Software and UX

Team Foundation Server

This list allows the user to select the desired Team Foundation Server. If you don’t see the correct server on this list, you will need to use Team Explorer to create the initial connection, and then retry.

Shareable configuration

The monitor relies on three configuration files: one for the sprint information (time window, process template, etc.), a second to provide information about the team members (work hours, Outlook name aliases, etc.), and a last one for the colors used throughout the user interface. All the remaining options are stored locally and cannot be shared (e.g. Outlook Integration and Miscellaneous sections).

These configurations are stored in files for flexibility (multiple projects), and for accessibility (support for multiple remote offices sharing the same configurations).

1) Current Sprint

(SprintConfiguration.txt)

The sprint configuration is a simple text file containing properties and values. It consists of the following properties:

ProjectName=TFS project name
ProcessTemplateName=TFS process template name (see accepted values below)
IterationId= TFS IterationId for the tracked sprint
IterationPath= TFS IterationPath for the tracked sprint (can be used instead of IterationId for convenience)
BuildDefinitionNames= TFS CI build definition names
SprintStartDate= The date/time of sprint start

SprintEndDate= The date/time of sprint end. Use the code freeze time, if you have a code freeze in place

Comments are allowed in the file through the use of a ‘ character at the beginning of a line. Below is an example of a working SprintConfiguration.txt file:

ProjectName=Portal Builder
ProcessTemplateName=Scrum for Team System
IterationId= 423
BuildDefinitionName= CI Build Main
SprintStartTimeZone= Eastern Standard Time
SprintStartDate= 03/16/2009 10:00:00
SprintEndDate= 03/27/2009 17:00:00

SprintEndTimeZone= Eastern Standard Time

The monitor has support for configuring this file through the user interface:

Description of fields

• ProcessTemplateName: This lets the tool know what fields to expect to find in a work item. Possible values:
  • For Conchango: Scrum for Team System.
  • For VSTS Scrum: Light Weight Scrum.
• IterationId: Integer value that identifies the iteration the monitor will be tracking. This value can be pulled out from a TFS work item query. Please consider using IterationPath instead, for ease of use.
• IterationPath: The complete iteration path that identifies the iteration the monitor will be tracking, as reported by TFS. An example would be TFSProject\Area\Iteration 1.
• BuildDefinitionName: If you have a Continuous Integration build set up, you can specify its definition name here, to have the tool track the state of the build.
• SprintStartDate and SprintEndDate: Defines the window for the sprint. The format is expressed in the invariant culture (mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm).

2) Team Members

(team-info.xml)

The team-info.xml file describes the team members found in the sprint. It provides context such as each member’s time zone, productivity factor, work hours, etc.

HINT: An easy way to edit the team-info.xml file visually is to open the file directly in Microsoft Excel (just press Yes on the warning prompts). Then just save the document as an XML file again:

D

This functionality is available on the screensaver configuration window, starting in release 1.0.0.79.