José Carballosa's Virtual Memory

Types of Use Case Actors

2011-04-15T00:05:00.000+02:00

I have had this discussion so many times that I finally decided to put this down for once. Here are the different types of use-case actors as I see them:

The initiating actor of a use case is the one that sets the use case in action. All other actors that subsequently take part in the use case are called participating actors. To show this distinction in use-case diagrams, I draw an arrow from the initiating actor to the use case symbol. I then draw simple lines from the use case symbol to all its participating actors.

We also call the primary actor of the use case to the one to whom the use case provides sufficient value to justify its construction. Other actors that collaborate to the successful operation of the use case are called secondary actors of this use case. You could choose to show this distinction in use-case diagrams by using a note on the actor. I usually don't.

Frequently the primary actor of a use case is also its initiating actor, but that doesn't have to be so. Take for example a batch operating use case that generates a management report...

primary and participating actor: manager (interested in the report)
initiating and secondary actor: batch starter (probably a scheduled job or an operator)

How to Make a Sketchy DataGrid in SketchFlow

2011-02-03T13:12:00.007+01:00

I've taken SketchFlow for a ride lately, while mocking up the user interface of a small webapp. It's actually easy to work with once you get it, yet it's got great capabilities.

I was amazed though that Microsoft didn't provide a DataGrid control in sketchy style just out-of-the-box. Of course you can use the standard DataGrid control and tweak it a bit, but I couldn't get it totally sketchy.

That's when it occurred to me you could use a ListBox-Sketch control binded to multi-column data source. And this is how I did it...

First I draw the ListBox-Sketch.

Then I created the multi-column data source.

Next I binded the listbox to the data source.

That places the list items bellow each other instead of side-by-side. So we need to change the item template. First I set the template in edit mode.

Then I changed the layout of the container to a Grid.

Next I rearranged the TextBlock generated for the different columns of the datasource to get them side by side. I found this was best done by aligning them top-left and giving them left margin. You will probably also want to remove the Grids height to set it to Auto.

After that I come out of the template edit mode. The result is already looking good.

To make it even better I add a header using a Rectangle-Sketch with a grayed-out background and several TextBlock-Sketch.

That's it.

The State of Agile Development survey

2010-12-31T11:32:00.003+01:00

The fifth annual “State of Agile Development” survey is now available here.

Personal Brand as a Corporate Employee

2010-12-29T12:29:00.003+01:00

Here is a interesting article on personal branding for practitioners working within corporations. It touches on the challenge of balancing personal and corporate brands. Also check-out this 101 on personal branding.

The Difference Between Theory and Practice

2010-12-02T14:15:00.007+01:00

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is.

(souce)

Achilles and the Tortoise Discuss Design

2010-11-17T13:19:00.003+01:00

It's not new and there's no news in it, but I just came across this nice Discussion about Design between Achilles and the Tortoise. It explains and justifies the Agile way of doing Design.

Technical Presentations Tips and Tricks

2010-11-12T10:19:00.002+01:00

I enjoyed very much this three posts with tips for technical presentations:

SQL Server Modeling (codename "Oslo") Almost Dead

2010-10-23T16:33:00.004+02:00

It's being almost three years now since Microsoft first announced "Oslo" in November 2007, later renamed SQL Server Modeling. After a long quiet incubation period Microsoft is now announing the "premature" termination of two out of the three parts of this technology. Indeed, the SQL Server based "Oslo" repository and the query, update and visualization tool codenamed "Quadrant" will not be brought to market. They are abandoning those technologies in favor of the Open Data Protocol (OData) and the Entity Data Model (EDM). Microsoft says they will continue investmenting in the last piece of the puzzle: the language codenamed “M”. This technology for defining schema, constraints, queries, and transformations is still receiving significant interest from the industry. Microsoft didn't announce any plans for the release of this technology yet.

Biztalk Server 2010 Released

2010-09-27T10:11:00.002+02:00

Microsoft finally announced the release of BizTalk Server 2010 for manufacturing. The software will be available for purchase from October 1st, 2010. But the free 120 day evaluation and developer editions are already available for download.

BizTalk Server 2010 Posters

2010-09-23T11:27:00.003+02:00

This six posters are now available on BizTalk 2010:

BizTalk Server 2010 Technical Overview

2010-08-24T18:07:00.002+02:00

Here is technical overview providing a guided tour of BizTalk Server 2010.

Free Online Training BizTalk Server 2010

2010-08-24T17:59:00.003+02:00

Quicklearn is offering the free online training Updating Your Skill to BizTalk Server 2010. They also have other online training courses covering from BizTalk Developer Fundaments to specific experts topics such as Business Rule Engine and BAM.

BizTalk 2010 Videos & Feedback

2010-08-24T17:42:00.002+02:00

Interesting videos and feedback are being posted covering the new features in BizTalk Server 2010 Beta.

BizTalk Server 2010 Beta

2010-08-24T17:19:00.003+02:00

The release of the BizTalk Server 2010 Beta unveiled great new features, including:

alignment with SQL Server 2008 R2, Visual Studio 2010 and SharePoint 2010
integration with Windows Server AppFabric
enhanced trading partner management
a new BizTalk mapper
simplified management through a single dashboard
configuration backup/restore
new Business-to-Business integration capabilities such as rapidly on-board and easy management of trading partners
secure FTP adapter (FTPS)

How To Select Live Sync Folder Location

2010-08-17T10:38:00.009+02:00

I just started checking out Windows Live Sync Beta. To my surprise the location of a synced folder in the target computer got automatically selected when I chose that computer at the end of the "publish" process. We are also not able to change the receiving location later on.

The right way to do this is not to choose the other computer as part of the publish process. Instead, go to the target computer and click "sync this folder", where you can specify your desired location.

This kind of makes sense, since the source computer can't easily allow us to select a location on the target computer.

How to Organize Mail With Color in Outlook 2010

2010-07-22T09:12:00.004+02:00

The quick pane Organize mail is gone in Outlook 2010. You can still have your mail organized by color, now called Conditional Formating, by going View tab > View Settings > Conditional Formating. You will have to make the coloring rules yourself.

Apparently the quick pane lead to confusion when changing views since people didn't realize it was a view setting. This should be more obvious now, although not as easy.

Scrum Process Template for TFS

2010-07-21T13:41:00.005+02:00

Microsoft just released a Scrum Process Template for TFS. It is available for download here. MSDN documentation can be found here. For a quick installation walkthrough check here.

Clearly Scrum's growth in popularity finaly convinced Microsoft to go beyond their MSF Agile process template. The standard template felt unnatural to teams trying to do Scrum, due to its use of different terminology like Iteration rather than Sprint, User Story rather than “Product Backlog item”, etc.

Up until now, teams have used the SfTS (Scrum for Team System) a free add-in for Visual Studio Team System from EMC Consulting. Their process template covers more than the new one from Microsoft. But expect to see the Microsoft's one get more and more capable overtime.

Reusable Layer Diagrams from the Microsoft Architecture Guide

2010-07-20T13:30:00.005+02:00

Here is an extension package containing five layer diagrams from the Microsoft Architecture Guide for use in Visual Studio 2010 projects.

The layers supported are:

Web Application
Rich Client Application
Rich Internet Application
Services Application
Mobile Application

After installing them, they become available for Layer Diagrams on the Toolbox.

Best-practices for Requirements and Architecture Modeling in Visual Studio 2010

2010-07-16T17:14:00.004+02:00

While checking out the documentation of the new modeling features in Visual Studio 2010 I came across this two nice overviews:

They include well presented best-practices with links to detailed instructions.

Limitations and Workarounds for Sequence Diagrams in Visual Studio 2010

2010-07-15T17:29:00.005+02:00

Here are some limitations and workarounds I came across while evaluating sequence diagrams in Visual Studio 2010:

You can’t hide the reply part of a synchronous message. A work around is to remove the label and color the reply arrow transparent. But you won’t get rid of the execution block.
You need to have a message to add a combined fragment, even when your fragment doesn’t require one. One example of this could be a Break fragment. The workaround is to add a dummy message to be able to add the combined fragment and then remove the message again.
You can’t resize fragments or interaction operands. For example, if you remove some messages from a combined fragment, you will end up with a large fragment that you can’t resize. A workaround to regain diagram space in those situations is to right-click a blank part of the diagram, and then click Rearrange Layout (you can undo this operation if needed!).
You can’t reorder fragments or interaction operands. I haven’t found a work around for this.
You can’t copy/paste fragments. A workaround is to copy/paste the messages within the fragment and then recreate the fragment around them. That’s of course only thinkable for very simple fragments.
You can’t rewire messages to other lifelines. A workaround for rewiring the start lifeline is to copy the message and paste it in the other starting lifeline. Then remove the original message. I haven’t found a workaround for rewiring the destination lifeline of a message.

Mail Server Setup for SharePoint Virtual Machine

2010-07-13T11:46:00.003+02:00

I just came across this post explaining options for setting up a Mail Server for a SharePoint Virtual Machine. Its suggestion is to check out hMailServer, a free e-mail server for Windows that seems to work like a charm.

Visual Studio 2010 Import Tool for VSeWSS Projects

2010-07-12T08:46:00.003+02:00

In addition to the tools for creating SharePoint 2010 projects already built in Visual Studio 2010 we now also have here a tool for importing VSeWSS projects. This allows us to import SharePoint 2007 projects created with Visual Studio 2008 and maintain them from Visual Studio 2010.

Microsoft Feature Packs

2010-06-29T18:42:00.002+02:00

Now there's this new addition to Microsoft release schema: the Feature Packs. They seem to expose product features that didn't make it to the release. They get released to MSDN subscriptors for free, but seems to cost some bucks for others. They are also supported by Microsoft and are guaranteed to be included in the next product release.

Here is a good introduction to the filosophy of Feature Packs and discussion of the differences with Power Tools, Product Release and Service Packs.

Visual Studio 2010 Pro Power Tools

2010-06-29T18:20:00.006+02:00

Great productivity features are included in the Visual Studio 2010 Pro Power Tools. The two I'm specially happy about are:

Improved Add Reference dialog. Much faster (caches results) and search enabled!

Readable code alignment

A complete list of the features added is described in this blog post. The bits can be downloaded from here.

Visual Studio 2010 ALM Rangers Guidance

2010-06-29T17:37:00.004+02:00

I just came across this set of invaluable guidance on Visual Studio 2010, from Microsoft and the community.

Of particular interest to me at this point are:

Architecture Tooling Guidance, which focusses on modeling tools. Including scenarios for understanding and reverse engineering an existing application or starting a new application from scratch.
Requirements Management Guidance, that provides field experience in the form of recommended procedures and processes, VSTS and TFS configurations, and skills for the Requirements Engineering discipline of an application lifecycle

Machine Rebuild Tips

2010-06-28T21:27:00.002+02:00

In the last days I needed to rebuilt my laptop. I'm happy I previously came across this post from Simon Guest loaded with good tips for the task.

BizTalk Best Practices Analyzer v1.2

2010-06-22T23:22:00.003+02:00

Here is the BizTalk Server Best Practices Analyzer V1.2. This tool evaluates the BizTalk configuration and suggests possible areas of improvement. It works in read-only mode, without modifying any system settings. This version of the tool supports Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006, 2006 R2, and 2009.

BizTalk 2009 Community WebCasts

2010-06-22T01:03:00.002+02:00

Here is an interesting webcast series on BizTalk 2009, from the community.

MIL-STD-498 Documentation Standard

2010-05-13T12:55:00.002+02:00

Here is the MIL-STD-498 Documentation Standard. This military standard contains useful document templates for customers lacking good (technical) documentation standards. The standard were released to the public domain and can be freely used.

Quint2 - Extended ISO 9126 Model of Software Quality

2010-05-13T12:17:00.008+02:00

Here is the SERC site of the QUINT2 Model for Software Quality. This is also known as the Extended ISO Model 9126. This information is also available in Dutch here.

Enterprise Library 5 Released

2010-05-06T08:58:00.001+02:00

Check out the details on codeplex and here. It supports Visual Studio 2010!

Microsoft Certified Architect Discontinued

2010-05-06T08:20:00.003+02:00

Microsoft recently announced the discontinuation of two Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) certifications: Solutions and Infrastructure. Effective May 1, 2010. Already certified achitects are encouraged to migrate to either:

IASA’s CITA-P Certification; or
Open Group's AOGEA

This recognizes that a profession's certification is better runned not from within a product or technology vendor.

BizTalk 2009 R2 renamed BizTalk 2010

2010-04-15T10:35:00.002+02:00

Microsoft renamed its opcomming release of BizTalk Server. It will now be called BizTalk Server 2010 instead of BizTalk Server 2009 R2. The rationale over this change can be found here.

SharePoint Resources for Developers and End-Users

2010-04-14T16:16:00.003+02:00

Here is a great compilation of SharePoint resources for developers and end-users.

SOA Source Book, 2nd Edition

2010-04-14T12:47:00.002+02:00

The OpenGroup recently released the 2nd Edition of their SOA Source Book. The SOA Source book is a collection of materials for enterprise architects working with SOA. It explains:

what SOA is
how to evaluate SOA features in business terms
how to model SOA
how to use TOGAF for SOA
SOA governance

The free HTML version of the document can be found here.

Decision-making tools

2010-04-01T14:36:00.005+02:00

I found a usefull description of two decision-making tools I've being using in my practice for a while now. They are:

Decision matrix, used to narrow a list of options to one choice
Multivoting, used to shorten a long list of possibilities

I freequently use decision matrix in choosing between candidate solutions or technologies. To get a manageable size matrix I use multivoting on both dimensions (solutions and criteria). There is lots of benefits on using those tools, one of them being the level of support that can gained for the final solution.

gacutil.exe changed location with Visual Studio 2008

2010-03-16T20:40:00.005+01:00

As late as it may sound...

I just find out (the hard way) that gacutil.exe tool changed location with Visual Studio 2008 to a completely different path, namely: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\bin. It used to be at C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SDK\v2.0\bin in the previous version of Visual Studio.

IE security configuration for SharePoint 2007

2010-03-15T14:58:00.003+01:00

The intallation guide of WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007 advices you to add the SharePoint site to the list of trusted sites and configure user authentication settings of Internet Explorer. Unfortunatly they forgot to tell us how to do this last step.

Here is what you need to do:

In Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
On the Security tab, in the Select a Web content zone to specify its security settings box, click Trusted sites, and then click Custom Level.
In the Settings list box, under User Authentication, select 'Automatic logon with current username and password'.
Click OK twice.

You can also get away without configuring Custom Level security, by adding the site to the Local intranet zone instead of to the Trusted sites zone. This seems to be OK for a developer environment which is what I freequently need.

Here is what you need to do:

In Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
On the Security tab, in the Select a Web content zone to specify its security settings box, click Local intranet, and then click Sites.
Click Advanced
Clear the Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone check box.
In the Add this Web site to the zone box, type the URL for the SharePoint site, and then click Add.
Click Close.
Click OK twice.

Back of the Napkin visualization

2010-03-10T13:13:00.006+01:00

Here is a great presentation over the power of visualization, by Dan Roam. It's a great watch for every architect. The best I found his framework for choosing the visualization technique to go with the kind of problem, as shown in this picture taken from his presentation.

"Read more" jump in Blogger posts

2010-03-10T10:34:00.002+01:00

Finally there's an easy way to insert "Read more" jumps to Blogger posts. Just edit the post in HTML mode and insert the text  in the position where the jump break must come.

More details are explained here.

TOGAF 9 Templates

2010-03-10T09:38:00.003+01:00

Here is a set of templates for TOGAF 9 deliverables, made publicly available on the website of the OpenGroup. It includes templates for:

Architecture Definition Document
Architecture Principles
Architecture Vision
Business Scenarios
Request for Architecture Work
Requirements Impact Assessment
Statement of Architecture Work

It comes as a zipped set of Microsoft Word documents (doc and dot files).

SQL Server Modeling on MSDN

2009-12-07T16:38:00.000+01:00

MSDN information on the SQL Server Modeling technologies (formerly "Oslo") can now be found at the Data Development Center via the links:

Modeling Sessions at PDC 2009

2009-12-07T16:25:00.003+01:00

Here are the PDC 2009 sessions tagged for "Modelling". They cover both Visual Studio 2010 and Oslo.

Oslo becomes SQL Server Modeling

2009-12-07T16:10:00.004+01:00

Microsoft announced "SQL Server Modeling" at PDC 2009 as name for their "Oslo" tools. It is for sure a strange choice for a hosting product, despite their efforts to explain this move. But again, "Oslo" have frequently changed scope and shape from the begining... so, I guess it will be better to just keep watching it.

SharePoint 2007 Posters

2009-11-18T16:39:00.004+01:00

Here is a number of very usefull posters for SharePoint 2007.

Tips for a Good Architecture Document

2009-11-15T10:37:00.003+01:00

I found this post from Michael Stal with a very nice overview of attributes a really good architecture document should have. Nothing new on it. But it makes a handy list of checkpoints.

Visual Studio 2010 and NET 4 Release Date Known

2009-11-02T23:45:00.004+01:00

The product launch for Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4 is settled for March 22, 2010; as mentioned in Microsoft’s press release for the Beta 2.

SOA Manifesto Released

2009-10-28T12:09:00.003+01:00

The SOA Manifesto was recently released at the 2nd International SOA Symposium in Rotterdam. It states what the author's (and signatories) belief to matters more for a successful SOA, out of two good things. It also goes on and provides principles that explain and expand upon those core values. This approach very much follows the format used for the Agile Manifesto.

A recording of the announcement of the SOA Manifesto is available online here.

BizTalk Server 2009 Posters (revisited)

2009-10-26T10:59:00.003+01:00

In a previous post I listed an early set of BizTalk 2009 posters. Now Microsoft have nicely linked all the posters online at:

Thanks to Jonathan Gao for pointing this out to me.

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4 Beta 2

2009-10-26T10:39:00.006+01:00

The Beta 2 of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 is out there, since last week. MSDN subscribers can download it here.

This release concentrates mainly on performance, stability, and feature set integration. It also includes some new capabilities and improvements. The next release is expected to be the release candidate.

For further details see Scott Guthrie's post.

SOA is re-emerging, says Gartner

2009-07-01T11:51:00.011+02:00

As recently announced "SOA is emerging from the Trough of Disillusionment within Gartner's Hype Cycle, and it is climbing the Slope of Enlightenment". Which is obviously good news.

Factors contributing to this resurgence are:

The evolution of SOA beyond its clasical RPC-style (SOAP), on to REST, Web-oriented architecture and EDA
SOA's enabling role in SaaS, BPM and Cloud Computing, which are currenlty increasing in popularity and adoption
Underway SOA initiatives being accelerated, because of users wanting the benefits of SOA sooner.
Unplanned adoptions of SOA resulting from deploying and using new packaged applications built with SOA

It recognizes that "Good engineering principles such as those embodied in SOA are timeless," as Jeff Thompson said in the Gartner report.

Template for Evaluating Architecture Descriptions

2009-06-23T16:29:00.004+02:00

Here is a template for evaluating the quality of an architecture documentation, recently published at the IASA's content repository.

The template is organized according the four main aspects, namely:

Stakeholder and purpose
Content quality
Presentation and visualisation
Management

Each aspect is analyzed in a separate section, containing evaluation questions and metrics organized in subsections (or criterias).

Feedback about this template can be e-mailed to the authors at: jouni.markkula@oulu.fi and niina.hamalainen@aditro.com.

Microsoft "Oslo" - May 2009 CTP

2009-06-04T16:17:00.004+02:00

Here is the May 2009 CTP of "Oslo", Microsoft’s next generation modeling platform.

This drop adds:

The "Quadrant" modeling tool, used to browse and edit models in the repository.
Domain models for UML 2.1, including Use Case, Activity, Class, Sequence and Component diagrams. Profiles and templates are also supported.
An XMI importer for the UML diagrams mentioned.
A domain model and loader for System.Runtime.

VisualStudio 2010 and .NET 4 Beta 1

2009-05-27T08:14:00.005+02:00

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 is now available for download from this page.

BizTalk Server 2009 Posters

2009-05-19T11:08:00.006+02:00

They already put out posters for BizTalk Server 2009!

Here is a list of them:

There's also an Interactive Scale-out Configurations Poster, which requires Silverlight and the use of the Interactive Capabilities Reader.

In a previous post I list the available BizTalk Server 2006 R2 Posters.

Google Analytics code lost

2009-05-19T10:58:00.004+02:00

Uhmm... I just realized Google Analytics wasn't collecting info on this blog any longer. That's because I reset the layout lately and then forgot to re-insert the right script.

Here is the text of the script in case I need it in the future.

BizTalk 2009 Released

2009-05-15T13:51:00.003+02:00

Microsoft announced the availability of BizTalk Server 2009. As I mentioned earlier this sixth release of the product is feature rich, expanding both on platform support and in functionality.

ArchiMate 1.0 Specification Released

2009-05-11T15:24:00.003+02:00

The Open Group recently released version 1.0 of the ArchiMate Specification. Check out here for more information. A HTML version can be freely consulted online. Members can also download a PDF version. Hard copies can be ordered from http://www.vanharen.net/ (ISBN 9789087535025).

Analysis vs Requirements Discipline in RUP

2009-04-27T22:25:00.009+02:00

Both RUP disciplines, Requirements and Analysis, study the problem domain and therefore concentrate on the software requirements. Quickly enough the question raises: what's the difference between Requirements and Analysis, that justifies the existence of both disciplines?

I have being lately involved in the design of an internal course on Analysis and Design. In searching for the right answer to the above question, this is what I came out with:

While both disciplines deal with the problem domain, the Requirements discipline does that to capture the client thoughts and reasons. To simplify the task at hand the Requirements discipline uses natural language as vehicle, since that's the language the customer speaks. As a consequence the requirements specification is inherently imprecise and frequently incomplete or conflicting. Of course, the requirements engineers will probably do their best effort to minimize that.

The Analysis discipline also focuses on the problem domain, but its goal is to communicate the requirements to the designers/developers. The natural way to do that is to use a formal modeling language, frequently UML. The main objective is to work out all the imprecision’s of the requirements, completing them and resolving eventual conflicts. Frequently that will lead to a review/rework of the requirements. I look at this part of the process as a sort of intake of the requirements.

A typical area where Analysis clearly complements Requirements is in modeling the user interaction requirements. This effort produces a visual representation of what is expected, which can be captured more easily and descriptively that way than with plain prose.

Another area where Analysis models definitely add value is in organizing our data requirements at the interface level. That can be the data showing up on a user interface, but also the data contracts of a service interface or the content of an exchange file.

Blogger Label Cloud Widget

2009-04-22T15:10:00.004+02:00

While reseting the template of the blog I just lost my label cloud widget. Since I didn't keep a reference to it I just had to find it again. I wasn't so difficult since it's currently the first Google hit on: blogger label cloud. Even so, here is the link to the settings up instructions, in case it's ever needed again.

Presentations From The Microsoft SOA/BMP Conference 2009 Available

2009-04-06T12:47:00.003+02:00

Both slides decks and videos from the presentations at the past 2009 Microsoft SOA & BPM Conference are now available here.

ATAM Presentations

2009-02-19T21:44:00.016+01:00

I found this two great presentations on ATAM (Architectural Trade Off Analysis Method) -- the architecture evaluation method developed at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI):

Architectural Trade Off Analysis Method, by Len Bass explains how to apply ATAM.
Architecture Evaluation in Practice, by Dragos Manolescu shares insights gained at the ThoughtWorks' Architecture Evaluation practice.

Both presentations where recorded at JAOO -- European developer conference on software technology, methods and best practices.

TOGAF 9 Released

2009-02-17T11:59:00.009+01:00

Last February 2 the Open Group finally announced their awaited release of TOGAF 9

Named key enhancements on this version are:

how to apply on infrastructures like SOA and security architecture
formalized definition of Enterprise Architecture
modular structure
guidelines for creating hierarchies of architectures within organizations

Critics point out the missed opportunity to integrate the efforts from the ArchiMate working group.

How to Export Outlook Meeting Attendee Responses

2009-02-06T13:30:00.005+01:00

I was just trying to share the attendee list of an Outlook meeting, together with the responses I got. Surprisingly enough it seems there's no way to do such a thing out of the box.

Fourtunately I came across this post explaining how to do just that. It uses a Macro to export the list to a new Excel document. It works just great.

One more note here. When using Outlook 2007, first open the appointment, click on the Tracking tab, then press ALT+F8 and run the macro. No need/use adding the macro to the toolbar, since it won't show on the ribbon!

Thanks to the author and... long live to Google!

Training Kit for Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4

2009-01-19T13:49:00.005+01:00

Microsoft made available a Training Kit to help use the features of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0.

It covers a variety of framework technologies, including:

C# 4.0
Visual Basic 10
F#
Parallel Computing Platform
WCF
WF
WPF
ASP.NET AJAX 4.0
ASP.NET MVC Dynamic Data

The kit have presentations, hands-on labs, and demos and can be downloaded here.

Microsoft previously made available a pre-release version of this software.

Microsoft Strategic Architect Forum 2008

2009-01-19T12:34:00.009+01:00

The slides of the Microsoft Strategic Architect Forum 2008 (SAF) are available here.

I described before this kind of Microsoft architecture event and included links to the recorded sessions from SAF 2007.

Blog Year Review: 2008

2009-01-08T12:22:00.006+01:00

Here's a look back at this blog's traffic on 2008, as repported by Google Analytics:

1.619 visits
105 pages seen
Most visited: Home page (729, NL/US/India)
Running up pages:

TOGAF vs RUP Architecture? (135, US/UK/CA)
What about the Project Start Architecture (PSA)? (77, NL)

Running up labels:

Architecture (34, NL)
BizTalk (22, NL/US/CA)

ESB Guidance 2.0 CTP October 2008 available

2008-12-09T10:58:00.004+01:00

There is now a CTP available for a new release of the ESB Guidance 2.0.

The final release date will coincide with the release of BizTalk 2006 R3

BizTalk Server 2009 Public Beta available

2008-12-09T10:08:00.012+01:00

I was just signaled on the recent release of a public beta of BizTalk Server 2009! This is the first preview of the road map announced in September 2008.

It is said the bits are feature-complete; showing support for the latest Microsoft technologies, including:

Windows Server 2008,
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 SP1,
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and
The .NET Framework 3.5 SP1.

It also delivers new connectivity options including:

New integration with Oracle’s E-Business Suite,
Updated support for the most recent versions of IBM’s:
- Customer Information Control System (CICS),
- Information Management System (IMS),
- DB2, DB2/400, DB2 Universal Database and
- WebSphere MQ.

It will be interesting to confirm their claims for:

Improved scalability and reliability; with support for SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V.
Interoperability with Team Foundation Server (TFS).

Microsoft Application Architecture Guide

2008-12-01T17:15:00.004+01:00

I was just signaled by a colleague about this guide being developed by Microsoft patterns & practices, product teams, and industry experts.

In their own words...

The Application Architecture Guide 2.0 provides design-level guidance for the architecture and design of applications built on the .NET Framework. It focuses on the most common types of applications, partitioning application functionality into layers, components, and services, and walks through their key design characteristics.

Handy!

TOGAF 8 Certified

2008-11-13T09:47:00.010+01:00

I just got from the OpenGroup the confirmation of my TOGAF 8 certification.

VisualStudio 2010 and .NET 4 CTP

2008-10-31T00:48:00.008+01:00

Microsoft made available a VPC with an installed pre-release (CTP) version of VisualStudio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0. It can be downloaded here.

Extra details about about the release can be found here.

Oslo Developer Center on MSDN

2008-10-31T00:29:00.003+01:00

It's being only a couple of days out there, the "Oslo" Development Center on MSDN. The site will be the one-stop shop for all the official information. It currently includes links to video's, articles blogs and downloads.

Training Kits for VS2008, .NET 3.5 and SP1

2008-10-16T10:42:00.005+02:00

I just found this two sets of training material over the last technologies released in the Microsoft platform. It includes good presentations, hands-on labs, and demos.

Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Training Kit. This covers VS 2008 features, LINQ, C# 3.0, Visual Basic 9, WCF, WF, WPF, ASP.NET AJAX, VSTO, CardSpace, SilverLight, Mobile and Application Lifecycle Management.
.NET Framework 3.5 Enhancements Training Kit. This covers ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Dynamic Data, ASP.NET AJAX History, ASP.NET Routing, ADO.NET Data Services, ADO.NET Entity Framework, WCF 3.5 SP1, and the .NET Framework Client Profile.

New features in Visual Studio 2010 Architect

2008-10-09T18:36:00.010+02:00

Here's some VS2010 videos from channel9. They discuss/present new features in Visual Studio 2010 Architect.

Honestly, it looks like Microsoft finally got it with UML.

Rosario is got a name... Visual Studio 2010

2008-10-09T17:41:00.009+02:00

I just learned Microsoft announced official product names for the next versions of Visual Studio and the .NET framework. "Rosario" will become Visual Studio 2010, and the framework will indeed be .NET 4!

They emphasized their goal of making of Visual Studio an application life-cycle management (ALM) system. They also announced they will merge the Developer and Database editions. They will even do that for VS2005 and VS2008 as well.

NOTE: I'll be retagging old Rosario posts as VS2010.

What about the Project Start Architecture (PSA)?

2008-09-25T05:50:00.026+02:00

I notice increasing interest on the Project Start Architecture (PSA) artifact as more and more organizations enters the Enterprise Architecture arena. Unfortunately not everyone is on the same page concerning the usage of this document. As this keeps heating arguments in circles around me, I thought I would collect my thoughts on this subject.

The PSA, as I know it, is an architectural artifact of DyA, the enterprise architecture framework of Sogeti. They have made available a template as well as a whitepaper written by Joost Luijpers, but this is currently only available in Dutch.

The document can be divided in two main parts. The first one identifies those pieces of the reference architecture that are relevant to the project by the time it starts. This imposes an architectural framework to the project team. It is important to notice that this part of the PSA can not be modified during the project. Constrasting with that, the second part of the PSA ussually will be amended in the course of the project. In this one we record two different kinds of information. First we put there design decisions made by the project team within the limits of the PSA (conform the enterprise architecture) if they are candidates for standardization. Next we also record there agreed deviations from the framework imposed by the PSA. That’s it. The PSA contains no more and no less.

Where I see people frequently go wrong with the PSA is by recording project specific design decisions on it. In fact they (ab)use the PSA as a replacement for the software architecture document (SAD).

Maybe a good deal of the confusion derives from an "unfortunate" selection of the name of the role responsible for creating and updating the PSA. In DyA this role is called the project architect. But that’s also the name of the role for the lead designer within the project team for many development methodologies (like RUP). What DyA really means is the enterprise architect assigned to the project. But I can understand why.

Oslo shows at PDC 2008

2008-09-18T18:03:00.003+02:00

There is real buzz about everything Microsoft is going to tell about Oslo at the PDC. They even readied channel9 placeholders for the shows:

Oslo pre-release at PDC 2008

2008-09-18T17:51:00.002+02:00

Douglas Purdy recently announced in his blog Microsoft's plans to provide pre-release bits of Oslo at the PCD. He says they want to "publicly engage with the community" and talks about about doing a CTP every 2 weeks afterwards. Are they serious?

BizTalk 2006 Performance and Operations Guides

2008-09-18T17:37:00.002+02:00

Performance tuning and operations are probably two of the bigest headaches for most BizTalk projects. I'm happy I came across this guides from the BizTalk Server Team:

BizTalk Software Factory

2008-09-18T17:21:00.011+02:00

My colleague Dick Dijckstra is collaborating to a new version of the BizTalk Software Factory.

He recently showed that stuff at the office. I was impressed by the way it simplifies the process of creating a solution structure and adding artifacts. It also packs lots of other good guidance.

I'll keep an eye on that!

BizTalk Server 2006 R2 Posters

2008-09-18T14:48:00.008+02:00

Here is an up-to-date list of the BizTalk Server 2006 R2 Posters developed by the BizTalk Server Team.

More Oslo insights from David Chappell

2008-09-17T18:16:00.009+02:00

In this interview great speaker David Chappell shares his insightfull vision on the big next wave "Oslo".

Among other things he tells us Oslo's showup will be at PDC 2008. He also shares his information concerning the current Oslo roadmap, which looks like this:

1) New WF with the next realease of Visual Studio codename "Rosario" and the .NET framework (would that be 4?).
2) Then the Repository, the Visual Editor and the first part of the Process Server.
3) At last, the rest of he Process Server with the Life Cycle Management

All of the three waves are expected to follow up in rapid progression.

I wonder.

Microsoft joins OMG!

2008-09-11T15:45:00.005+02:00

Still fresh news... as yesterday anounced in a press release Microsoft has taken a membership on OMG to collaborate on modeling, inline with its “Oslo” and Visual Studio “Rosario” initiatives.

BizTalk Server R3 Announced

2008-04-24T07:30:00.005+02:00

Was yesterday announced on Steven Martin's blog.

It is said that it will be designed to work with:

Windows Server 2008
.NET framework 5.3
SQL Server 2008
Visual Studio 2008

That last one should finally free many of us from the dual side-by-side install of Visual Studio 2005 and 2008!

Besides new platform support R3 will also include a number of new features.

A CTP is planned for later this year, while RTM should be out in H1 CY09.

Definition of Architecture Revisited

2008-03-05T17:08:00.002+01:00

Touching back on this. Here's a list of published definitions (found on the web site of the Software Engineering Institure).

The software architecture of a program or computing system is the structure or structures of the system, which comprise software elements, the externally visible properties of those elements, and the relationships among them. From the book Software Architecture in Practice (2nd edition), Bass, Clements, Kazman; Addison-Wesley 2003.

An architecture is the set of significant decisions about the organization of a software system, the selection of the structural elements and their interfaces by which the system is composed, together with their behavior as specified in the collaborations among those elements, the composition of these structural and behavioral elements into progressively larger subsystems, and the architectural style that guides this organization---these elements and their interfaces, their collaborations, and their composition. From The Rational Unified Process. Kruchten. Also cited in the book The Unified Modeling Language User Guide, Booch, Rumbaugh, and Jacobson: Addison-Wesley, 1999.

A software system architecture comprises

A collection of software and system components, connections, and constraints.
A collection of system stakeholders' need statements.
A rationale which demonstrates that the components, connections, and constraints define a system that, if implemented, would satisfy the collection of system stakeholders' need statements.

from Boehm, et al., 1995

Software vs Building Architecture

2008-03-03T08:52:00.012+01:00

The field of building architecture is always being a source of inspiration for software architects.

The parallelism in both fields go way beyond just the names. Here are some key points to think about:

De designs that architects make are based on requests from different stake holders.
Models are constructed with which calculations and analysis can be done over the expected characteristics.
Different drawings, diagrams and prototypes (or maquettes) are used to make the design understandable to different auditoria.
The characteristics and conventions used in the design frequently end up in a clearly recognizable style.
Standards play an important role in the design.
As much use as possible is done of standard parts, that can be bought from a third part.
Certification of specialists is used to claim capabilities.
Quality assurance is actively used.
Problems discovered are researched and findings are documented, as well as best practices.
Design and planning is done at different levels of scope.

Even with all those resemblances there are also clear differences. It is even more important to keep those in mind to avoid misconceptions and over-expectations. Here are some of those:

The construction field leans on thousands years of experience. The software industry is not even a hundred years old yet.
The construction phase of the building industry is a lengthy and very intensive. The construction of well designed software is relatively simple and inexpensive.
The intern complexity of software is not apparent to the unknown. The question: "The prototype works OK, why does it have to take so long to finish it?" will not be made of a maquette.
The expectations on the possibilities of software are frequently mistakenly exaggerated by the unknown. Nobody would expect to build an office for a hunderd people out a house.
The conceptual and technical context in the construction world is relatively stable, while in the software world it changes continuously.
The dynamics of software systems is much larger and there is even some times a portion of unpredictability.

Finally, the software architect frequently idealizes too much the physical world architects. In the construction it sometimes goes also wrong.

BizTalk Hotrod Magazine

2008-03-01T09:48:00.003+01:00

I just found this digital magazine on BizTalk. There's been three issues by now, all of which contain very good articles. It may be something to keep an eye on...

Service Factory - Modeling Edition (VS2008) Released

2008-02-28T00:48:00.006+01:00

It's finally out! They made it just before february clossed on them.

Here are the links to download the binary release and the source code.

The official note on codeplex clearly states they still have to work on extensibility hands-on labs and the Security Guidance package.

I didn't came around to installing the CTP version because I didn't want to mess with my system at this time.

Startline on Domain-Driven Design

2008-02-27T10:41:00.026+01:00

I'm starting Eric Evan’s book on Domain-Driven Design (DDD), which I got highly recommended.

In the saying of the DDD forum "Domain-Driven design is not a technology or a methodology, but rather a way of thinking and a set of priorities (...) to deal with complicated domains."

The premise of DDD seems to be:

Focus on domain and domain logic
Use a model to base designs on complex domains.

Before diving any further into the book I first checked out this two great presentations. They where recorded at the JAOO conference, where Eric gave an overview on Domain-driven design.

DDD: Putting the model to work
This talk outlines the foundations of DDD, including:

How to chose your models
How multiple models coexist
How patterns can help avoid the common pitfalls

DDD: Strategic design
This talk introduces two broad principles for strategic design, namely:

Context mapping. Addressing different model needs.
Core domain. Focusing on the right sub-domains for modeling.

OpenGroup IT Architecture Certifications

2008-02-10T16:58:00.000+01:00

Two certification programs for IT architects are available from the OpenGroup:

ITAC is architecture method/framework agnostic and concerns only with architect's skills and experience. The TOGAF certification on the other hand confirms an individual's knowledge of the TOGAF method for Enterprise IT Architecture and its body of knowledge.

ITAC certification requires application and review by a board. TOGAF certification can be obtained by attending a course or passing an exam.

In both cases certification is valid for a period of time (ITAC 3 years, TOGAF 1 year), although in both cases extending the certification seems to be a question of paying a fee.

Also in both cases individuals will show up in a public on-line certification register at the OpenGroup site.

ITAC is also comparable with Microsoft's certification program for IT Architects. A key similarity is the use of a board of IT Architects to evaluate applicants. In the Microsoft program, though, about 25% of the requirements come from Microsoft-related technologies. ITAC is agnostic in terms of technology, frameworks, methods, and products. Another big difference is the number of years of experience asked, Microsoft requiring 10 years whereas for the OpenGroup 3 years is goed.

Getting Things Done Fast

2008-02-08T17:23:00.003+01:00

I'll finishing listening to this great audio program from productivity guru David Allen in the auto, in my way back home today. Although I've being doing some of this already in a way, listening to David's idea's definitely adds structure and enriches my approach.

GTD (Getting Things Done) is a work-life management system geared towards achieving stress-free productivity. The key claim is that you will be more effective if your mind is clear of open loops (stuff). Then you will have more creative energy available. The program is designed to help you get all that stuff out of your head and into a system that your brain can trust.

It's nice having discovered there's also tool support available for this, since I'm most of the time bounded to my laptop. I'm looking forward to trying out Outlook's add-in from NetCentrics. I'll also make some time to look into those tips from Simon Guest on how to implement some of this by my self.

Definition of Architecture

2008-02-07T22:29:00.000+01:00

Architecture means lots of things to different people.

The term itself derives from the Greek word "αρχιτεκτων" (arkitekton), which combine the words "αρχι" (master) and "τεκτων" (builder). Naturally, it has being historically applied to building architecture. Today, though, it is also used in other contexts like for IT architecture, which is what I'm interested here.

As for a definition of architecture... there's a lot out there. But many of them covering about the same ground, while the most accepted one is (perhaps):

Architecture is the fundamental organization of a system embodied in its components, their relationships to each other and to the environment and the principles guiding its design and evolution. (ANSI/IEEE 1471-2000)

Some say that architecture is a conceptual thing whereas an architectural description is a concrete artifact. For them an architecture may exist without ever being written down. An architectural description is not the architecture, it is an attempt to present that concept to others.

Finally two important aspect of the architectural description:

A view is a collection of models that represents the whole system with respect to a set of related concerns.
A viewpoint captures the rules for constructing and analyzing a particular kind of view. It is a template for a view which can be reused across many architectural descriptions. Viewtypes are stakeholder specific.

Here is a complete picture of the conceptual framework for this definition.

The Role of the Architect in Requirements Management

2008-02-01T05:09:00.001+01:00

I recently went through this issue with a group of colleague architects. The discussion came up at the Application Architecture masterclass I'm doing.

The whole first module (3 days) got devoted to Requirements Management issues, including:

Stakeholders Analysis
Functional Requirements with Use Cases
Non-functional/Quality Requirements
Tools and Techniques

Yet a question came popping up in every session: What is the role of an architect in the context of the requirements discipline?

From the stand point of my company's project delivery approach - RUP - I would say (solution) architects base their work on requirements gathered by analysts. Our architects do interact with requirement management, but they do that by reviewing the use cases and quality requirements. We are responsible for establishing the architecture of the solution and capturing it in a Software Architecture Document (SAD).

Beyond RUP though, I can picture an architect taking on other responsibilities, such as requirement management. This actually takes place, for example, in consultancy engagements and in projects where the client requests the use of an alternative approach to RUP.

But the question still is:

Should we talk here of a broader architect role? or ...
Are we dealing with a person (temporally) fulfilling (tasks of) another role?

After deliberations we concluded that:

Ideally the architect would depend on an analyst for the collection of the requirements.
Architects must take a proactive attitude here, steering towards good requirements.
Architects are also responsible of alerting when the set of requirements makes the solution impossible or too expensive.
In some engagements an architect may be made responsible for collecting the requirements.
An architect will more quickly be responsible for the quality requirements, since they have the biggest impact in the architecture.
At enterprise level the line between architect and analyst roles is almost always blurred.

In short, architects should be prepared to carry on all of this.

TOGAF vs RUP Architecture?

2008-01-29T16:14:00.002+01:00

There's a great deal of interest today on the subject of Architecture. But not everyone is meaning the same by that term! Even within large IT organizations embracing open methodologies such as RUP and TOGAF there's lots of discussion and misconception about this issue.

I recently got to an ah-ha point on this, partly due to a discussion at the Application Architecture masterclass I'm doing, but also thanks to this article from Vitalie Temneco (from which I have also temporally borrowed a couple of great pictures bellow).

As I currently look at it, the major differences can be summarized like this:

	RUP	TOGAF
Level	Software Architecture	Enterprise Architecture
Scope	A Project	The Enterprise
Purpose	Timely and effective delivery of software	Realization of the business vision
Artifacts	Vision Uses Cases Non-Functional Requierments Software Architecture Document	Architecture Vision Business Architecture Data Architecture Technology Architecture Architecture Contract
Application Architecture	The internal structure of the system determined by its components and their inter-relationships	The collection of applications that work together to realize the enterprise vision

Looking clossely it is clear where the RUP and TOGAF lifecycles actually overlap!

The point where the TOGAF process intercepts RUP is at the begining of phase F, when enterprise architecture artifacts are handed over to RUP implementation teams. This is completed when both parties agree on the scope of the implementation in the form of the Architecture Contracts in phase G.

Next picture shows the actual flow of artifacts crossing from the TOGAF to the RUP domain.

Microsoft Windows Future Services

2008-01-21T21:57:00.000+01:00

Here is another interesting video.

This one shows a Microsoft's vision of the future enabled by its "Software plus Services" initiative.

In this video, a construction contractor named Mike uses multiple devices to access his work and his data as he moves from his home to his car to his worksite. The best portion of the video shows how after his tablet PC gets accidentally destroyed he borrows someone else's device and seamlessly gets at his data "in the cloud".

Meet the architects

2008-01-21T14:03:00.000+01:00

Here is a very nice and entertaining video about the IT architecture profession...

The "skyscrapr" Microsoft architecture site

2008-01-21T11:39:00.000+01:00

I just run again across the skyscrapr architecture site from Microsoft.

I had visited it in its first days, but wow... boy it's really expanded! I will make some time a.s.a.p to review all that niew content.

Microsoft Architecture Journal - Call For Papers

2008-01-10T07:13:00.000+01:00

The Microsoft Architect Journal is calling for papers for their 14th issue. The thema will be The role of an architect. More info on this can be found on the Simon Guest's blog.

Instructions on how to submit an article can be found here. If your submission is accepted you could see your thoughts shared with over 60,000 readers, translated in 5 languages, and distributed at multiple conferences around the world! The end date for abstract submissions is January 14th 2008.

If architecture is important to you and you don’t currently read the journal, you should check it out here. There's lots of interesting articles, and it’s not only focused on Microsoft technologies!

Microsoft Strategic Architect Forum 2007

2008-01-10T06:38:00.007+01:00

Microsoft have made available here video, slides, and transcripts from the Strategic Microsoft Architect Forum 2007 (SAF).

The SAF is an invite-only event. For this event they gather around 250 top IT Architects from organizations around the world for three days of discussions and sessions.