Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2015 Power Tools

Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2015 Power Tools

This release supports

· Visual Studio 2015, including any update

· Team Foundation Server 2015, including any update

If you need previous versions of the power tools, you can go to: Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2013 Power Tools, Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2012 Power Tools, Team Foundation Server Power Tools December 2011.

Compatibility

You need to match the version of the TFS Power Tools with your Visual Studio client. If you have VS 2015 installed, you need to install the TFS 2015 power tools. Regardless of which version of TFS you are targeting. To clarify, here are some examples:

VS 2015 connecting to TFS 2015: Install TFS 2015 Power tools

VS 2013 connecting to TFS 2012 or TFS 2010: Install TFS 2013 Power Tools

VS 2012 connecting to TFS 2013: Install TFS 2012 Power Tools (since the power tools need to match the VS version)

For the full details on compatibility see the Compatibility Matrix at the bottom of this content.

Power tools changes compared to last version:

Best Practices Analyzer

The Best Practices Analyzer is no longer supported in this Power Tools version.

Build Extensions

Build Extensions are now integrated as part of Team Foundation Server 2015.

Support for Visual Studio Express

Visual Studio Express editions are now supported with the exception of the following features: addprojectportal, addprojectreports and createteamproject.

VS Express editions include:

- Express for Desktop

- Express for Web

- Express for Windows

Check-in policies

A Visual Studio add-in, located under the Team | Team Project Settings | Source Control menu. It adds the following checkin policies:

Policy	Description
Custom Path Policy	This policy scopes other policies to specific folders or file types
Forbidden Patterns Policy	This policy prevents users from checking in files with fobidden filename patterns
Work Item Query Policy	This policy allows you to specify a work item query whose results will be the only legal work items for a check-in to be associated with

Process Template Editor

A Visual Studio add-in, located under the Tools menu. The Process Template Editor provides a graphical user interface for customizing work items (field, workflow and the form) and process templates.

It will not be supported on Win10 with Express for Windows.

Storyboard Shapes

This tool enables you to create shapes for the PowerPoint storyboarding add-in with custom resize logic.

Team Explorer Enhancements

This tool provides additional Visual Studio menu options and functions to support finding files under version control by status or wildcard, opening a folder using File Explorer from the Source Control Explorer context menu, and labeling files and folders in Source Control Explorer. Clone builds definitions easily and copy work item paths. Collaborate and share with your teammates within Visual Studio using the Team Members page in the Team Explorer tool window. You can communicate with your team through instant messaging, share queries and components, create workspace templates, and track your sprint progress.

Note: Some of the enhancements (such as the clone build definition) only work when its pane is docked. If you have undocked it (and became its own tool window), first dock it into Team Explorer. You can safely undock the pane again when you have completed the command.

Team Foundation Power Tool Command Line (tfpt.exe)

A companion tool to “tf.exe” that offers additional version control commands, work item tracking, and team project manipulation. Some commands invoke a graphical user interface when run.

Run tfpt.exe /? to find a list of the supported commands:

Command	Description
Addprojectportal	Add or move portal for an existing team project
addprojectreports	Add or overwrite reports for an existing team project
Annotate	Display line-by-line change information for a file
Bind	Convert VSS-bound solutions into TFS-bound solutions
Branches	Convert, reparent, list, and update branches
Builddefinition	Clone, Diff or Dump build definitions
buildprocesstemplate	Manage build process templates
Connections	Modifies Team Explorer client connection settings
createteamproject	Create a team project
Getcs	Get only the changes in a particular changeset
Online	Pend adds, edits, deletes to writable files
Query	Query for work items
Review	Review (diff/view) workspace changes
Scorch	Ensure source control and the local disk are identical
Searchcs	Search for changesets matching specific criteria
Treeclean	Delete files and folders not under version control
unshelve	Unshelve into workspace with pending changes
uu	Undo changes to unchanged files in the workspace
workitem	Create, update, or view work items

Test Attachment Cleaner

The execution of a Test Run (whether automated or manual) generates a bunch of diagnostic data, which may be captured either automatically by the system or manually by the tester. This diagnostic data is critical in eliminating the “no repro” bug scenarios between the testers and developers. However, the downside of this rich diagnostic data captures is that the system/user generated diagnostic data, over a period of time, can grow at a rapid pace and start taking up database space.

In Visual Studio 2015, the database administrator has little or no control over what data gets attached as part of Test Runs. For example, she has no policy settings to limit the size of the data capture, or how long to hold the data before initiating a cleanup. This tool addresses these issues by:

1. Determining which set of diagnostic captures is taking up how much space AND

2. Reclaiming the space for runs which are no longer relevant from business perspective.

Windows PowerShell Cmdlets

This tool provides a Windows PowerShell interface that supports basic version control commands and a pipeline and glue to enable scripting.

Windows Shell Extensions

This tool provides integration with Windows Explorer and the common file dialogs. With this integration, you can perform many source control operations without having to run Visual Studio or a Team Foundation command-line tool.

Work Item Templates

A plug-in to Visual Studio, this tool provides an add-in to the Team menu and a new section on the Work Items page in Team Explorer. Use this tool to create new work items with default values, or to easily apply values to existing work items.

Compatibility Matrix

The following table explains how to decide which version of each PowerTool to use and where to install it. If you are using both TFS and Visual Studio 2015, you should install the 2015 version of every PowerTool. Keep in mind that there is only one release of the PowerTools for each major version, so you do not need to worry about compatibility issues between updates.

Compatibility of the PowerTools across clients and servers

PowerTool	Install on . . .	Supported Server Version(s)	Supported Client¹ Version(s)
Check-In Policies	Client	Any server version²	Match (each) client version
Process Template Editor	Client	Match server version	Client must be <= server. Not supported on Win10 with Express for Windows
Storyboard Shapes	Client	Any server version²	2012 or later
TE Enhancements (Team Members)	Client	Compatible with TFS 2012+	Match (each) client version
TFPT.exe Commands broken out in rows below:	Client	Varies by command – server must always be <= client or commands will be blocked	Varies by command
Addprojectportal	Client	Match server version	Client must be >= server
Addprojectreports	Client	Match server version	Client must be >= server
annotate	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
bind	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
branches	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
builddefinition	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
buildprocesstemplate	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
Connections	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
Createteamproject	Client	Match server version	Client must be >= server
Getcs	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
Online	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
Query	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
review	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
scorch	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
searchcs	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
treeclean	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
unshelve	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
uu	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
workitem	Client	Server must be <= client	Match (each) client version
Test Attachment Cleaner	Server	Match server version	Any client version²
Windows PowerShell Cmdlets	Client	Any server version²	Match (highest) client version³
Windows Shell Extensions	Client	Any server version²	Match (highest) client version³
Work Item Templates	Client	Any server version²	Match (each) client version

² The cells above which say “any client version” or “any server version” signify the following:

· “Any client version:” Any client that is compatible (and supported) against the same version of TFS as the PowerTools you are looking at will be able to integrate with those PowerTools. For the 2015 PowerTools, this would be Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio 2012, Visual Studio 2013 and Visual Studio 2015.

· “Any server version:” Any server that is compatible (and supported) against the same version of Visual Studio as the PowerTools you are looking at will be able to integrate with those PowerTools. For the 2015 PowerTools, this would be TFS 2010, TFS 2012, TFS 2013 and TFS 2015.

³ As you can see above, most of the PowerTools that depend on the version of the client can be installed once for each version of the client that you have. The exception to this rule is the Windows extensions, where as a limitation of the operating system, the most recent version you have installed will always be used.

Customizations

If you were using an old version of the check-in policies PowerTool and plan to upgrade your Team Foundation Server and PowerTools to the 2015 version, your changeset comments, work item associations, and code analysis check-in policy should continue to work, as long as you were using a compatible version of Visual Studio (Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio 2012, Visual Studio 2013 or Visual Studio 2015).

If you have any custom policies, we have a great blog post explaining how to build multi-targeting policies: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/phkelley/archive/2013/08/12/checkin-policy-multitargeting.aspx.