Alternate TFS Web Interface - tfs

I know TFS has a web server that gets installed with it, and that's great. I know it integrates very tightly, and very well with Sharepoint, and that's also great.
What I'd like to know though, is since the WSDL's for TFS are public, essentially making the API to send and receive data from it public as well; are there any alternate, non-Microsoft interfaces to TFS that provide most or all of the functionality, with consumer-driven enhancements, such as charting, or reporting solutions not found out of the box?
I've searched the almighty Google and Bing, and they are proving very difficult to find answers from.

You can create your own solution using SharePoint Enterprise edition and a combination of Excel Services reports and SQL Server Reporting Services reports; A SharePoint solution is the closest you'll find to something.
You can use the TFS SDK and object model to create your own application, but most people don't go very deep because Microsoft's Web Access tool is a capable client tool for most teams. There were also major improvements just released in the new TFS 2012. In fact Web Access started out as a 3rd party tool and there are some ways you can extend it.
There is one app I know of off the top of my head that has a web interface to TFS that is very simple; it can be found at http://techdayskanban.codeplex.com
There is also an example of extending the TFS Web Access at http://tfstimesheet.codeplex.com
Codeplex is a good place to check around because it is open source.
A commercial example of a product that extends Web Access can be found at http://urbanturtle.com though It seems you are looking for something more stand-alone.

Related

Creating Requirement based Test Suite fails through TFS API but works through Web Portal

Unable to create a Requirements based Test Suite using TFS .NET API nor the REST API in TFS 2015. Using the TFS web portal this is possible.
I understand the reason why the API's fail, which is that the EPIC work items I'm using are not in the "Requirement Category." However, the TFS web portal lets me use these same EPIC work item as the requirement for a requirements based test suite. Go figure?
Since the project I'm working on involves a Fortune 500 company it is no simple feat to add EPICs to the "Requirement Category." Since the TFS web portal uses some kind of work-around I'm wondering if someone can clue me in as to how it's being done, and if I can take advantage of it using the .NET or REST APIs.
Thanks
I could reproduce your issue on my side. According to the REST api of Create a test suite, parameter requirementIds supports categories of requirement type are: Epic, Feature, Requirement, and Bug. But REST api can not support Epic work items actually:
I have report a feedback at website below, we will get response soon:
https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/content/problem/231035/creating-requirement-based-test-suite-fails-throug.html

Need clarification on QuickBooks Desktop integration with Sync Manager vs Web Connector

From what I understand, Intuit is no longer allowing proprietary integrations with QuickBooks Desktop editions through the Sync Manager and only allowing apps that are put into the marketplace. Is this really the case? If so, is there a timeline for when they will start allowing this? Also, it seems that the supported objects for desktop editions is way behind those supported for the online edition. Will these be available any time soon (I.e. reports such as balance sheet, profit/loss, budget, etc.)?
I ask because we have been using the web connector for a couple of years now and it is not built for the type of use we need. To be specific, we are a franchising company that has a hosted QB solution for each of our franchises. We then pull data and pass jobs to and from our proprietary POS application through the web connector. We run into all sorts of problems with multiple web connectors being open on the same system trying to connect to different files and a host of other issues. Because of this, we are hoping that a more reliable integration can be developed through the Sync Manager.
From what I understand, Intuit is no longer allowing proprietary integrations with QuickBooks Desktop editions through the Sync Manager and only allowing apps that are put into the marketplace. Is this really the case?
Correct. QBD integration with SM and V3/V2 REST endpoints are not supported.
Apps.com is the mainly the SaaS marketplace ( mainly focused on QBO).
No new integration using QBD V3 can be created.
Also, it seems that the supported objects for desktop editions is way behind those supported for the online edition. Will these be available any time soon (i.e. reports such as balance sheet, profit/loss, budget, etc.)?
V3 QBD APIs are already marked as deprecated. There will not be any development on this.
Ref - https://developer.intuit.com/docs/0025_quickbooksapi/0058_faq#Does_QuickBooks_API_support_QuickBooks_Desktop_and_QuickBooks_Online.3F
Please refer the following thread on similar topic.
Integrating with QB Desktop products
Thanks

Does TFS 2010 have web services one can use to query check-ins, work items, etc?

I have figured out that TFS 2010 has the following web service endpoint
http://tfsservername:8080/tfs/TeamFoundation/Administration/v3.0/WarehouseControlService.asmx
Are there ones to get a feed of check-ins, work items and other TFS items?
Update: yes! Visual Studio Online introduced a new REST API, and on-premises installations of TFS 2013 have access to this new API.
In versions of TFS prior to TFS 2013:
tl;dr: Not in any way you're going to want to consume.
Team Foundation Server does expose SOAP web services that the clients use to talk to it. However, it's not something that is publicly documented, it's not supported by Microsoft (meaning they can, and will, change version to version) and, quite frankly, it's remarkably unlikely that the effort required will be worth the result.
Although the web services are well designed, some of the web services require a significant amount of client state. This is particularly true of the work item tracking web services. The clients basically contain an entire "rules engine" for processing and verifying changes to any fields. The client must, basically, be able to understand the process template and process all these state changes before submitting an updated work item back to the server. The server will also run the rules and verify that the client made only legal changes.
The rules engine is not exposed publicly. You would have to reverse engineer it.
This also makes some underlying assumptions like your web services stack can successfully speak NTLM2 and Kerberos properly (most can't, outside of the .NET web services stack, although some an support NTLM version 1 to some degree, which will only give you the illusion that you should be authenticating.)
It's therefore strongly suggested that you just use one of Microsoft's APIs for accessing TFS, either the .NET or the Java SDK.
(I actually worked for a third-party company that successfully wrote a Java front-end to TFS by talking to the web services. It was a fair challenge for us -- especially the work item implementation -- and this was the full-time job for several of us. I wouldn't recommend it as a side project.)
Just like Edward mentioned, the TFS web services aren't meant for public consumption.
On the other hand, you might want to give the "OData Service for Team Foundation Server" a try.
It offers a really nice REST-like interface - thus callable simply by issuing HTTP requests, just like you were willing to do with the web services.
To learn more, check this blog post: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/briankel/archive/2011/10/26/odata-service-for-team-foundation-server-2010-v1.aspx

Hosting Microsoft Access 2010 in WPF or Windows Forms?

Is it possible to host microsoft access 2010 in WPF or Windows Forms as ActiveX or anything? I've seen DsoFramer examples but it's not supported from Microsoft and not to mention buggy. Some articles suggest using webBrowser but it's coupled with registry settings that I would not like to overwrite.
Interobility at that moment isn't that important than just to be able to load the access database in a parent window.
Do I have any options of doing that other than using webBrowser control?
Thank you.
Probably not the answer you want to hear but there are no really good solutions available for embedding Office apps/documents in WPF/Winforms anymore. DSOFramer was about the only real choice, but it's dead and the KB has been removed. A web browser control is also plagued with problems.
Although not confirmed to support Access 2010, the only solution I know of for embedding Office docs these days is http://www.officeocx.com/. It has had its share of problems too - rumor has it that it is based off of DSOFramer.
You can try to use Microsoft Sharepoint, and serve the access functionality remotely through an embedded browser frame. Check this video about it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq-tDuPfgZc
There is a way. Amazon Web Services have a service called WorkSpaces. I've managed to host applications that give clients remote connection to their software that is not traditionally for the web. One of them was an accounting system. The other is an MS Access application.
I would be interested in knowing if Azure have a cheaper better solution, considering they own the product Windows Terminal Server. What I would really like to see on Azure is a windows container for MS Access.

Asp.net MVC/Silverlight and Sharepoint 2010 integration

Just a sidenote: I'm not sure whether I should post this to serverfault as well, because some MOSS admin may have some info for me as well?
Additional note 1: I've found this document (Asp.net MVC 2 & Sharepoint integration) if anybody with sufficient expirience is willing to comment on its content whether this can be used in my described scenario or not.
Additional note 2: I've discovered (later) that Silverlight is supported in Sharepoint 2010 so I'm considering it as well. So if anyone would comment on silverlight integration as well.
A bit of explanation first (without Asp.net MVC/Silverlight)
Is it possible to integrate the two? Is it possible to write an application that would share at least credential information with MOSS?
I have to write a MOSS application that has to do with these technologies:
MOSS 2010
Personal client certificates authentication (most probably on USB keys)
Active Directory Federation Services
Separate SQL DB that would serve application specific data (separate as not being part of MOSS DB)
How should it work?
Users should authenticate using personal certificates into MOSS 2010
There would be a certain part of MOSS that would be related to my custom application
This application should only authorize certain users via AD FS - I guess these users should have a certain security claim attached to them
This application should manage users (that have access to this app) with additional (app specific) security claims related to this application (as additional application level authorization rights for individual application parts)
This application should use custom SQL 2008 DB heavily with its own data
This application should have the possibility to integrate with external systems as well (Exchange for instance to inject calendar entries, ERP systems etc)
This application should be able to export its data (from its DB) to files. I don't know if it's possible, but it would be nice if the app could add these files to MOSS and attach authorization info to them so only users with sufficient rights would be able to view/open these files.
Why Asp.net MVC/Silverlight then?
I'm very well versed in Asp.net MVC (also with the latest version) and I haven't done anything on Sharepoint since version 2003 (which doesn't do me no good or prepare me for the latest version in any way shape or form). This project will most probably be a death march project so I would rather write my application as a UI rich Asp.net MVC application and somehow integrate it into MOSS. But not only via a link, because I would like to at least share credentials, so users wouldn't need to re-login when accessing my app. Using Asp.net MVC I would at least have the possibility to finish on time or be less death marching. Is this at all possible?
I haven't done any serious project using SIlverlight, but I will sooner or later have to. So I'm also considering a jump into it at this moment, because it still might make this application development easier than strict Sharepoint 2010.
Questions
Is it possible to integrate Asp.net MVC/Silverlight into MOSS as described above?
If integration is not possible, would it be possible to create a completely MOSS based application that would work as described?
Which parts of MOSS 2010 should I use to accomplish what I need?
The Patterns and Practices Sharepoint Guidance release on CodePlex has a model-view-presenter equivalent to MVC but targeted at SharePoint development.

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