Advanced Build Scenarios | Professional Team Foundation Server

When working with Team Foundation Build, there may be common scenarios that will fall outside the purview of simply creating a basic build task. Here are the three top scenarios and some strategies to implement them.

Building .NET v 1.1 and VB 6.0 Code

Team Foundation Build does not support building .NET Framework 1.1 code out of the box. Fortunately, Microsoft has worked on an open-source initiative called MSBee - an unsupported power toy built by the Developer Solutions Team that will allow you to build .NET 1.1 solutions using Visual Studio 2005 (a common scenario and much-requested feature). You can learn more about MSBee at http://blogs.msdn.com/clichten/.

MSBee allows developers to build managed applications in Team Foundation Build and Visual Studio 2005 that target the .NET Framework version 1.1. You can download a copy on GotDotNet: gotdotnet.com/codegallery/codegallery.aspx?id=9ac94da5-8e5a-4a33-beda-9b8d00970371.

If you choose not to use the toolkit, you have the following options:

Use devenv.
Override the AfterCompile target.
Use the EXEC task to invoke devenv and build appropriately.

You can learn more about this process by reading the following blog post: http://blogs.msdn.com/nagarajp/archive/2005/10/26/485368.aspx.

To build Visual Basic 6.0 code, Visual Basic 6.0 (the IDE) must be installed on the build server. Use the same EXEC task steps to call the VB compiler that will build the code.

Building ASP.NET Applications

Building ASP.NET applications is nontrivial due to version control and deployment specific challenges. The best thing you can do is to review the following TechNote as a starting point: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/teamsystem/reference/technotes/team_build/build_asp_proj.aspx.

You may need to debug build errors as a result of building ASP.NET solutions. You can learn debugging tips at http://blogs.msdn.com/nagarajp/archive/2005/10/18/482491.aspx.
Be sure to choose the right platform configuration. If possible use the Visual Studio 2005 Web Deployment Projects at http://msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/reference/infrastructure/wdp/default.aspx.