Automated Build Studio 1.4

asp:review

Automated Build Studio 1.4

Automate Your ASP.NET Build Cycles with Ease

By Mike Riley

Building applications has become a complex process. Sure,simple apps that have simple functionality can be compiled and run with a clickof the Run button, but as application development continues to evolve into acomplex process of checking in source, notifying team members of code changes,updating databases with schema changes, and having installers with additionalfiles, a one-click button rapidly expands to any number of laborious manualsteps. Although determined developers with time on their hands might be able tocreate custom scripts to handle such tasks, these are often brittle, specificto a single project, and maintained by the author who often is the only onewho knows why a script processes the way it does.

AutomatedQA, a company that has built an award-winningreputation on debugging and optimization tools such as AQtime and TestComplete(see my reviews of these products at http://www.aspnetpro.com/productreviews/2004/11/asp200411mr_p/asp200411mr_p.aspand http://www.delphizine.com/productreviews/2003/12/di200312mr_p/di200312mr_p.asp,respectively), has obviously encountered this scenario in the development oftheir own products. As such, they ve scratched their itch with this latestaddition to their product family. Now in its fourth point release, AutomatedBuild Studio (ABS) is a macro-writer s playground. Even though it is optimizedto automate the workflows of an application build experience, it can quitehonestly be used for any Windows macro execution task. In fact, during thecourse of reviewing the product, I created a workflow to check in my work to aCVS, zip up my Documents directory, and back it up to a local server and e-mailme any problems with the process. Constructing this script took me less than fiveminutes; using the simple workflow palette and dialog boxes, even the mostcomplex processes take a fraction of the time it would for even the mostproficient scriptwriter to manually code. Construction is made even easier withthe ABS context-sensitive assistant that quickly orients new users to settingup their workflows.

Figure 1: Stringing together aseries of macros and operations is as easy as point and click. Workflows can beas easy or complex as the build process demands.

Automated Workflows

The number of automation categories bundled with ABS isstaggering. In addition to supporting the AutomatedQA family of tools, ABS canarchive files in RAR or ZIP format, compile and build applications usingMicrosoft and Borland tools (as well as Ant and NAnt), and provide versioncontrol in all the popular source management systems, from CVS and MicrosoftVisual SourceSafe to StarTeam and even Subversion. ABS has modules for fileoperations, from the usual compare, copy, and move to FTP operations. Modulesfor unit testing are included for MSTest and NUnit and its Java counterpart,JUnit. Scripts written in VBScript, JScript, and even DelphiScript can bothdrive ABS and be consumed by it. Other operations, ranging from HTTPcommunications, e-mail messaging (both send and receive), MSN Messenger, ICQIM, SQL service support, help compiler, and installer automation to writingCD-ROMs and DVDs, are just a handful of the types of modules available out ofthe box. And any of these tasks can be scheduled for execution at any time,making it perfect for triggering build processes in the wee hours of themorning.

Figure 2: Plenty of useful metricsare presented on the Log and Summary tab after any build sequence is executed,providing step-by-step details of every operation either attempted orsuccessfully executed by ABS.

In addition to the aforementioned support for StarTeam andSubversion services, the 1.4 release also features enhancements for workingwith Visual Studio.NET (including a nifty new Send key sequence simulatedtyping within a virtual machine) and Compile Visual Studio Workspace forautomating build configurations within the VS.NET IDE workspace. SQL Serversupport has also been enhanced with several features, such as the ability to automateSQL Server database backups and restores, execute stored procedures, andrebuild indexes. ABS 1.4 also includes a new utility, RunInteractive.exe, whichallows for remote execution of processes on distributed computers via WMI. Aboutthe only items that I use every day still missing from this release are SSH/SCPand SOAP messaging support.

Automate Your Life with other ABS Features

Besides the obvious intended purpose of automating buildscenarios, ABS can be used for automating nearly anything associated with apurely digital task. Combined with its ability to consume and execute externalscripts, the possibilities are broad indeed. System Administrators could useABS as a prototyping tool for server management needs. Graphic designers coulduse it to prep workspaces and configure application files to a client sspecifications. Programmers will certainly extend the tool beyond its buildintentions to incorporate more phases of the application lifecycle. The tool iseasy enough to understand that even non-technical people (sales and marketingstaff, for example) could come up with ways to automate the formatting andsubmission of office documents and presentations. To that end, AutomatedQAshould regularly post on their Web site scenarios and success stories ofout-of-the-box thinking with ABS.

Conclusion

AutomatedQA has just added another stellar product totheir catalog. Automated Build Studio is an incredibly powerful, easy to use,and, well, fun to use utility that will save countless hours in repetitivemanual build steps or, for the ambitious developer who never sleeps, minimizethe time writing script code to do almost everything in the build process thatABS can do with a few clicks of a mouse. If AutomatedQA could extend the powerof ABS to the rest of the overall application lifecycle, it would be the firstcompany to realize the dream that the Model Driven Architecture crowd has beenchasing for years. In the meantime, ABS succeeds in collapsing the complexityof an application s build phase back to the simple click of a mouse.

MikeRiley is anadvanced computing professional specializing in emerging technologies and newdevelopment trends. He also is a contributing editor for asp.netPRO. Readers may contact Mike at mailto:[email protected].

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Web Site: http://www.automatedqa.com

Price: Nameduser license, US$349.99; site license, US$2,999.99