Continuous Migration using Microsoft Team System

ArtinSoft’s Migration Methodology

ArtinSoft has developed a process over time to allow for the re-migration of the source code of an application that is already going through a migration process, without losing any manual changes already applied to the converted code.

This process is recommended to:

Integrate changes to the original source application in the middle of the migration process
Use a new version of the Visual Basic Upgrade Companion (VBUC) that corrects a migration issue that requires a large amount of manual changes, or that has a high technical complexity but are easy to implement in the migration tool (i.e.: a change that affects several files), thus optimizing the migration process
Use a different Migration Profile in the VBUC to handle a particular technology

This process can be performed at several stages during the migration project. When used for optimizing the project it can greatly reduce the required effort by creating a feedback loop with the Visual Basic Upgrade Companion to continually increase automation and reduce the manual work involved. This is important because during migration projects there are issues that are not detected until the manual changes stage is underway. If the amount of occurrences of a single type of issue is significant, it makes sense to design a solution that can be automated by the VBUC. This will solve the issue and reduce the risk of applying a fix to the migrated code manually.

The process followed by ArtinSoft is based on the industry’s standard best practices for branching and merging source code. It relies on the source control system, either Subversion or Visual Studio Team System, to perform a three-way merge process between the Baseline Green Code, the Newly Migrated Green Code and the Current code with manual changes.