Team Foundation Server Customised Reports

OK, so Team Foundation Server is wonderful (which it truly is). However, I have imported my Microsoft Project file into TFS (or type all the tasks in by hand via the Excel file) and, with extraordinary diligence, I add all my precious time estimates to each task.

 

Now I am truly pleased with myself, assured that somehow, as the project progresses, I will be able to get statistics automatically emailed to me describing how far through the project we are. But no! At least not with the default Process Template for Agile (and I presume the same is true for CMMI as well). 'Why?', you ask...  Well:

 

It seems that strangely, out of the box, Microsoft have installed reports that allow you to see the progress that is being made down to the task level only. So when you have a task that has been estimated as 20 hours work and your diligent programmer updates the number of hours worked (on that task) each day, there is not a single report within the standard process templates that will tell you how your project is performing.

Worse than this, getting a report saying you have 80 tasks left is all well and good, but it means absolutely nothing to anyone (unless you know precisely how long each of those 80 tasks are going to take). Clearly you can export to MS Project to get the information you need - but for small teams (who might not have the luxury of a full-time project manager) it would be beneficial (bloody useful) to see a graph showing progress.

 

Thankfully Microsoft has written a collection of reports to smooth over this minor flaw in their shockingly good system (yes, one day I will apply for a job with them) and they have 'published' them here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=A74486B2-F7DB-4A85-97BD-46BF478BDA60&displaylang=en 

 

Sunny England

OK - not so much of the sunny as it's already the end of November (or thereabouts). ...and I still haven't got myself a replacement job.

Let's hope that these language books can keep me company in the meantime - although, I have to say, I'm not doing very well at actually speaking any new languages... Rather, my current situation is: being able to think of words that have similar bases in French, Spanish & Italian and sometimes finding rhymes despite crossing language barriers. It's as though I'm some sort or 'polyglotal' poet (but not in a 'buona moda') - which, let's face it, there's not much of a call for now, tomorrow or yesterday. Perhaps that's my calling - to make a new post-millenia movement in multilingual poetry!

Let me give it a go:

Il y a un bon homme qui s'appelle Tom,
Who roamed often with largish lapells on,
Fue a la blogspot,
Pour ecrire, "A biento*t*",
But all fue mal pour les mots le mandaron...

The less said the better...

End of an Era...

It's the end of August and I'm leaving Oslo...

The prostitutes that populate the main stretch from Oslo station to the palace will have to find someone else to pick on every time I go for a walk; I've even avoided that street and they've nearly addressed me like an old friend elsewhere. At the end of a Friday night, navigating Oslo thoroughfares in order to avoid the regular cliques of them that seem to congregate at tiny cafes and at corners, was at first a minor hindrance, then a game, then a disappointment for humanity when you saw how unfriendly they, and others, could become.

Anyway: I'm going back to the UK to find out what on earth has been going on since my departure... "I'm sure it's all good - I wouldn't have had it any other way. Although if it knew I was trying to 'have it' it might have tried to avoid me!"

See you all soon....