MS is really listening

I had reported a bug with the VS 2005 Unit Tester aborting tests when MS Anti Spyware is running. I have been getting MSN alerts at various times to keep me posted on the status of the bug. I  just got an email and then an alert on my cell phone telling me that the are working with the spyware team and will have it fixed before the final release.

Very cool.

Bug Details: @005 beta 2 Unit tester does not work with MS Anit Spyware

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Learning the Team System unit tester

Ok, so now I dig around the web and find out I can create a test by right clicking on the constructor. Not bad - it created a test project and a class to test the constructor. I just need to set some values. So I set the unit test project as the start project - because I didn't know about the Test Manager yet - and away I go. The test results show that the test was aborted and I see the anti spyware thingy popping up about something tyring to write to a file.

I'm thinking to myself, "Could it be that no one at MS is running Anti-Spyware with VS?" Nah, and after a quick google I found this link. Ok, so now the world is in harmony and I got through my first unit test. I'm still a little disoriented but I'll get over it.

Next up is trying to read a user from the database. To be continued.

Learning VS 2005 part I

In the prequel to this entry I realized I shoudl have blogged my experiences with beta 2 from the start. Anyway, once I figured out what I was going to try to build, it was time to make another stab at getting NUnit to work with VS.

Why NUnit? Because it is what I know, and besides I was so confused about the Team System pieces I thought I would need to set up a mainfame in my basement just to do source control. So I use the class designer to create a User class. I know I should create the test first but I was dying tocheck out the class designer. I like the designer but it still feels clunky. Hopefully that is because it is beta, but sometimes if the feel isn't right I would rather code the class by hand.

Next I created a test to instantiate a User. I pulled down NUNit 2.2 and fiddle with the config and it seems to work. The NUnit GUI comes up, I point to the test dll and no tests show up. I have TestFixture and Test attributes in the proper places. At this point I have had enough, but I know it is beta so I keep digging, all the while I have the Team System Unit Tester knocking at my brain.

I just recieved the DVD from MSDN supscriptions and it had everything on it. So I start the install and guess what - it installs. My configuration is a Win XP laptop with a drive I use just for beta stuff - so that I can take it anywhere and not pollute my other systems. For some reason I thought the unit tester was not a stand alone product. I'm not sure why, that is just the impression I got. I think the Team System guys need to do a better job of explaining what goes on the server and what a dveeloper can run on a workstation without the server.

The next entry will be about learning how to use the built in unit tester.

I should have blogged this from the beginning

Ok, I made a big mistake. With beta 2 out I finally decided to dig in. I have been fiddling around with VS 2005 and have read a ton of articles on all of the new features. I tinkered with beta 1 but just didn't have the time. So now I am making time and it has been interesting to say the least.

My mistake was not blogging the experience, so over the next few days I will catch the blogging world up with the experience so far. Then I'll blog as I go.

What I decided to do was build the foundation of a system from the ground up, starting with users, roles and privileges. I want to incorporate unit testing from the get go. We'll soon see how much I have to learn. Stay tuned!