TFS Bug Snapper v1.0 Released

17Jun06

I have created a simple tool that allows you to take screenshots and create Bugs in Team Foundation Server with the file attached.

Screenshot

TFS Bug Snapper in action!

Download

Download the latest release from Project Distributor (~170Kb MSI installer)

The tool URL is: http://ozgrant.com/tfsbugsnapper/

Requirements

  • Visual Studio Team Explorer (needs the Microsoft.TeamFoundation.*.dll’s, check in c:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\ide\PrivateAssemblies)
  • A connection to a Team Foundation Server

Changing to the “Bug” Work Item Type

You can Download the source code and modify it to save to the “Bug” work item type. The reason it stores as a “Task” by default is that “Bug” doesn’t exist in the MSF CMMI template.

TFS Plugin for SnagIt

If you’re after a more polished utilty for capturing screenshots and attaching them to work items, I encourage you to take a look at TechSmith’s SnagIt output for Microsoft Visual Studio Team System.

It allows you to annotate your images, setup hotkeys and attach the output to a new work item of any type.

Screenshot of Team System output for Snagit

About this tool

Before TFS Bug Snapper, the steps required to create a bug with a screenshot attached were quite cumbersome:

  • Press Print Screen
  • Open Paintbrush
  • Paste screenshot
  • Save File as JPG
  • Open Team Explorer
  • Open new Bug Work Item
  • Click “File Attachments”
  • Click “Add..”
  • Click “Browse..”
  • Find file on hard disk, Press OK
  • Type Title, Description, Rank
  • Save Work Item

But now with TFS Bug Snapper, we reduce this 12 step process to just 4 easy steps

  1. Open TFS Bug Snapper
  2. Press “Take Screenshot”
  3. Enter your Title, Description, Rank
  4. Press “Save Bug”

But wait, there’s more! Are you sick of having to type your TFS URL into every new tool you get? I mean why should I have to remember the address when I’ve already registered my servers inside Team Explorer / Visual Studio. With TFS Bug Snapper just hit the refresh buttons and select one of your servers!

Options Screen

Once you have saved your bug, you will get confirmation

Work Item Saved

And here’s how the Work Item looks inside Team Explorer.

Team Explorer Work Item View

Team Explorer File Attachment view

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)


Filed under: TFS Bug Snapper, Team Foundation Server   |  

9 Responses to “TFS Bug Snapper v1.0 Released”  

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  1. 1 Avi harush on June 26, 2006 said:

    Very nice work .Useful tool !

  2. 2 Nate Naismith on June 26, 2006 said:

    This looks to be a very useful tool, filling what I considered to be a hole in VSTS for Testers. I noticed that the bug created shows up not as a "bug," but rather as a "task." Is this by design? Are you aware of a way to integrate into the process of running a manual test so that this can be tied to the test results?

  3. 3 Grant Holliday on June 26, 2006 said:

    Avi - Thanks!Nate - Thanks for your feedback. I have noted this as something to look at for the next version. I have to be careful to support custom process templates, "bug" can be defined so many ways. Hopefully I’ll be able to make this a preferences option.As for the manual test integration, I will look into how this can be integrated. The next feature I am working on is ‘adding multiple attachments’ and ‘editing previous work items’

  4. 4 Bruno on July 5, 2006 said:

    Great tool !!!Thanks :D

  5. 5 Berndt Hamboeck on July 14, 2006 said:

    If you want to have it saved as bug and not as work item, change in WorkItemOperations.cs the line to:WorkItemType wit = workItemTypes["bug"];

  6. 6 Bernhard on May 21, 2007 said:

    HiI get the exception below when trying to add a bug.I also think a clipboard paste would be a nice feature because I use cropper, which lets me choose an area of the screen rather than the entire screen.ThanksBernhardMicrosoft.TeamFoundation.WorkItemTracking.Client.DeniedOrNotExistException: The Task work item type does not exist. at Microsoft.TeamFoundation.WorkItemTracking.Client.WorkItemTypeCollection.get_Item(String typeName) at TfsBugSnapper.WorkItemOperations.NewWorkItem(String server, String project, String title, String description, String rank, String attachmentFilename, String attachmentComment) at TfsBugSnapper.Forms.frmMain.AddBug() at TfsBugSnapper.Forms.frmMain.btnAddBug_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) at …

  7. 7 Chris McLeod on September 20, 2007 said:

    Fun tool. I’ve downloaded it and customized it for Scrum. I have it creating a Sprint Backlog Item of Type Bug with the current sprint number and any links the user might want to place to the product backlog as our hope is the bug is coming from some test of functionality on the backlog :) Anyway, my QA team loves SnagIt. They depend on it for all screenshots. They want to the intergation with TFS just with the SnagIt UI. Has anyone out there used this with SnagIt from TechSmith?

  8. 8 Phillip on November 14, 2007 said:

    Thanks for putting this tool here. I have also learned more about TFS by looking at your source code. And it’s just the kickstart I needed.
    Cheers

  9. 9 lb on November 28, 2007 said:

    hi grant — just wondering what the licensing is around this tool?
    for example (and this is just hypothetical) can i package it into a virtual pc image for a dev machine, and distribute that to around 20 people?

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