ComponentSource News | Productivity

CodeRush adds XAML Support

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 10:02:33 GMT

Extract a method in CodeRush.

Declaration navigation provider now available in XAML code.

CodeRush helps developers deliver quality features in less time, by boosting productivity while eliminating the repetition that erodes creativity. CodeRush will help you create sophisticated code blocks in seconds and extend code templates instantly. With CodeRush, you will be able to instantly place selected code inside Try/Catch blocks, Regions and your own custom wrappers with ease. You can even reverse the logic of selected code and revisit important points within your code instantly.

Updates in 13.1

Asynchronous Smart Tag Menu - Load smart tag menus asynchronously to decrease loading time.
Enhanced Automatic Initialization - Added a "Editor | Code Modification | Type initializers" option page that allows you to specify default values for type initializers.
Variable Declaration Enhancements - CodeRush can now declare local variables implicitly.
Smart Constructor Enhancements - Added an option that specifies whether Smart Constructors initialize unselected fields with default values.
XAML Support - Declaration navigation provider now available in XAML code.
Debug Visualizer Enhancements - Increased the number of automatically evaluated expressions. The need to "refresh" to obtain an expression value is now much rarer. CodeRush marks expressions causing an exception with a red icon. Place the mouse pointer over the icon to view the tooltip with exception details.

About DevExpress (Developer Express)

DevExpress (Developer Express) is a software development company based in the United States. It produces coding assistance tools and components for Delphi, C++ Builder and Microsoft Visual Studio developers. The major part of its product line is VCL, .NET WinForms and ASP.NET components that replicate the UI of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office applications. Developer Express has won many industry awards for its products

Did You Know?

Did you know that you can also buy Microsoft Visual Studio along with an MSDN Subscription from us? Or that in Europe and Japan we also have all the Embarcadero products available to purchase, such as Delphi, C++ Builder and RAD Studio!

TeamSpec updated

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:33:55 GMT

Edit a Word document using TeamSpec.

TeamSpec is an Add-in for Word that provides full access to Team Foundation Server projects from Word. Avoid stale specifications with bi-directional synchronization, allowing team members to edit, update and review when they are offline. When working away from your server, you can still view and edit any work items in your TeamSpec documents. Then just push your new content to TFS when you return.

Updates in 4.3.3

Query Blocks now support Work Item, Direct Link and Tree Query imports.
Create Test Case work item types in your document.
New Work Item Form designed to be consistent with Team Foundation Server 2012.

About TeamSolutions

Since 2005 TeamSolutions has provided integration between Microsoft Team Foundation Server and Microsoft Office, enhancing Application Lifecycle Management for Software projects.

Did You Know?

Mindscape Web Workbench released

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:49:16 GMT

Edit code using Mindscape Web Workbench.

Create and edit Sass, Less and CoffeeScript code in Visual Studio.

Mindscape Web Workbench provides Visual Studio integration for three Web productivity languages. Sass and Less are extensions to CSS which support variables, functions, mixins and other techniques to reduce duplication and coding effort. CoffeeScript is a simple scripting language which gets converted to JavaScript, enabling you to write your client-side scripts in a safer and simpler language than raw JavaScript. Mindscape Web Workbench includes integrated syntax highlighting, compilation, combining and minification.

Features

By extending Visual Studio, the Web Workbench gives you Sass, Less and CoffeeScript syntax highlighting.
Bring intellisense to Sass and Less files while you're editing.
No need to setup post build events or output generators.
Save files and they will generate the associated CSS or JS files as needed.

About Mindscape

Mindscape is a software development tools company that produces leading edge components for .NET developers. They focus on delivering tools that make developers more productive and aid in creating robust and beautiful applications for their customers.

Did You Know?

Instant code review

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 11:59:53 GMT

Analyse code using Code.It.Right.

Static code analysis and automatic refactoring.

Code.It.Right helps improve software quality, ensure code correctness, find issues early and resolve them quickly. It combines static code analysis and automatic refactoring in one application. CodeIt.Right will automatically correct code errors and violations (e.g. naming conventions, incorrectly implemented coding patterns, etc) and the Instant Code Review provides real-time feedback to developers in the Visual Studio Editor.

Features

Instant Code Review - Highlights code elements that trigger a violation and shows a complete list of issues.
Microsoft Guidelines and Best Practices - Rule set based on Microsoft .NET Guidelines, Framework Design Guidelines and industry best practices.
Automatic Code Refactoring - IntelliFix technology automatically remedies code smells and violations.
Follow Your Own Standards - Configure the shipped rule set based on Microsoft guidelines and industry best practices to your needs.
Reduce Noise - Reduce false positives and noise down to zero and tweak the tool to your needs.
Code Reviews - Automated code reviews are part of the routine.
Custom Rule SDK - Define and develop Custom Rules that prevent application-specific issues from re-occurring.
Code Metrics - Use Code Metrics to gain insight into your application's overall complexity and to spot potential problem areas.
Reporting - Includes extensive and customizable set of reports.
Integrated into Visual Studio - Analyze code in Visual Studio and quickly navigate to violation source code.

About SubMain

SubMain is a privately held company founded in 2002. It provides innovative and original software quality tools for .NET developers.

Did You Know?

TeamCompanion for MS Outlook updated

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:49:49 GMT

Viewing Work Items in Outlook with TeamCompanion for MS Outlook.

TeamCompanion for MS Outlook is an Add-In that integrates Microsoft Outlook with Microsoft Team Foundation Server. You can access project related information using Microsoft Outlook without having to switch between applications. It enables accessing some of the most important artifacts in your Team System environment, such as team projects and work items without the need to use the Visual Studio Team Explorer or Team System Web Access.

Updates in 5.0

Supports Outlook 2013.

About Ekobit

Ekobit is an independent software and consulting company specializing in providing ICT services and solutions using Microsoft technologies and platforms. Founded in 1992, Ekobit has gained considerable international experience in consulting, project management and application development in various vertical industries.

Did You Know?

CodeRush adds Decompiler Tool

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 14:29:12 GMT

Extract a method in CodeRush.

View the source code of compiled .NET assemblies in C# or Visual Basic.

CodeRush helps developers deliver high quality features in less time, by boosting productivity while eliminating the repetition that erodes creativity. CodeRush will help you create sophisticated code blocks in seconds and extend code templates instantly. With CodeRush, you will be able to instantly place selected code inside Try/Catch blocks, Regions and your own custom wrappers with ease. You can even reverse the logic of selected code and revisit important points within your code instantly.

Updates in 12.2

Feature Adviser - The Feature Adviser reveals templates and other CodeRush features you can use in the future to create the same code block you have just entered manually.
Color Themes - Implemented the "Visual Experience" options page that enables you to create and choose color themes for CodeRush tool windows and modify color settings for all CodeRush visual elements.
Decompiler Tool Window - View the source code of compiled .NET assemblies in C# or Visual Basic.
Debug Visualizer and Expression Explorer - See expression values right inside the code, preview the result of the active line before it executes and drill down into a complex expression to see how all the values contribute to the final result.

About DevExpress (Developer Express)

Tabs Studio updated

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 09:49:00 GMT

Tabs created using Tabs Studio.

Tabs Studio lets you group your document tabs intelligently, and makes all tabs visible by creating multiple rows of tabs. When working on large solutions it can be frustrating finding documents that are already open. Tabs Studio lets you immediately switch to another tab with a single mouse click or a few keyboard shortcuts.

Updates in V3.0.3

Added detection for Custom Document Well installed in Visual Studio 2012.
Reduced brightness of the About icon on the toolbar for Visual Studio 2012 dark theme.

About SVProgramming

SVProgramming helps Windows software developers write new code faster and understand existing code better. Their products solve critical programming problems and seamlessly integrate into Visual Studio.

ReSharper 7.1 improves Code Formatting

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:26:00 GMT

Refactoring tools in ReSharper.

Format XML document comments and chained method calls.

ReSharper 7.1 is an intelligent productivity tool for Visual Studio. It comes with intelligent coding assistance, on-the-fly error highlighting and quick error correction. ReSharper also supports code refactoring, unit testing, navigation and search.

Updates in 7.1

Jetbrains have fixed over 300 performance problems and bugs.
New code inspections and contract annotations for a more robust .NET code quality analysis. Sharing ReSharper code inspection results with teammates has been streamlined as well for the purposes of code review.
Improved tooling for .NET code maintenance including Extract Class refactoring.
Code formatter improvements including formatting XML document comments and chained method calls.
Additional code exploration features help visualize hierarchies of polymorphic members and CSS styles.

About JetBrains

JetBrains is a leading software development firm specializing in the creation of intelligent, productivity-enhancing software technology. The company is widely known for their innovative, award-winning products, IntelliJ IDEA, ReSharper and TeamCity. JetBrain's products are trusted and used everyday by developers in over 3,000 companies worldwide, many from the Fortune 100. JetBrains has headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic and R&D centers in Russia, Germany and the USA.

ReSharper 7 adds support for Visual Studio 2012

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:49:55 GMT

Refactoring tools in ReSharper.

Simplify Metro style application development.

ReSharper 7 is an intelligent productivity tool for Visual Studio. It comes with intelligent coding assistance, on-the-fly error highlighting and quick error correction. ReSharper also supports code refactoring, unit testing, navigation and search.

Updates in 7

Support for Visual Studio 2012 (support for color themes, asynchronous solution loading, Metro-style and WinRT application development and new Preview Tab in navigation and search)
Custom contract annotation attribute
More options to control code completion behaviour
JavaScript improvements
Unit Testing improvements (support for NUnit 2.6 and MSTest 11, support for Jasmine and PhantomJS)
Naming style improvements
Member hierarchy
CSS style hierarchy
New code inspections and quick-fixes
Quick-fix groups
New code generation features, generate partial methods and Generate equality comparer
Removing unused references from entire solution

About JetBrains

CodeRush 12.1 released

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 11:39:00 GMT

Extract a method in CodeRush.

Includes Improved code consolidation engine, unit test runner and keyboard mapping.

Updates in 12.1

Settings Schemes - Create different sets of options and switch between them when needed
FrictionFree Mode - This release introduces a FrictionFree mode for users who want CodeRush to leave standard Visual Studio behavior unchanged
Consolidation Enhancements - Modify consolidation options via the Editor|Code Analysis|Code Consolidation options page
Unit Test Runner Enhancements - CodeRush allows you to avoid building a project each time you perform unit tests
CodeRush Keyboard Mapping Window - If you do not remember a shortcut for the CodeRush action you want to execute, press CTRL+ALT+/ to open the CodeRush Keyboard Mapping window
Clear Solution Cache - Clear the current solution cache with a single click
Open Files Hotbar - Shows how long ago a file was edited
Click Identifier Code Preview - When you place the mouse pointer over an identifier with CTRL pressed, CodeRush shows a Code Preview hint with the identifier declaration code
Smart Constructor Changes - Select or deselect all list items suggested for initialization within a new constructor
Code Issues Window Changes - Quickly collapse or expand all nodes of the Code Issues tree
Spell Checker Tool Window - Check the spelling of your entire solution and view the results in a window
Message Log Changes - Open previously saved log files in the Messages tool window
Add Default Case Branch - Add a default case branch to the current switch statement
Add Missing Case Statements - Add case statements for all uncovered cases to the current switch statement
New Refactoring - Consolidate two numeric parameters called "width" and "height" into a single size object

About DevExpress (Developer Express)

Integrate between Word and Team Foundation Server

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:01:09 GMT

Edit a Word document using TeamSpec.

Publish existing Word documents to TFS or generate documents using customizable templates.

Features

Requirements Management with Team Foundation Server and Word - With TeamSpec you can avoid some common pitfalls such as stale documents, poorly communicated requirements and alienated stakeholders
Synchronize Work Items with TFS - Publish new content to TFS or refresh your document with content from TFS quickly and easily
Quickly Search for TFS Work Items - Queries are customizable and can be saved
Custom Document Templates - Fully customizable templates that organize references to work items in your document
TeamSpec Provides Offline Support for TFSOffline Support - Send a TeamSpec document to a collaborator who doesn't have TeamSpec installed, and they can view and edit work items then return it for publication

About TeamSolutions

Since 2005 TeamSolutions has provided integration between Microsoft Team Foundation Server and Microsoft Office, enhancing Application Lifecycle Management for Software projects.

TeamLook released

Mon, 21 May 2012 16:32:00 GMT

Access to your Team Foundation Server from Outlook.

Provide complete access to your Team Foundation Server project from Outlook.

TeamLook increases productivity and communication when using Team Foundation Server for Application Lifecycle Management. It is an Outlook Add-in that provides full access to your TFS project. Easily convert emails, meetings and tasks to Work Items and organize them using Outlook views. Use TeamLook templates for work item creation and increase your productivity with access to TFS queries, quick search, project reports and email alerts.

Features

Convert emails, meetings, and tasks to Work Items in TFS
Organize and view TFS work items the way you want
Quickly generate status emails for team collaboration
Use the fast search or custom query manager
Access reports and enable email alerts

About TeamSolutions

Since 2005 TeamSolutions has provided full integration between Microsoft Team Foundation Server and Microsoft Office, enhancing Application Lifecycle Management for Software projects.

TeamCompanion supports Visual Studio 11 Beta

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:35:00 GMT

Plan and prioritize work items with TeamCompanion.

Integrate e-mail and Microsoft Outlook with Work Items from Team Foundation Server 11.

TeamCompanion for MS Outlook offers smooth integration, offline and agile project management support plus a TFS 11 client for non-developers. Ekobit's agile project management toolset now syncs the following settings with the TFS 11 Beta:

Team settings including team membership, backlog and sprint iterations
Sprint settings including sprint start and end dates
Team member capacity settings
Team and individual interruptions

Further information including the TeamCompanion Beta download for VS11, is available on the Visual Studio 11 Beta site.

About Ekobit

TeamCompanion improves Search Result Highlighting

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:24:00 GMT

Viewing Work Items in Outlook with TeamCompanion for MS Outlook.

Highlighting is now visible in both grid and HTML work item previews.

Updates in 4.4

Support for creation of work items using the Plan and Prioritize planning tool

Implemented support for adding work items in the sprint backlog
Added support to undo newly created PBI items or tasks

Search results highlighting

Quick search results (available on each query folder) are now highlighted
Highlighting is visible in both grid and HTML work item preview
Added ability to switch between HTML preview and work item edit form

Plan and Prioritize planning tool enhancements

Implemented support for mapping sprint work item types to team iterations
Native support for Scrum 2.0 process template

About Ekobit

VSCommands 2010 released

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:52:10 GMT

Set properties in VSCommands 2010.

Lightweight productivity plug-in for Visual Studio.

VSCommands 2010 provides code navigation and code generation improvements which make everyday coding tasks faster and more productive. It includes IDE Enhancements, Debugging, Build, Navigation, Search and Code Assistance.

Features

Find Results Window - Find what you search for easily with smart context highlighting
Build Output Window - Highlight errors and warnings to make them easier to spot
Debug Output Window - Highlight exceptions, build errors, warnings and other events logged to the Debug Output Window during program execution
Friendly Solution Name - Visual clue as to which solution (or branch) is open in Visual Studio
Preview Images - Preview window allows you to quickly see images selected in the Solution Explorer without opening each of them separately
Reload all modified projects - Reload or ignore changes to all modified projects at once
Show Assembly Details - See detailed information about your referenced assemblies
Build Startup Project - Build startup projects only, rebuilding the whole solution is no longer required
Locate Source File - Navigate to the source of linked file with just one click
Group / Ungroup Items - Easily group and ungroup items using IDE (DependentUpon)
Copy / Paste as Link - Quickly copy and paste linked files between projects
Copy / Paste Reference - Copy and paste references between projects (assembly, projects and ActiveX references)
Open In Expression Blend - Open project in Expression Blend directly from Visual Studio
Collapse All - Collapse all projects and folders in the Solution Explorer
Attach to Local IIS - Quickly attach to local IIS to debug ASP.NET projects
Solution Properties - View and edit referenced paths and properties of all projects from one place
Apply Fix - Automatically fix build errors and StyleCop warnings
Locate in Solution - Find and highlight currently opened file in the Solution Explorer
Start Without Debugger - Launch compiled output of projects without attaching a debugger

About DPStudio

DPStudio is a privately-held software company based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in December 2009 with the purpose of providing software development consultancy, agile coaching services and building high-quality development tools for .NET developers.

Simplify Development of ReSharper Plug-ins

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:08:00 GMT

Refactoring tools in ReSharper.

ReSharper SDK provides a full set of assemblies required to test plug-ins.

ReSharper is an intelligent productivity tool for Visual Studio. It comes with intelligent coding assistance, on-the-fly error highlighting and quick error correction. ReSharper also supports code refactoring, unit testing, navigation and search.

Updates in 6.1

Async - Now supports async and await keywords, both in C# and VB.NET, as well as providing a set of related code inspections and quick-fixes
ReSharper SDK - Simplify development and maintenance of ReSharper plug-ins. The SDK provides a full set of ReSharper assemblies required to test ReSharper plug-ins. Visual Studio templates for creating different kinds of plug-in projects are also available with the SDK.
Improved management of settings - The settings engine has been revamped with extra emphasis on sharing and managing settings. Many more settings have been made accessible and sharable and new granular settings have been introduced — for example, those defining IntelliSense behavior for different languages.
Optimizing assembly references - Inspect assembly references in any C#, VB.NET or XAML-enabled project and see if they are not used.

About JetBrains

Detect and consolidate duplicate code

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:35:00 GMT

Extract a method in CodeRush.

CodeRush v2011 vol 2 adds duplicate code detection to improve quality of source code.

CodeRush is a Visual Studio productivity add-in which will help you create and maintain source code with extreme efficiency. Consume-first declaration, powerful templates, smart selection tools, intelligent code analysis, innovative navigation and a collection of refactorings all work together to increase productivity. Developers can deliver more features with better quality in less time. Create sophisticated code blocks in seconds and extend code templates instantly. CodeRush will complete identifiers as you type and expand or contract selections logically. Instantly place selected code inside Try/Catch blocks, Regions and custom wrappers. Reverse the logic of selected code and revisit important points within your code instantly. CodeRush lets you write better code more quickly.

Updates in v2011 vol 2

Color Swatches in Code - Change the color using CodeRush's color picker. C#, VB, XAML, HTML and CSS are supported.
Preview Hinting - Show code that's going to change so you can see the refactoring impact before you apply it.
Test Result Icons - View the results of the last test run and quickly run the test again after making changes.
Code Issues - Show errors, warnings, hints and duplicate code while you work.
Duplicate Detection and Consolidation - Easily view duplicate code throughout your solution while you work.
Multi-Select - Select what you need from multiple locations and copy or cut to the clipboard.
Speed - Navigate to a symbol, class or file with fewer keystrokes.

About DevExpress (Developer Express)

Developer Express is a software development company based in the United States. It produces coding assistance tools and components for Delphi, C++ Builder and Microsoft Visual Studio developers. The major part of its product line is VCL, .NET WinForms and ASP.NET components that replicate the UI of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office applications. Developer Express has won many industry awards for its products.

TeamCompanion for Outlook adds support for teams

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:46:00 GMT

Viewing Work Items in Outlook with TeamCompanion for MS Outlook.

Version 4.2 adds Agile project management module for backlog management, iteration planning and progress tracking.

TeamCompanion for MS Outlook is an Add-In for Microsoft Outlook that integrates Microsoft Outlook with Microsoft Team Foundation Server, thus making anyone with Outlook and TeamCompanion a first class member of the Team System based development team. TeamCompanion improves your project communication and removes friction from it. With TeamCompanion you can access project related information using Microsoft Outlook without having to switch between applications. It enables accessing some of the most important artifacts in your Team System environment, such as team projects, work items, etc. without the need to use the Visual Studio Team Explorer or Team System Web Access.

Updates in 4.2

Support for Teams - Agile project management module in TeamCompanion now supports teams. Use it to manage work for each team separately, including team wise backlog management, iteration planning and progress tracking. Teams are defined by associated Areas, they have their own product and sprint backlogs, team members and set of sprints
Improved Backlog Capacity Chart - Within the product backlog module, charts display iteration capacity and planned work in story points
Various fixes and improvements - Further performance improvements. Agile PM tool handles custom process templates more graciously. Planning per Discipline supported. Over sixty issues resolved

About Ekobit

Automise 4 released

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:34:06 GMT

Editing a BeforeAction in VBScript.

Adds an improved IDE which allows multiple projects to be opened, plus new actions and full Unicode support.

Automise is a Windows automation tool for system administrators and IT professionals that reduces the need for writing script to empower anyone to automate Windows. Automate with Automise to free yourself from repetitive tasks and provide faster, more reliable and consistent results. With Automise it's easy to create and maintain an automation project with drag-and-drop in its graphical interface. Once finished, anyone can run a project with a single click, keystroke or automatically on a schedule and save time with the power to run tasks automatically.

Updates in 4.0

IDE Changes
The new IDE allows multiple projects to be opened for editing (as opposed to Automise 3 which only allows a single project to be opened at a time). To complement this feature the new IDE includes docking which will allow you to re-arrange the tabs to your taste. A number of other improvements have been made throughout the IDE to improve the experience of creating and maintaining your Automise projects. These improvements include:

Improvements To Variable Manipulation
Automise 4 allows you to cut, copy and paste variables. Multiple variables can be cut, copied or pasted in a single operation when using the Variable Editor Dialog. When editing variables from the Project Tree, you can only cut and copy single variables at a time, however you can copy a group (containing multiple variables from the tree) and paste multiple variables at once using the project tree.

Variable Renaming Support
In Automise 4 when you rename a variable, all references to the old variable name will be updated, to save you digging through your project in an attempt to find where you used your variable.

Remove Unused Project Variables
Automise 4 will allow you to remove any project variables that are not referenced throughout your project.

Core Changes
A number of changes went into the Automise Core for version 4. These changes will affect both the Automise IDE and ATCMD.

Unicode Support
Automise is now compiled with a Unicode aware compiler. This was a big change which now allows Automise to support Unicode formats. You may notice that some of the text file actions now include options to specify the encoding to be used when creating the file, this was previously not possible with Automise.

Variable Types
In previous versions of Automise all variables were implemented as variants, which are a flexible type that allow you to store value of various types. In most cases variants are sufficient, but in some cases they are not so practical. For instance if you wanted to store a string "03" in a variant, you need to wrap the value in quotes otherwise the value will be interpreted as a number and next time the value is retrieved, Automise will get 3 (rather than 03). In Automise 4 you can specify a type for a variable for those cases where you want a specific data type to be used.

When a typed variable is created, you also have the option to also provide a format string. This can be used to ensure that whenever a specific variable is retrieved it will be in the desired format. Say you had a variable of type integer that you always wanted to padded to 4 digits, setting the format string to %.4d would allow this.

Local Variables
Automise 4 introduces local variables which allow you to create a variable for temporary use. Local variables are ideal for situations where you only need a variable to store data for a small operation of a few actions. The Action Group action has an additional property page that allows you to define local variables. Any variables you define for a particular Action Group can only be referenced by the child actions of the action group. Local Variables are designed for temporary use only and cannot be persisted or used as environment variables.

New Actions
The following new actions are included for the initial release of Automise 4:

FTPS Actions - Perform FTPS operations
EC2 Actions - Manage EC2 instances from Automise
Secure ZIP Actions - Archive files using 256-bit AES encryption
Hyper V Actions - Manage your Hyper V virtual machines
SSH Actions - Run SSH Commands
WBAdmin Actions - Perform advanced backup and recovery operations
FTP Mirror Action - Mirror files and directory structure from local directory to FTP server or vice versa. Also provides the option to overwrite files that exist in both source and destination based on file size, file date and file CRC (where FTP server supports CRC)
Exit Loop Action - Exit out of a loop action before the loop condition is satisfied
XML Node Exists Action - Check whether a node exists in an XML document
Improvements to CD/Burning/Imaging Actions - Changes to CD Burning/ ISO actions to provide full Unicode support

About VSoft Technologies

VSoft Technologies is passionate about software - especially about creating something that is easy to use, very powerful, and which their customers just love. The company has been in business since 1996, and in that time has developed two great automation products based on the same proven technology. If you are a software developer, FinalBuilder will help you get that product onto the market by automating your build processes. For other IT Professionals, Automise can free you from repetitive tasks and make them faster and more reliable through the power of visual Windows automation.

TeamCompanion 4.1 released

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 08:44:59 GMT

Viewing Work Items in Outlook with TeamCompanion for MS Outlook.

Improved performance and new features such as Work Item preview layout selection and "Save All Changes" action.

Updates in 4.1

Additional Agile PM features - Agile PM tool now contains additional colorful statistics located in Iterations and Team panes
"Save All Changes" action - "Save All Changes" action saves all pending offline changes in one simple step
Work Item Query execution performance significantly improved
Various fixes - Issue installing TeamCompanion on an XP machine is resolved including other minor fixes
Great new UI - New first class grid with drag and drop support, grouping, filtering etc.
Work offline now - Save changes to work items in local database and publish them later
Search offline and online - Full text search and complex search criteria supported
Plan and prioritize - Efficient and comfortable tools for Agile Product and Iteration backlog Management and Work Item Prioritization. Support for Backlog management and prioritization using drag and drop. Progress tracking using Burndown chart
Do it fast - Significant performance boost, especially when executing work item queries. Greatly improved startup time

About Ekobit

ReSharper 6 adds code analysis for VB.NET

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:46:00 GMT

Refactoring tools in ReSharper.

Also includes 3 new languages: JavaScript, CSS and HTML and support for ASP.NET MVC 3 Razor view engine.

ReSharper 6 is an intelligent add-in to Visual Studio 2005/2008/2010. ReSharper comes equipped with a rich set of features including: intelligent coding assistance, on-the-fly error highlighting and quick error correction. ReSharper also supports code refactoring, unit testing, navigation and search. NAnt and MS Build Scripts Editing and ASP.NET Editing are also features ReSharper offers. ReSharper advanced features are available right from Visual Studio. ReSharper is available in 3 Editions: ReSharper Full Edition, ReSharper C# Edition and ReSharper Visual Basic .NET Edition. ReSharper Commercial Licenses are available for companies and organizations as well as ReSharper Personal Licenses for individual developers and ReSharper Academic Licenses for educational institutions and trainers.

Updates in 6

JavaScript support - JavaScript support spans most ReSharper 6 feature groups including code inspections, navigation, refactorings, and coding assistance. Symbol and smart completion are available in JavaScript, enabling you to filter out the enormity of JS library functions.
ASP.NET MVC 3 Razor support - ReSharper's ASP.NET MVC feature pack is extended with support for the new Razor view engine. ReSharper brings its full power to C# code blocks in Razor views, including code highlighting, code completion, context actions, refactorings, and navigation. ReSharper's navigation infrastructure, including File Structure and Go to File Member, works correctly in .cshtml files.
CSS support - ReSharper applies its own highlighting to CSS syntax. In addition, every color value is underlined with the respective color, and a quick-fix is available to help change it using a graphical color picker. ReSharper provides its own code completion in CSS files and HTML/ASP.NET markup files. It helps you complete tag names and attributes, preudo-classes, CSS properties and property values.
HTML support - ReSharper 6 brings basic HTML support to the table. First of all, you get code completion for tags, attributes and attribute values where applicable. This is especially handy for values of class and id tags where ReSharper brings up available CSS properties and existing IDs:
VB.NET code analysis - Visual Basic .NET support in ReSharper lacked on-the-fly code inspections for a couple of years, but the wait is finally over: VB.NET code analysis is making its first steps in ReSharper.
Improvements in XAML support - Silverlight, WPF and Windows Phone 7 developers have a reason or two to like ReSharper 6. It has introduced quick-fixes to create properties and dependency properties from usage, improved code completion for bindings, and made ReSharper work nicely with d:DataContext and d:DesignInstance properties.
Color assistance - Whenever you're working with a color, be it in CSS, C#, VB.NET or XAML, ReSharper 6 provides color highlighting for properties representing colors and code completion visualizing colors and brushes.
Macros for file headers - File headers that ReSharper applies on code cleanup can now contain macros defining things such as solution, project and file name; current date and time; and file creation date and time. This means you don't have to manually update the file header ahead of every cleanup.
ReSharper suggestions explained - Sometimes, it's not outright clear why ReSharper highlights code in a particular way. However, it's now easy to get an explanation why ReSharper is coming up some of its most perplexing code inspections: clicking Why is ReSharper suggesting this in the drop-down menu that you get on pressing Alt+Enter opens a wiki page clarifying a particular inspection.
Searchable code inspection severity options - Customizing inspection severity is now a lot easier, for several reasons. First of all, all code inspections can now be configured to be shown with a particular level of severity, be it an error, warning, suggestion, or hint. Second, it has introduced several tabs in the Options dialog that help manage inspection severity for a specific language or technology. Last but not least, you can now search for specific inspections in the list, which is an enormous time saver if you're looking to customize inspections containing a particular keyword.
Extended navigation and search - Navigation has been enhanced and extended in a multitude of ways. For example, when you're looking to jump to a file, you can narrow down the search by entering parts of a path to the file using spaces as delimiters. This is super handy when you have hundreds of similarly named files in your solution:
Bundled decompiler - With ReSharper 6, you don't need a third-party decompiler anymore! Decompile and navigate to library code as easily as you navigate to source code. The entire ReSharper navigation infrastructure, including Go to Symbol/Type/File/File Member, File Structure, navigating through inheritance hierarchy and usage search, is available for decompiled code. You can go to decompiled sources from anywhere, including from the source code, Go to windows, or Object Browser.
Multiple new code inspections -Introduced tens of new on-the-fly code inspections in ReSharper 6, all of which work in C# code and the majority in VB.NET. Prominent additions include Possible multiple enumeration of IEnumerable that is triggered when you're doing excessive work looping through an enumerable.
Find similar issues - ReSharper 6 adds another pop-up menu item that displays on pressing Alt+Enter over highlighted code. This lets you search for similar issues in the entire project, solution, or a folder. This is a much more straightforward way to focus on a specific problem than before when you had to start with searching for code issues in a scope, and proceed with carefully customizing filters.
Converting LINQ to loops - Previously you could have introduced transformations from for and foreach loops to LINQ statements. Now, if you prefer traditional loops over the elegant query
Improvements in unit testing - ReSharper's unit test runner has received a great deal of improvements for this release. For instance, it now does provide an error message when you're running tests and your solution doesn't compile. In terms of framework support, ReSharper 6 now detects NUnit test cases both in the Unit Test Sessions window and in the unit test pop-up menu.

About JetBrains

JetBrains is a technology-leading software development firm specializing in the creation of intelligent, productivity-enhancing software. The company is widely known for its innovative, award-winning Java integrated development environment, IntelliJ IDEA, ReSharper developer productivity extension and dotTrace profiler for .NET developers, TeamCity - a continuous integration and build management environment, RubyMine - a Ruby and Rails IDE and others. JetBrains maintains its headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic, with its R&D labs located in St. Petersburg, Russia and Boston, Massachusetts.

CodeRush adds Code Cleanup support

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:48:00 GMT

Extracting a method in CodeRush with Refactor! Pro.

Version 2011 also adds cascading refactorings, Razor support and Unit Test Runner improvements.

CodeRush helps developers meet the demands and pressures to deliver more features with higher quality in less time, by boosting productivity while eliminating the repetition that erodes creativity. CodeRush will help you create sophisticated code blocks in seconds and extend code templates instantly. CodeRush will complete identifiers as you type and expand or contract selections logically. With CodeRush you will be able to instantly place selected code inside Try/Catch blocks, Regions and your own custom wrappers with ease. You can even reverse the logic of selected code and revisit important points within your code instantly (and effortlessly swap between locations).

Updates in v2011 vol 1

Code Formatting - With this release, CodeRush allows you to fine-tune formatting rules for your code. You can set options for spaces, blank lines, alignment, line breaks, and indentation in variety of code constructs.
Code Cleanup - CodeRush can now automatically apply certain refactorings to a current file, project or solution. Use the Editor|Code Cleanup|Code Cleanup option page to specify changes you want to apply.
Deep Declare - DevExpress have extended CodeRush's Declaration from Usage functionality to deeply scan surrounding source code for hints about the type you want to declare. CodeRush now intelligently declares members for all found references.
Cascading Refactorings - CodeRush now includes several cascading refactorings. Cascading refactorings apply member signature changes across a class hierarchy with virtual/overridden members, or among interface implementers.
Razor Support - DevExpress have implemented MVC 3 Razor support. You can now navigate through code elements, and apply local-level refactorings within Razor code blocks.
Unit Test Runner Improvements - DevExpress have extended CodeRush Unit Test Runner functionality. Unit Test Runner now supports the MSpec testing framework.
New Code Provider - The Declare Event code provider is now available. It declares an event for a reference to an undeclared event.
New Text Command - Implemented the GoTo text command for use in CodeRush templates. GoTo places the text following it right before the first field, method, property, or constructor found in the current class. Valid arguments to the GoTo text command are: Fields, Methods, Properties, or Constructors.

About DevExpress (Developer Express)

DevForce supports new Microsoft .NET technologies

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:32:00 GMT

Building applications using DevForce Universal.

DevForce Universal 2010 (V6.0.9) adds support for Visual Studio 2010, .NET 4.0, Silverlight 4 and Entity Framework v.4.

DevForce Universal is a combination of the value and features found within DevForce WinClient and DevForce Silverlight products. DevForce WinClient enables developers to build applications in a fraction of the time and reduces code and maintenance costs, it enables the Entity Framework to operate n-tier and move business objects to the client, dramatically improving application responsiveness and scalability, while allowing offline operation. DevForce Silverlight enables you to build data-intensive rich internet applications quickly. With DevForce Silverlight, you write your Silverlight application on top of a rich business object model that executes on both the client as well as the server.

Updates in 2010 (V6.0.9)

Major changes appear across the board. The most important derive from the product's reliance on the new Microsoft .NET technologies released in 2010:

Visual Studio 2010
.NET 4
Silverlight 4
Entity Framework v.4

About IdeaBlade

IdeaBlade an early pioneer in .NET application development, today provides the industry's most mature and extensible platform for the development and deployment of enterprise .NET applications. IdeaBlade's DevForce ® framework enables enterprise developers to build, deploy, and maintain n-tier .NET applications with dramatically less pain and risk than they could achieve by any other means.

Designbox for Visual Studio patched

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:19:00 GMT

Viewing a Designbox sales app sample in Visual Studio.

Designbox for Visual Studio Designbox is a new kind of Visual Studio Toolbox that lets you develop and reuse sets of properties and values called Designs. These control designs can be dragged and dropped directly into your WinForms applications to develop applications more quickly than ever. Designbox also contains a Design Gallery which lets you browse through and apply dozens of pre-defined designs to your WinForms controls with just a single click.

Updates in V2.24

Fixed a bug where Infragistics UltraTilePanel Designs were not being applied correctly.
Fixed a bug where Infragistics UltraGauge Designs were triggering the Gauge Wizard when dropped onto a Form.
Fixed a bug where DevExpress NavBarGroup Designs were causing a rendering error while being applied.
Added a feature where Infragistics UltraToolbarsManager Designs now display the Toolbars in the Design Editor.
Added support for DevExpress XtraEditors.
Added a feature for saving your customization settings for the Designbox and Design Gallery themes.
Fixed a bug where some Design Palettes were not being automatically loaded properly. An error was reporting that the Design Palette file could not be found.
Fixed a bug where dragging and dropping a control to the last Design Palette in the Designbox Control was not causing a new Design to be created.
Fixed a bug where renaming a Design was not being committed when you hit the enter key or clicked out of the window.
Fixed a bug where deleting a Design Palette would cause Visual Studio to crash under certain circumstances.
Fixed a bug where changing the name of a Design Palette to a name of an already existing palette would cause an error.
Fixed a bug where Infragistics UltraGrid controls were not being designed properly.
Fixed a bug where Infragistics UltraNavBar controls were not being designed properly.
Fixed a bug where DevExpress NavBarControl controls were not being designed properly.
Fixed a bug where DevExpress BarManager controls were not being designed properly.

About StudioWorks Software

StudioWorks Software is a customer driven software company that specializes in delivering high-value developer tools and components to the Visual Studio marketplace. StudioWorks Software's Designbox for Visual Studio enables you to create .NET WinForms UIs in a fraction of the time that it would otherwise take by delivering a revolutionary new way to create and share controls within Visual Studio. StudioWorks Software is committed to partnering with Control Vendors to create custom Design Galleries for their control offerings and has been a Microsoft VSIP member since 2006. StudioWorks Software is a privately held company headquartered in Cleveland, OH.

ReSharper improves large file processing

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:23:00 GMT

Refactoring tools in ReSharper.

Version 5.1.3 allows faster processing of large files with 10,000 or more lines of code.

ReSharper 5 is an intelligent add-in to Visual Studio 2005/2008/2010. ReSharper 5 comes equipped with a rich set of features including: intelligent coding assistance, on-the-fly error highlighting and quick error correction. ReSharper 5 also supports code refactoring, unit testing, navigation and search. NAnt and MS Build Scripts Editing and ASP.NET Editing are also features ReSharper 5 offers. ReSharper 5 advanced features are available right from Visual Studio. ReSharper 5 is available in 3 Editions: ReSharper Full Edition, ReSharper C# Edition and ReSharper Visual Basic .NET Edition. ReSharper Commercial Licenses are available for companies and organizations as well as ReSharper Personal Licenses for individual developers and ReSharper Academic Licenses for educational institutions and trainers.

Updates in 5.1.3

Live templates can now be saved one by one
Support for Test Projects (MSTest) re-targeted to .NET Framework 3.5
Now allows faster processing of large files (10,000 LOC or more.)
ReSharper PowerToys no longer throw exceptions
External source now reads PDB files in a better way
Bug fixes related to referencing CoreCLR assemblies from Silverlight projects, comments in VB.NET, BizTalk projects, shortcut persistence, and references to SharpSVN

About JetBrains

JetBrains is a technology-leading software development firm specializing in the creation of intelligent, productivity-enhancing software. The company is widely known for its innovative, award-winning Java integrated development environment, IntelliJ IDEA, ReSharper developer productivity extension and dotTrace profiler for .NET developers, TeamCity -- a continuous integration and build management environment, RubyMine -- a Ruby and Rails IDE and others. JetBrains maintains its headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic, with its R&D labs located in St. Petersburg, Russia and Boston, Massachusetts.