Studio Extensions. You can find these extensions in the Visual Studio Gallery. If you're a developer/programmer, you should check it out, they have some pretty cool tools out there. I'd be surprised if you told me you went there and couldn't find any tools that could help you. One of the new extensions Cory and I made is called TFS Auto Shelve. Check out the description and read about it below. If you're interested and you have VS 2010 w/TFS 2010, feel free to try it out and let us know what you think. You can download it here: http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/080540cb-e35f-4651-b71c-86c73e4a633d Here's a description and screenshots of what it does: Automatically shelves the latest version of all pending changes from local TFS workspaces to the TFS Server every "x" number of minutes when solutions are opened. · Purpose o Created for Team Foundation Server 2010 and Visual Studio 2010 o This tool is mainly aimed at the Programmer/Developer audience so they can always have the latest copy of their pending changes backed up to the TFS Server while coding · Functionality o Menu options become active and automatic shelving begins when a solution that mapped to a TFS Workspace is opened in Visual Studio o In Tools > TFS Auto Shelve (Running/NotRunning): Automatic shelving can be turned on/off o In Tools > TFS Auto Shelve Now : Shelve all code can be manually triggered o Each TFS workspace has its own shelveset which is re-used to save the latest version of pending changes o Shelvesets are named as Base Name + Workspace Name o Shelveset comment contains item count o If there are no pending changes, no shelvesets will be created/updated o If a solution is opened that is not mapped to a TFS Workspace, menu options are disabled since shelving only works for mapped workspaces. · Configuration o In Tools > Options > TFS Auto Shelve Options: Base Name is configurable o In Tools > Options > TFS Auto Shelve Options: "x" number of minutes is configurable in options · Logging o Custom Visual Studio Activity Logging is implemented. If you run into any errors, please startup Visual Studio with the /log switch, re-create the error, then close Visual Studio. You can browse to “%AppData%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\ActivityLog.XML” to view the log. Please feel free to inform us of any errors you see and we can work it out via email. · Other Helpful Information o To view shelvesets, open Source Control Explorer, click on File > Source Control > Unshelve Pending Changes o Workspaces can be modified by opening the Source Control Explorer > Clicking on Workspaces drop down > Click Workspaces… > Click Add / Edit / Removed Thanks! - Mike

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Work Item Visualizer for TFS 2010 - New Extension

- by MikeParks

I released another new extension to the Visual Studio Gallery again today called Work Item Visualizer for TFS 2010. I've only heard positive things about it so far, hopefully it stays that way :) Basically, it creates a diagram of all work items linked to a work item ID which the user specifies in a search box. This extension was coded using DGML (the same graph rendering language used for the Visual Studio 2010 Architecture Tools). It was pretty cool getting a chance to create something using some of the newest technology out there. Well, I just wanted to throw a blog up to get the word out on it a little more. If you're using Visual Studio 2010 with Team Foundation Server 2010, feel free to check it out! Thanks everyone. Download Link: http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/a35b6010-750b-47f6-a7a5-41f0fa7294d2 What it does: · Creates a DGML graph to visualize linked TFS Work Items by entering a Work Item ID in the toolbar search box How it benefits you: · Allows you to easily analyze the hierarchy of your TFS Work Items · Gain the ability to perform basic risk/impact analysis when creating or editing Work Items · Great for meetings in the case that you need to discuss the entire scope of linked Work Items · Easier project planning · Eliminates the need to create TFS queries or reports to view tree of Work Items · Easily lets you see the entire tree of work items linked to the one you’re working on Navigation Tips: · Use Ctrl + Mouse Wheel Scroll to zoom in and out · Use Ctrl + Left Mouse click (and hold) to move document around · Right click on DGML area for more options (Like copy image or viewing in groups) · Clicking on each node highlights that node and the links connected to it · Colors in the legend can be changed · When work item nodes are deleted, the view is automatically updated · Double clicking on work item node will open up the Work Items URL Try it out on work items that have several of links and let us know what you think. A big thanks goes out to everyone working on the http://visualization.codeplex.com/ project for publishing the source code on CodePlex which really helped me learn how DGML (Directed Graph Markup Language - New to Visual Studio 2010 Architecture Tools) works! - Mike

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Search Work Items for TFS 2010 - New Extension

- by MikeParks

A few months ago I was constantly using Visual Studio 2008 with Team Foundation Server 2008. Searching for work items with queries inside Visual Studio became a pain until I found an add in that simplifed it into one little search box in the IDE. It allowed me to enter some text in, hit the enter key, and it would bring back a list (aka open a .wiq file) of work items that matched the text entered. I became a huge fan of Noah Coad's Search Work Item Add In. He wrote a pretty good blog on how to use it as well. Of course when we upgraded to Visual Studio 2010 and Team Foundation Server 2010, the 2008 add in no longer worked. I didn't see any updates for it on codeplex to be 2010 compatible. Cory Cissell and I have published a few Visual Studio Extensions already so I figured I'd take a shot at making this tool 2010 compatible by turning it into an extension. Sure enough, it worked. We used it locally for a while and recently decided to publish it to the Visual Studio Gallery. If you are currently looking for an easy way to search work items in Visual Studio 2010, this is worth checking out. Big thanks goes out to Noah for originally creating this on codeplex. The extension we created can be downloaded here: http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/3f31bfff-5ecb-4e05-8356-04815851b8e7 * Additional note: The default search fields are Title, History, and Description. If you want to modify which work item fields are searchable, type in "--template" (no quotes) into the search box and hit enter. This will open the search template. Just add another "Or" statement, pick the field name, select an operator, type "[search]" (no quotes) in the value field, and hit ctrl + s to save. The next time you run a search it will use the modified search template. That's all for now. Thanks! - Mike

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New Visual Studio 2010 Extension - Collapse Solution

- by MikeParks

If your team has recently upgraded to Visual Studio 2010, take a second to check out the new Extension Manager. You can use it to browse through or install tons of tools, controls, or templates from the Visual Studio Gallery. My friend, Cory Cissell, and I recently teamed up and created an extension of our own called "Collapse Solution". It adds an option called Collapse Solution to the context menu of the solution node in the solution explorer. It also adds an option called Collapse Project to the context menu of each project node in the solution explorer. When that option is clicked, it will walk through the solution explorer tree and collapse any expanded child nodes in that section (projects, folders, code behind files, designer files, etc.). I use to have an add-in that did this in Visual Studio 2008 but it wasn't compatible when we upgraded to 2010 so we decided to write our own. The old tool was also packaged with a bunch of other junk that we didn't need so we figured it would be a much cleaner tool if it was broken off into its own extension. There's no need to install extra tools if you don't really need them. So if you have upgraded to Visual Studio 2010, please feel free to try out our Collapse Solution extension and leave us a rating/review in the Visual Studio Gallery. Thanks! Here's the link: http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/2d81fec6-71f3-4fa5-87b4-c2aa18e42f92

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Visual Studio 2010 Modeling and Architecture Tools

- by MikeParks

Jennifer Marsman (Microsoft Evangelist) and Cameron Skinner (Microsoft Visual Studio Product Unit Manager) recently stopped by our office while they were passing through Louisville on their tour to give us a presentation on the new Visual Studio 2010 Modeling and Architecture Tools. I checked out these new features when Visual Studio 2010 Beta versions originally rolled out and have been really impressed with this stuff ever since then. So it was pretty cool to actually learn some new techniques from Cameron himself since he helped write the actual code behind some of those features. If you've upgraded to Visual Studio 2010 recently I would highly recommend using the Architecture tools. They're awesome. If you want to make improvements to it, they even have their own SDK for it. There are plenty of blogs out there to show you how to use it. I've been waiting to find a tool that works like this where I can really analyze the code in solutions and projects and see how everything ties together. It's really handy if you're asked to work on a new project and aren't familiar with how it works. Just run the tools, analyze the DLL's, learn how everything works, and then you'll be ready to implement new code! It's a great tool to learn new systems quick and easy and it's all housed within the Visual Studio IDE. I just wanted to write a blog to brag about it a little bit, so I figured I'd throw this up here. It's a must have tool for Developers/Architects. Here's some screenshots of when I was using it earlier: Thanks everyone! - Mike

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A little SQL tip for C# developers

- by MikeParks

The other day at work I came across a handy little block of SQL code from Jeremiah Clark's blog. It's pretty simple logic but through the mind of a C# developer making some quick DB updates, seems to me that it's more likely to end up writing out the code in Solution 1 instead of Solution 2 below to solve the problem. Basically, I needed to check and see if a specific record existed in Table1. If it does exist, then update that record, otherwise insert a new record into Table1. Solution 1: IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM Table1 WHERE Column1='SomeValue') UPDATE Table1 SET (...) WHERE Column1='SomeValue' ELSE INSERT INTO Table1 VALUES (...) Solution 2: UPDATE Table1 SET (...) WHERE Column1='SomeValue' IF @@ROWCOUNT=0 INSERT INTO Table1 VALUES (...) As Jeremiah explains, they both accomplish the same thing but from a performance standpoint, Solution 2 is the better way to go (saved table/index scan). Just wanted to throw this small tip out there. Thanks! - Mike

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New Bing Maps

- by MikeParks

Normally I don't stray too far from Programming and TFS on my blog posts but I'm just really impressed with how much Silverlight has improved Bing maps. I use to be big on MapQuest, then hopped over to Google, but now the new Bing Maps have everything I need. The two coolest features are right on the main page. All you have to do is go to http://www.bing.com/maps/explore/, enter your city and hit enter in the search box, then look in the lower left corner under the EXPLORE section. Check out the "What's nearby" and "Restaurants" links. The best part is, if you're interested in doing any Silverlight programming, they have a Bing Maps Silverlight Control Interactive SDK. I was thinking about coding something....but they've pretty much got it down :) Pretty impressive stuff.

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Visual Studio 2010 - Faster Startup with /nosplash

- by MikeParks

I read a blog the other day about the /nosplash switch in Visual Studio. Apparently, it's been around a while and I'm a little late on finding out about it. I figured I'd share it for those of you that come across this and didn't know about it as well. Basically all it does is turn off the Visual Studio splash screen which speeds up initial startup time. It's not a big difference but every little bit helps. I choose speed over looks. You can set the switch by right clicking on Visual Studio, selecting Properties, and adding "/nosplash" on the target Property, so it will look like this: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe" /nosplash. Feel free to try it out and see if you like it. You can always change it back by just removing the /nosplash switch when you're done testing. There are plenty more Visual Studio switches out there but this is the main one that came in handy for me. - Mike

Developer IT