The Challenge

Unfortunately, organisations who would like to deploy Visual Studio Team System and Visual Studio Team Foundation Server across the enterprise are faced with the obstacle of supporting teams on heterogeneous platforms and architectures. For example, while many companies have a high percentage of .NET developers, they often also have a mix of Java developers. In addition, they typically have development teams working on other operating systems, such as Linux, Solaris, or Mac OS X. Companies in this situation would like to standardise on TFS for their entire organisation, making the features and robustness of TFS available to everyone in the enterprise. Failure to achieve this level of integration inevitably leads to increased inefficiency, delay, errors, and lost opportunities.

The Solution

Enter Microsoft® Visual Studio® Team Explorer Everywhere 2010. With the goal of delivering the advantages of Team Foundation Server to all development teams in the enterprise, the Team Explorer Everywhere 2010 Client Suite extends the features of Team Foundation Server to Java developers working within Eclipse-based Integrated

Development Environments (IDE), and to development teams working on Unix-based operating systems. Architects, managers, developers, and testers working on operating systems such as Linux can use Visual Studio Team Explorer Everywhere 2010 to access TFS, allowing corporations to standardise on Team System as their software lifecycle solution rather than relying on multiple, unrelated systems.

Technology

Implemented in Java, Team Explorer Everywhere runs on operating systems that support a Java Runtime Environment (JRE). The suite of clients includes the Team Explorer Everywhere Plug-in for Eclipse, Team Explorer Everywhere Explorer, and Team Explorer Everywhere Command-Line Client (CLC). The Plug-in and Explorer are built on the Eclipse framework and use the Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) for all user interface elements, creating an application that has a native look and feel for developers on any platform. The Team Explorer Everywhere clients communicate directly with the Team Foundation Server through the web services layer, so there are no additional server components to install and maintain.

The introduction of Microsoft® Visual Studio® Team System (VSTS) and Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server (TFS) changed the practice of Application Lifecycle Management throughout the software development industry. Enterprise organisations now have an affordable, full-featured solution that is designed from the ground up for seamless integration into Visual Studio. By adopting Visual Studio Team System in conjunction with Team Foundation Server, software development teams can easily collaborate on projects regardless of whether they are located within the same department, or dispersed across many geographical locations. Architects, developers, and testers have access to issue tracking, source control, project reporting, and build automation, all tightly integrated within Microsoft Visual Studio, the leading .NET development environment.

With the advantages of Team Foundation Server for all of your development teams

The Team Explorer Everywhere Plug-in for Eclipse is supported on Eclipse 3.x based IDEs, including IBM’s Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software (RAD), Adobe Flex Builder, and BEA Workshop. This standard Eclipse Team Provider Plug-in was designed to intelligently join two worlds – the familiar development environment of Eclipse and the software lifecycle capabilities of Team System. Using Team Explorer Everywhere 2010, developers working within Eclipse have the same highly integrated set of features as their .NET co-workers.

Team Explorer Everywhere Explorer is a stand-alone application featuring an Explorer-style Graphical User Interface (GUI). The Explorer is available for developers not using an Eclipse-based IDE, and other team members such as testers working on Unix-based platforms who need access to Team Foundation Server. It was designed to closely resemble the Team Explorer Everywhere. Developers who work on both platforms will find there

is no learning curve when moving between Visual Studio and Team Explorer Everywhere. Software testers on platforms such as Linux and Mac OS X can use Team Explorer Everywhere Explorer for creating bug reports, viewing code changes, and managing tasks.

The Team Explorer Everywhere CLC uses the same syntax as the command-line client that comes with Team System. IT professionals who use Microsoft’s command-line client for writing build scripts and other scripting applications can easily port their scripts to use the Team Explorer Everywhere CLC on other platforms.

Servers Clients

SQL

.NET

IIS

TFS

HTTP (SSL)

Microsoft Visual StudioTeam Foundation Server

SQL Server

Windows XPVS 2005

Linux with TeamExplorer

Everywhere 2010

Windows XP withTeam Explorer

Everywhere 2010

Mac OS X withTeam Explorer

Everywhere 2010

Team Explorer Everywhere 2010 Plug-in for Eclipse on Mac OS X

Team Explorer Everywhere on Linux

Summary

Team Explorer Everywhere is a suite of client applications for accessing Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server from outside of the Visual Studio IDE. Team Explorer Everywhere enables software development teams to use the source control, work item tracking, builds, and reporting features of TFS from within the Eclipse IDE, and from other operating systems, including Linux and Mac OS X. Using the Team Explorer Everywhere Client Suite in conjunction with Visual Studio 2005 Team System, enterprise companies can standardise on the use of Team Foundation Server for the Application Lifecycle Management needs of both their .NET and Java development teams.

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