We just released Visual Studio LightSwitch Beta 1 to MSDN subscribers. Public availability will be this Monday, August 23rd but if you are an MSDN subscriber visit your subscriptions page to get access to the download now. Otherwise check the the LightSwitch Developer Center on Monday for the public download.

Here are some resources to help get you started — we have a lot more for you on Monday via the Dev Center so stay tuned!!

• LightSwitch Beta 1 Documentation on MSDN?
• Vision Clinic Application Walkthrough and Sample
• LightSwitch Forum
• LightSwitch on Channel 9

We’re looking forward to your feedback, please visit the forums.

Enjoy,
-Beth Massi, Visual Studio Community

Here is the original post: Microsoft Sync Framework

Hot news flash:? You can now try? Windows Azure and SQL Azure for a month – FREE!?

Now you can do this with the Windows Azure One Month Pass USA.? Through this unique offer, US developers can get a one month pass to try out Windows Azure and SQL Azure – without having to submit a credit card!

Limited to US developers, the first 500 to sign up each month will get a full month’s pass good for the one calendar month.? In addition, you’ll get free phone, chat and email support through the Front Runner for Windows Azure program.

See this blog post for more details and links to take advantage of this great program.

Bill Zack

The original is here: Microsoft Sync Framework

This is the portal page for the Support Debugging Tool for Microsoft Dynamics GP.

For v9.0, v10.0 & GP 2010 (v11.0): Current?release is Build 13 (Last Modified: 11-May-2010).
For v8.0: Current?release is Build 12 (Last Modified: 09-Mar-2010).

Note: Build 13 is compatible with the GP 2010 RTM?release, fixing the?version check issue.?

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Overview

The Support Debugging Tool is a Dexterity built application which contains a collection of utilities and tools to make the task of supporting, developing and debugging Microsoft Dynamics GP easier and faster.

The tool currently contains two modes of operation; Standard Mode and Advanced Mode. Advanced Mode features require system administrator or database owner (dbo) privileges and require expertise in Dexterity and/or SQL Server administration.

Standard Mode includes the following features; Manual Logging Mode, Individual Logging Mode, Dex.ini Settings, Resource Information, Security Profiler, Security Information, Configuration Export/Import , ScreenShot and Send Email.

Advanced Mode features include; Automatic Debugger Mode, Dictionary Control, XML Table Export, XML Table Import, Runtime Execute, SQL Execute, Configuration Maintenance, Administrator Settings and Dex.ini Configuration.??

PowerPoint presentation on the Support Debugging Tool is attached to the bottom of this page.?

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Release Announcements?

Below are the links for the various release announcement blog posts, please review these posts to see the features added and fixes made for each build:

30-Jul-2008: Support Debugging Tool for Microsoft Dynamics GP?

03-Sep-2008: Support Debugging Tool – The wait is over??

18-Dec-2008: Support Debugging Tool Build 10 released?

05-Jun-2009: Support Debugging Tool Build 11 released?

17-Feb-2010: Support Debugging Tool Build 12 released?

01-Mar-2010: Support Debugging Tool for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Beta

10-Mar-2010: Update to Support Debugging Tool For Build 12

13-May-2010: Support Debugging Tool Build 13 released

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Frequently Asked Questions

This blog post is an extensive FAQ list for the Support Debugging Tool:

Installing the Support Debugging Tool for Microsoft Dynamics GP FAQ

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Convergence Atlanta 2010 Materials

Below is the link to download the session materials, which including step by step installation instructions:

CSGP29 – Tools for Administering Microsoft Dynamics GP like the Pros?(7.12MB)

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Downloads

Below are the PartnerSource links for downloading the Support Debugging Tool:

Support Debugging Tool for Microsoft?Great Plains?8.0

Support Debugging Tool for Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0

Support Debugging Tool for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0

Support Debugging Tool for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 (v11.0)

NOTE:?The tool?is posted on PartnerSource ?and so can be downloaded by partners.? If you are a customer, you will need to obtain the tool through your partner. Any feedback or questions about the tool will be handled via the Microsoft Dynamics GP Community Forum.

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Support Information?

The Support Debugging Tool is a custom built tool to provide additional capabilities to troubleshoot issues and is not part of the standard Microsoft Dynamics GP released application. Technical support for this tool is not handled via the standard support systems and instead is provided via the public Microsoft Dynamics GP Community Forum. You can use the link below to access the forum:

http://community.dynamics.com/forums/32.aspx

To assist the partners and Microsoft employees who monitor the forum for these questions, please prefix any subject lines with the initials “SDT: “.

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Other Articles and Posts

For other related articles and posts have a look at the Support Debugging Tool Tag page.

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Comments and Feedback

Please provide comments, feedback and suggestions for the Support Debugging Tool to help us understand how you use the tool and how we can improve it.

?

04-May-2010: Added Convergence Atlanta 2010 Materials download link.

13-May-2010: Updated for Support Debugging Tool build 13 release.

Original post: Microsoft Sync Framework

Thanks to Commander Farrell for sharing this one with me – by Paul Adams of Google. Reminded me of Danah’s work and lessons for us all in here. Social networks look easy because they are made to be easy. They’re just as hard as real networks though and need the same love, care and attention.

Original post here: Microsoft Sync Framework

I noticed last week that Scott Guthrie announced the release of the beta of WebMatrix. Basically, it’s an easy and free way to get started building Web sites on Windows. WebMatrix is a tool for building, customising and deploying your Web sites in one common, straightforward way. The idea is that WebMatrix can be used by a wide range of developers, and you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to use it. It brings together a bunch of our resources into a simple install – a Web server (IIS Developer Express), a database (SQL Server Compact), and a programming framework (ASP.NET). It’s a simple free download – just download and install it onto a spare server.

But the extra useful bit is that you can then use the Microsoft Web Application Gallery to install and customise popular ASP.NET and PHP open source community applications, whilst also seamlessly integrating with our professional development tools and servers including Visual Studio, SQL Server and Windows Server.

The Web App Gallery contains a long list of free downloads to install on top of WebMatrix, including Moodle, Joomla!, WordPress and a long list of other free apps to install (the main categories are: Blogs, CMS, eCommerce, Forums, Galleries, Tools and Wikis)

It also includes a new, easier-to-learn syntax for ASP.NET to provide you with a faster way to build standards-based Web sites. The built-in helpers simplify the use of ASP.NET to perform increasingly complex and common tasks like connecting to a database, displaying a Twitter feed, or embedding a video.

This means that you can have the flexibility and freedom to use the tools you choose, and have an easier way to deploy web servers that fit into your existing IT infrastructure.

You can get WebMatrix by downloading the Web Platform Installer, and then install additional apps from the Web App Gallery

Here is the original post: Microsoft Sync Framework

thanks to Shannon for the heads up on this new Nike video

Here is the original post: Microsoft Sync Framework

It’s great to see more TFS users use a tool they know, Excel, in conjunction with a tool they may not know so well, Analysis Services to answer questions about their software project.? The default TFS reports provide a great first level of detail but you will frequently need to get to the next (and next-next) levels of detail to answer questions about your project.? No matter what your role in the project the more you can visit the “self serve business intelligence counter” via Excel connected to the TFS data warehouse the more productive conversations you can have with your team.?

Turning “hmmm… we had a bunch of code churn yesterday” to “I see most of the code churn yesterday were added class files in our queuing component… is that related to the bug fix we approved yesterday?? I wouldn’t expect new files to be added for a bug fix”? Now that is real world and just one example how data can turn a conversation productive!

I’ll use the code churn as an example on how the default TFS reports are a great starting point for project information and how you will need to get some additional detail.

On a project I’m involved with they use the TFS 2010 Build Quality Indicators Report, a default report in the Agile process template, to make sure most tests are passing and increasing in number, code coverage is at the target level and code churn is trending down as we close an iteration.

They hit a couple builds with high code coverage (see to the right, circled) and wanted to confirm if this was expected or not.? Here is how you can get more detail on code churn.

You can modify the existing default code churn report that comes in the Agile process template.? The example below I start with a new Excel workbook.

1. Follow the excellent instructions here, http://www.woodwardweb.com/vsts/getting_started.html, to connect Excel to your TFS Warehouse.

2. Add filters – Since the question I’m trying to answer is related to a particular build I’m going to drag the following dimensions from the pivot table field list to the report filter

• Team Project Hierarchy
• Build Definition Name
• Build Platform
• Build Flavor
• Build Name

3. Add Rows – I’m interested in what files have changes so I’m going to drag the Version Control File.File Hierarchy dimension from the pivot table filed list to the row label.? If I wanted to know who was churning code I could drag the “Version Control change set checked in by” dimension in to the row label instead.? Bonus – have both the checked in and File Hierarchy dimensions in your row label!

4. Add values – This is the “show me the money” moment!? Drag in the following calculated fields from the pivot table filed list into the values area.

• Code Churn Count
• Total Churn
• Lines Modified
• Lines Deleted
• Lines Added

Below is what your finished product should look like.? This will give you the “next” level of detail on what code churned and what type of change it was.? Since we are working with a pivot table connected to the Version control file file hierarchy dimension you can drill down to see churn down to the file level.

My preference is to have these more detailed reports answer 1-2 questions really well instead of trying to create a “shock and awe” report that is flashy but difficult to take action on.? I save these in the TFS project SharePoint for other folks to use.

Once you have this basic report down you can begin spelunking into the other dimensions available to you in the data warehouse.? Enjoy!

Source: Microsoft Sync Framework

Ganzheitliche Perspektive und integrierte Herangehensweise bei Software-Entwicklung und -Betrieb nötig

Eine aktuelle Studie der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg betrachtet aktuelle Entwicklungen und Herausforderungen für Application Lifecycle Management und unterstreicht die Notwendigkeit einer ganzheitlichen Perspektive für Entwicklung und Betrieb von Software. Eine effiziente Entwicklung qualitativ hochwertiger Anwendungen kann zu erheblichen Kosteneinsparungen führen und helfen, auf verkürzte Produkt- und Anwendungslebenszyklen zu reagieren. Dadurch lassen sich für Unternehmen Wettbewerbsvorteile erreichen.

In der von Microsoft finanziell unterstützten, jedoch unabhängigen Studie “Application Lifecycle Management – Trends, Herausforderungen und IT-Unterstützung” wurden im Frühjahr 2010 eine Reihe von Experten aus verschiedenen Branchen interviewt. Aus der Befragung von IT-Managern in den Unternehmen ließen sich drei Thesen ableiten:

• ALM hilft durch seine ganzheitliche Perspektive und integrierte Herangehensweise, auf aktuelle Trends und Potenziale in der Softwareentwicklung besser zu reagieren.
• Die Professionalisierung des ALMs hilft, bessere Produkte und Dienstleistungen in schnelleren Zyklen zu entwickeln.
• IT als Enabler von Businessentscheidungen und Innovationen erfordert ein professionelles ALM.

“Als Strategie kann ALM dabei helfen, aktuelle Entwicklungen bei der Erstellung von Anwendungen besser aufzugreifen und zu bewältigen”, sagt Studienleiter Professor Michael Amberg vom Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftsinformatik 3 an der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. “Auf operativer Ebene ist es dabei wichtig, den Software-Prozess unternehmensspezifisch abbilden und eine gemeinsame Datenbasis bereitstellen zu können. Ein detailliertes Wissen über den Lebenszyklus der Software hilft signifikant, die Qualität zu erhöhen.”

Die Professionalisierung eines ALMs kann zwar kurzfristig die Komplexität auf der Ebene von Prozessen, Methoden und Tools erhöhen, so die Studie. Sie kann aber dabei helfen, mittel- bis langfristige Verbesserungspotenziale und Synergieeffekte auf anwendungsübergreifender Ebene zu realisieren. Richtig eingesetztes ALM fungiert als Treiber von Innovationen. So lassen sich Anforderungen damit erkennen und durch passgenaue Anwendungen lösen. Dadurch können Entwicklungskosten gesenkt und der Management-Aufwand reduziert werden.

Die vollständige Studie lässt sich herunterladen unter: http://alm2010.wi3.wiso.uni-erlangen.de

Original post: Microsoft Sync Framework

Olá pessoal, tudo certo?

Essa semana foi bem dedicada para alguns projetos sobre autenticação, autorização e identidades. De fato, fazia tempo que não via o encadeamento de tantos projetos sobre o mesmo assunto.

Diversos aspectos estão envolvidos, como:

• Definição do projeto de autenticação e autorização de usuários
• Definição das funcionalidades e mapa de autorização para a aplicação
• Definição de páginas secretas, direitos de acessos, controles e funcionalidades
• Definição de claims, tokens e identidades que serão usadas
• Definição dos níveis de propagação de credenciais, tokens, identidades e delegação, entre diversos níveis de serviços,
• Além de outras ações…

Como destaque, vale comentar que em todos os casos acima estamos falando do modelo Claims-based Identity, onde nossas aplicações e serviços estão baseadas em tokens e claims.

O impacto da utilização de um modelo de Claims está em retirar os detalhes da autenticação/autorização da lógica da aplicação.

Como vimos em posts passados, o modelo CBA é baseado em um serviço emissor de tokens, que irá emitir um token de segurança com as declarações que a aplicação precisa para liberar um acesso. Para ficar mais claro, vamos fazer um resumo rápido de alguns conceitos:

O que é uma Identidade?

• Uma identidade é um conjunto de informações sobre alguma entidade, como um usuário. A maioria das aplicações trabalha com identidades. Como sabemos, informações de identidade orientam aspectos importantes sobre o comportamento de uma aplicação, como direitos de acesso de um usuário ou serviço, modo como uma aplicação interage com o usuário, etc.

O que é um Token?

• Um token é um conjunto de bytes que expressa informações sobre uma identidade. Essas informações consistem de uma ou mais declarações (claims), onde cada claim contém informações sobre a entidade para a qual o token se aplica. Exemplos de claims são Nome, Grupo, Idade, Data de Nascimento do usuário, etc.

O que é um Identity Provider?

• Um identity provider (ou issuer/emissor) é uma autoridade que faz declarações (claims) sobre uma entidade. Em uma rede corporativa, um exemplo de identity é a própria empresa, assim como na internet, o Windows Live ID é um exemplo de emissor. Um identity provider pode implementar um security token service (STS), que é um serviço responsável pela emissão de tokens. Para esse serviço, as requisições são feitas via o protocolo WS-Trust, enquanto que o token é formatado em Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML).

O que é um Relying Party?

• Um Relying Party é uma aplicação Claims-aware, isto é, que está preparada para tratar os aspectos de autenticação e autorização através de token/claims. Por exemplo, podemos criar uma Web Application que é baseada em Claims para decidir sobre a autenticação de um usuário, a partir de claims exigidos do usuário no momento do acesso.

O que é um Security Token Service (STS)?

• Como vimos acima, um STS é um serviço que emite tokens com os claims exigidos por uma aplicação chamada Relying Party, para liberar o acesso de um usuário para uma aplicação ou serviço.

Pensando na infraestrutura, a Microsoft possui um emissor de tokens chamado AD FS, apresentado inicialmente com o Windows Server 2003. Hoje, temos o recém lançado AD FS – Active Directory Federation Services V2.0, sobre Windows Server 2008. Através desse serviços, podemos emitir tokens/claims para uma aplicação CBA. Note que esses tokens são emitidos somente para os usuários autenticados, ou seja, algum serviços de autenticação garante que o usuário que requisita o token foi autenticado. Por exemplo, um AD FS (STS) pode emitir um token para um usuário previamente autenticado no AD, via Windows Authentication.

Como estamos falando de padrões e protocolos abertos, não precisamos trabalhar sempre em plataforma Microsoft. Podemos combinar um STS em Microsoft, um provedor de identidades em UNIX e mesmo uma Relying Party (nossa aplicação) baseada em plataforma JAVA/LINUX, sem problema algum. Tudo é padrão SAML, WS-TRUST, WS-POLICY, etc.

Notaram a beleza do cenário?

Uma vez emitido o token para um usuário, uma aplicação claim-aware pode acessar as claims presentes no token, tomando as decisões sobre direitos de acesso sobre as declarações apresentadas.

Pensando em desenvolvimento, a Microsoft possui um framework que permite manipular e acessar os claims de um token, chamado WIF – Windows Identity Foundation. o WIF oferece classes e interfaces que permitem acessar as propriedades de um token e navegar por coleções de claims recebidas por uma aplicação Relying Party.

Assim, para uma visão completa do ambiente Claims-based Identity na plataforma Microsoft, veja o desenho abaixo que retirei do documento sobre o assunto do arquiteto David Chappell:

No desenho acima, destaque para o AD FS v2.0 (que emite tokens para o usuário chamador), o WIF na aplicação Claims-aware, que espera claims para decidir sobre o direito de acesso do usuário, e finalmente o CardSpace 2.0 (que atualmente está em BETA).

Aqui, o CardSpace funciona como um seletor de identidades, que o usuário pode utilizar para escolher uma identidade que será apresentada para o emissor de tokens (STS), no momento da requisição de um token para acessar a aplicação desejada.

Esse assunto é muito interessante e vale a leitura do documento do Mr. Chappell, que citei acima, veja:

Claims-Based Identity for Windows, David Chappell
Ref.: http://www.davidchappell.com/writing/white_papers/Claims-Based_Identity_for_Windows_v2.pdf

O post aqui fez só alguns comentários sobre o assunto! Fica a dica para novas leituras.

Por enquanto é só! Até o próximo post

Waldemir.

Source: Microsoft Sync Framework

Valery Mizonov has published a paper on SQLCAT, called “Best Practices for Building Reliable SQL Azure Database Client Applications”. The paper discusses his subclassing of the ADO.NET classes like SqlConnection to handle the retry scenarios associated with SQL Azure. The code is a great stepping-stone; replacing the standard ADO.NET calls with his custom classes. Read the article and download the code here.

The original post: Microsoft Sync Framework