TFS Event Handler Prototype Configuration Demystified

Introduction

There are a number of config options for the TFS Event Handler Prototype. I will describe all of them in depth here. The first step is to set the Windows Communication Foundation service options, which really only requires you to change one value.

<system.serviceModel>
    <services>
        <service name="RDdotNet.TeamFoundation.NotificationService">
            <endpoint address="http://[LocalMacheneName]:8677" 
                binding="basicHttpBinding"
                bindingConfiguration="" 
                contract="RDdotNet.TeamFoundation.INotificationService" />
        </service>
    </services>
</system.serviceModel>

The important one is the [LocalMacheneName] variable, which should be set to the local machine name, or the domain name that points to your computer if you have a crazy proxy.

The next step is to set the real options for this software. This starts with the <RDdotNet.TeamFoundation> options, and requires you to set a number of things.

<BaseAddress url="http://[LocalMacheneName]:3624/" />

Again, you need to set the machine name, but make sure that the port is different.

<TeamServers>
    <TeamServer name="[TFS Server Name]"
                url="http://[TFS Server Name]:8080/"
                subscriber="[Subscriber AD Account]"
                mailAddressFrom="[From Email Address]"
                mailFromName="[Form name]"
                mailServer="[email relay server]"
                logEvents="True"
                testMode="True"
                testEmail="[email to send testes to]"
                eventLogPath="C:\temp\TFSEventHandler\">
    </TeamServer>
</TeamServers>

In the Team Servers section, you need to list of all of the team servers that you are going to be handling events for. The system will automatically add event subscriptions for all Team Servers added here, but I have only tested with two, and I now always run the service on the TFS server.

Now you are ready to set the event handlers. These are defined within the "Events" section:

• AclChangedEvent
• Branchmovedevent
• BuildCompletionEvent
• BuildStatusChangeEvent
• CommonStructureChangedEvent
• DataChangedEvent
• IdentityChangedEvent
• IdentityCreatedEvent
• IdentityDeletedEvent
• MembershipChangedEvent
• WorkItemChangedEvent

Now you need to add handlers for the events. Example:

<Event eventType="WorkItemChangedEvent">
  <Handlers>
    <Handler type="RDdotNet.TeamFoundation.WorkItemTracking.AssignedToHandler"
       assemblyFileName="RDdotNet.TeamFoundation.WorkItemTracking.AssignedTo.dll"
       assemblyFileLocation="~\EventHandlers\WorkItemTracking\">
    </Handler>
  </Handlers>
</Event>

<Event eventType="WorkItemChangedEvent">
  <Handlers>
    <Handler type="RDdotNet.TeamFoundation.WorkItemTracking.AssignedToHandler"
       assemblyFileName="RDdotNet.TeamFoundation.WorkItemTracking.AssignedTo.dll"
       assemblyFileLocation="~\EventHandlers\WorkItemTracking\">
    </Handler>
  </Handlers>
</Event>
</Events>

As you can see, you are theoretically allowed to use any event. Please keep in mind that only the WorkItemChangedEvent and the CheckInEvent have been tested. When you add the "Event" tag with the corresponding eventType (which is an enumerator), this tells the system which specific events to subscribe to.

You can then add handlers to an event. These handlers are fired whenever these events are received.

If you are using friendly server names or TeamPlain, you can change the TFS server links to be TeamPlain ones using the UrlReplacements config element:

<UrlReplacements>
    <!-- The Url Replaces change the url listed in the event to valid public items
    Examples:
        This item changes the TFS url to a TeamPlain v1 url
        <Replace eventType="WorkItemChangedEvent" 
          old=":8080/WorkItemTracking/WorkItem.aspx?artifactMoniker=" 
          new="/workitem.aspx?id=" />
                    
        These items change the server location to a public host header:
        <Replace eventType="WorkItemChangedEvent" 
          old="[ServerProductionEnviromentName]" 
          new="[PublicProductionEnviromentUri]" />
        <Replace eventType="WorkItemChangedEvent" 
          old="[ServerDevelopmentEnviromentName]" 
          new="[PublicDevelopmentEnviromentUri]" />
    -->
</UrlReplacements>

This works by replacing values within the URL in the events. You specify the event type, what to look for, and what to replace it by. This allows greater control and the integration of TeamPlain into your world. If a task is assigned to someone outside of your departmental sphere who you have given permission to TFS but who knows nothing about it, they will still get an email that will link them through to TeamPlain.

And, that is it, you are all set. If you have installed the service and set the account that is used to run the service, you should get no errors when starting. No guarantees though :)