VS 2008 Project Template for TFS Utilities

If you’re like me and create a lot of simple, “one-off” TFS utilities, you’ve probably followed steps similar to these multiple times:

1. Create a new “Windows Forms” (or “Console”) project in Visual Studio 2008.
2. Add various TFS assembly references which can range anywhere between one or a dozen references.
3. Add some “using” statements to your code.
4. Finally, start coding the utility.

Apparently, Neno Loje (a fellow Team System MVP) has done this a time or two as well and decided to create a Visual Studio 2008 Project Template to alleviate some of the repetitive tasks.

After installing the template, you will have a new project type called “TFS Utility”.  When you choose the “TFS Utility” project type, a new project will be created with a dozen or so TFS assembly references automatically included.  Some boiler-plate example code is also included in the default form class to get you started.

Needless to say, this will save on some of the monotony when creating new TFS utilities.

You can get the full details from his post here.  The template can be downloaded directly from his blog site here (as per his instructions, just copy the ZIP file to this folder: {MyDocuments}\Visual Studio 2008\Templates\ProjectTemplates).