JetBrains TeamCity Blog

It’s quite a typical case when you need to create several more or less similar build configurations in TeamCity, for example, to run builds in different environments, or create a separate build configuration for release builds, etc. Of course, you can simply copy build configurations, but what if you’ll need to change, for example, a VCS root in all of them? Naturally, you’ll have to manually change it in every configuration. Don’t you think it’s too much of routine work? We thought so too, that’s why in TeamCity there are build configuration templates. You can create a template with common (shared) settings and then inherit any number of build configurations from this template, or you can extract a template from any of your existing build configurations. Thus, when you’ll need to change some setting in all template-based configurations, you’ll just change it in the template.

One might ask what to do if you need to override a setting inherited from a template in one of the build configurations. If your template defines a specific value for this setting, every template-based configuration will have the same value and since it’s inherited it’ll be a display-only field. But there’s a trick! You can use a configuration parameter instead of an actual value in the template. Basically, such parameter is used inside TeamCity only, and it is not passed to an actual build, but it provides you with means to make your templates flexible.
Here’s an example to illustrate how it works. Let’s say I need to redefine Maven goals in my build configurations based on the same template. In the template settings, instead of actual goals I’ll introduce a configuration parameter:

Note, the syntax here is elementary – %ParameterName%. Now, if I’ll go to the Properties and Environment Variables section, I’ll see there this configuration parameter.

I can define a default value for goals, or leave it as is – in this case I’ll have to define it in every child configuration manually. Let’s say, the default should be test.

Now, I’ll switch to the build configuration based on this template where I’d like to have deploy goal instead of test, and redefine it there.

In our docs, you’ll find the list of settings that can and cannot be overridden with configuration templates. However that’s not the only use case for the configuration parameters. Now they are also used as some of the agent’s parameters, for example for .NET Framework/SDK/Visual Studio/Mono detected on an agent. These we’ll describe in detail in the next post, so stay tuned!

Recently we’ve blogged about separate build runners for .NET test frameworks in TeamCity 6.0. Now you can finally try them in a new EAP build!

However, it’s not the only noteworthy improvement, there’s the whole bunch of them:

• Once again the My Changes page was improved. Now you can see changes related to a project on it, and per build configuration filtering of the build problems has become simplier.
• Collapsible build log: the whole build log of a finished build is now represented as a tree of messages. This way it’s easier to find long stages in your build and analyze them.
• We’ve included Gradle runner plugin based on source code provided by Gradle community into the TeamCity distribution. Currently, this plugin is in the early alpha stage.
• Now it has become possible to add build steps to template based build configurations.
• and more.

We are trully thankful for your feedback – feature requests, suggestions, finding bugs, etc., but it would be extremely useful if we could have some raw statistics data to measure how TeamCity features are used. That’s why we’ve added one more tab – Usage statistics – to the Administration | Server Configuration area. On this page you can find statistics values like number of IDE plugins used, or average build duration, or the most popular pages, etc. Don’t worry, we’re not trying to be a Big Brother, no data is sent to us by TeamCity! However, we plan to add an option here so you could share your statistics with us to give us better understanding of feature usage.

You can help us make TeamCity suit better your needs!

See release notes for complete list of changes.

Download new build, but do not forget to backup your data before installing it.

September 21st, JetBrains will host a free community party at the 21st Amendment Brewery Restaurant in San Francisco. Meet with friends and enjoy lively conversation in a relaxed atmosphere over free food and drinks, just a few blocks from the Moscone Center. The party begins at 8PM and we welcome all JetBrains fans to join in the action, as you do not need to be registered or attending JavaOne to take part.

Be prepared to unleash your inner geek and go for the top prizes in our Be Wiser contest. This is a great opportunity to cash in on your knowledge of IntelliJ IDEA and JetBrains to win fantastic prizes including: gadgets, licenses, gift certificates and more. There will be a wide array of questions varying in degrees of difficulty, so participate, have fun and learn something new in the process. Nobody will go home empty handed as we will have plenty of our 10th Birthday t-shirts available.

Please make note of the party schedule:
8:00pm – 8:30pm: Arrival, Appetizers
8:45pm – 10:00pm: Contest
10:00pm – ? : Food, Drinks, Relax

Registration is required and space is limited so we recommend that you register immediately.

Please be sure to print and bring with you to the party, the Eventbrite ticket you receive via email. If you have any questions or issues please feel free to stop by the JetBrains booth at JavaOne or contact (robert) (DOT) (demmer) (AT) (jetbrains) (DOT) (com).

We hope to see you there!

We are pleased to announce another EAP build with brand new features and improvements.

The major change in this EAP is the new My Changes page. The work is not finished yet, and more features will be added before release. Still there are major differences from the old page:

• there is no grouping of changes by dates anymore, all changes are shown as a list
• we dropped single icon representing change status and replaced it with “carpet” widget
• keyboard navigation added for faster changes traversing
• performance is better now

Please let us know what do you think about this new page.

With this EAP we also improved responsibility management, for example, it is now possible to assign responsibility for several tests at once. And we’ve made a lot of small usability improvements around the web interface.

See release notes for complete list of changes.

Download new build and share your thoughts with us. Do not forget to backup your data!

Enjoy!

The JetBrains TeamCity Team

TeamCity provides several ways of getting notified about your builds’ status, like e-mail notifications, Jabber/XMPP instant messages and more. All the notifiers allow flexible customization to fit your needs.

However, there are other ways to keep track of your projects. For example, Scott Cowan has created TeamCity Twitter Notifier plugin. The installation is easy, and providing that Twitter allows to create private accounts, you can keep project notifications both restrictive and accessible. So if you like to twit, give it a try!

By the way, check the list of the plugins for TeamCity – you may find something interesting for you, or try to create your own.

Sincerely,
The JetBrains TeamCity Team

In the previous post about .NET coverage, we’ve told about configuring NCover/PartCover settings right in the web UI. This solution suits perfectly well for those, who use MSBuild, NAnt or Visual Studio (sln) runner. However, since version 5.1, you can get the coverage results displayed in TeamCity, even if you use a runner other than listed above.
If your build produces coverage report .xml files, you can populate your build script with simple service messages – and voila! TeamCity will merge those coverage reports, publish statistics and generate html-report for you.

Start with configuring TeamCity .NET Coverage reporting parameters in your build:

##teamcity[dotNetCoverage key='value']

where key is a .NET Coverage reporting parameter (the complete list of the values can be found in our docs).  Make sure to set up all parameters before reporting coverage .xml files.

Now, to pass generated coverage .xml files to TeamCity, use the following service message:

##teamcity[importData type='dotNetCoverage' tool='<tool name>' path='<path to the results file>']

where tool name can be partcover, ncover or ncover3. Hope, you’ll find it useful.

Stay tuned for TeamCity 5.1!

Sincerely, The JetBrains TeamCity team

As you might know, TeamCity comes with such feature as build tags – do not confuse with supported VCS tags, because that’s an entirely different story. You can assign any number of tags for a single build, and then use them to organize your build history, or quickly navigate to the tagged builds. There is nothing tricky about that, but one might ask himself when these tags can be helpful.

Well, here is an example. Suppose, after some time of developing, your project manager decides, that you’ve finally got a stable build that can be considered a release candidate, or eap. He can mark this build with “EAP” tag, and thus, guys from QA won’t need to search through the whole build history to find the build they should carefully look at. They’ll just need to filter the history by this tag, or simply type “EAP” in the search field.


You can also leave a comment on any build, providing some extra notes about it; and just as with the tags, you can later on search for the build by the comment. Hope, you’ll like it.
Feedback is appreciated as usual.

Here’s a quick note to let you know that TeamCity’s issue tracker of choice, previously code-named Charisma, has gone beta under a new name: YouTrack.

You can read more about YouTrack features in its own section at the JetBrains web site, watch demos, and download the beta version.

You’re also welcome to subscribe to YouTrack blog to get latest updates on the development process.

Please report bugs and request new features at YouTrack’s own instance.

YouTrack 1.0 public release is scheduled by the end of 2009.

Build and track with pleasure!

Following a good tradition, this year we are going to attend JavaOne Conference. This year it is held on June 2-5 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA.

We will be glad to welcome you to the JetBrains booth. Do not miss your chance to meet those who develop TeamCity and other JetBrains products. We promise live demos, answering all your questions, and much more.

Hurry up. Only 8 days left.

The JetBrains Team

Technorati tags: JavaOne, TeamCity, pre-tested commit, personal build, remote run, JetBrains, IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse, continuous integration, build management, agile development

This fresh TeamCity 4.5.1 update incorporates a number of fixes.
Download this build and make a backup of your data before upgrade.


Wishing you develop with pleasure and eagerly wait for your feedback!
The JetBrains TeamCity team

Technorati tags: TeamCity, pre-tested commit, personal build, remote run, JetBrains, IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse, continuous integration, build management, agile development, Git, FishEye, MS Visual Studio 2005, MS Visual Studio 2008