get-command | get-help | ConvertTo-Html -property Name, Synopsis > c:log2.html

Name	Synopsis
Add-Content	Adds content to the specified item(s).
Add-History	Appends entries to the session history.
Add-Member	Adds a user-defined custom member to an instance of a Windows PowerShell object.
Add-PathVariable	PSCX Cmdlet: Adds the specified paths to the end of the named, path-oriented environment variable.
Add-PSSnapin	Adds one or more Windows PowerShell snap-ins to the current console.
Clear-Content	Deletes the contents of a item, such as deleting the text from a file, but does not delete the item.
Clear-Item	Deletes the contents of an item, but does not delete the item.
Clear-ItemProperty	Deletes the value of a property but it does not delete the property.
Clear-MSMQueue	PSCX Cmdlet: Purges all messages from a queue
Clear-Variable	Deletes the value of a variable.
Compare-Object	Compares two sets of objects.
ConvertFrom-Base64	PSCX Cmdlet: Converts base64 encoded string to byte array.
ConvertFrom-SecureString	Converts a secure string into an encrypted standard string.
Convert-Path	Converts a path from a Windows PowerShell path to a Windows PowerShell provider path.
ConvertTo-Base64	PSCX Cmdlet: Converts byte array or specified file contents to base64 string.
ConvertTo-Html	Creates an HTML page that represents an object or a set of objects.
ConvertTo-MacOs9LineEnding	PSCX Cmdlet: Converts the line endings in the specified file to Mac OS9 and earlier style line endings “r”.
ConvertTo-SecureString	Converts encrypted standard strings to secure strings. It can also convert plain text to secure strings. It is used with ConvertFrom-SecureString and Read-Host.
ConvertTo-UnixLineEnding	PSCX Cmdlet: Converts the line endings in the specified file to Unix line endings “n”.
ConvertTo-WindowsLineEnding	PSCX Cmdlet: Converts the line endings in the specified file to Windows line endings “rn”.
Convert-Xml	PSCX Cmdlet: Performs XSLT transforms on the specified XML file or XmlDocument.
Copy-Item	Copies an item from one location to another within a namespace.
Copy-ItemProperty	Copies a property and value from a specified location to another location.
Disconnect-TerminalSession	PSCX Cmdlet: Disconnects a specific remote desktop session on a system running Terminal Services/Remote Desktop
Expand-Archive	PSCX Cmdlet: Expands a compressed archive file, or ArchiveEntry object, to its constituent file(s).
Export-Alias	Exports information about currently-defined aliases to a file.
Export-Bitmap	PSCX Cmdlet: Exports bitmap objects to various formats.
Export-Clixml	Creates an XML-based representation of an object or objects and stores it in a file.
Export-Console	Exports the configuration of the current console to a file so that you can reuse or share it.
Export-Csv	Creates a comma-separated values (CSV) file that represents the input objects.
ForEach-Object	Performs an operation against each of a set of input objects.
Format-Byte	PSCX Cmdlet: Displays numbers in multiples of byte units.
Format-Custom	Uses a customized view to format the output.
Format-Hex	PSCX Cmdlet: Displays the contents of files or byte streams in hex format and optionally ASCII.
Format-List	Formats the output as a list of properties in which each property appears on a new line.
Format-Table	Formats the output as a table.
Format-Wide	Formats objects as a wide table that displays only one property of each object.
Format-Xml	PSCX Cmdlet: Pretty print for XML files and XmlDocument objects.
Get-Acl	Gets the security descriptor for a resource, such as a file or registry key.
Get-ADObject	PSCX Cmdlet: Search for objects in the Active Directory/Global Catalog.
Get-AdoConnection	PSCX Cmdlet: Create an ADO connection to any database supported by .NET on the current machine. You can enumerate available ADO.NET Data Providers with the Get-AdoDataProvider Cmdlet.
Get-AdoDataProvider	PSCX Cmdlet: List all registered ADO.NET Data Providers on the current machine.
Get-Alias	Gets the aliases for the current session.
Get-AuthenticodeSignature	Gets information about the Authenticode signature in a file.
Get-ChildItem	Gets the items and child items in one or more specified locations.
Get-Clipboard	PSCX Cmdlet: Gets data from the clipboard.
Get-Command	Gets basic information about cmdlets and about other elements of Windows PowerShell commands.
Get-Content	Gets the content of the item at the specified location.
Get-Credential	Gets a credential object based on a user name and password.
Get-Culture	Gets information about the regional settings on a computer.
Get-Date	Gets the current date and time.
Get-DhcpServer	PSCX Cmdlet: Gets a list of authorized DHCP servers.
Get-DomainController	PSCX Cmdlet: Gets domain controllers.
Get-DriveInfo	PSCX Cmdlet: Gets disk usage information on the system’s disk drives.
Get-EnvironmentBlock	PSCX Cmdlet: Lists the environment blocks stored on the environment block stack.
Get-EventLog	Gets information about local event logs or the entries stored in those event logs.
Get-ExecutionPolicy	Gets the current execution policy for the shell.
Get-FileVersionInfo	PSCX Cmdlet: Gets a FileVersionInfo object for the specified path.
Get-ForegroundWindow	PSCX Cmdlet: Returns the hWnd or handle of the window in the foreground on the current desktop. See also Set-ForegroundWindow.
Get-Hash	PSCX Cmdlet: Gets the hash value for the specified file or byte array via the pipeline.
Get-Help	Displays information about Windows PowerShell cmdlets and concepts.
Get-History	Gets a list of the commands entered during the current session.
Get-Host	Gets a reference to the current console host object. Displays Windows Powershell version and regional information by default.
Get-HttpResource	PSCX Cmdlet: Gets an HTTP resource or optionally the headers associated with the resource.
Get-Item	Gets the item at the specified location.
Get-ItemProperty	Retrieves the properties of a specified item.
Get-Location	Gets information about the current working location.
Get-Member	Gets information about objects or collections of objects.
Get-MountPoint	PSCX Cmdlet: Returns all mount points defined for a specific root path.
Get-MSMQueue	PSCX Cmdlet: Returns a list of all queues matching the filter parameters
Get-OpticalDriveInfo	PSCX Cmdlet: Get information on optical drive capabilities on the local machine.
Get-PathVariable	PSCX Cmdlet: Gets the specified path-oriented environment variable.
Get-PEHeader	PSCX Cmdlet: Gets the Portable Header information from an executable file.
Get-PfxCertificate	Gets information about .pfx certificate files on the computer.
Get-Privilege	PSCX Cmdlet: Lists privileges held by the session and their current status.
Get-Process	Gets the processes that are running on the local computer.
Get-PSDrive	Gets information about Windows PowerShell drives.
Get-PSProvider	Gets information about the specified Windows PowerShell provider.
Get-PSSnapin	Gets the Windows PowerShell snap-ins on the computer.
Get-PSSnapinHelp	PSCX Cmdlet: Generates a XML file containing all documentation data.
Get-Random	PSCX Cmdlet: Returns a random number or a byte array.
Get-ReparsePoint	PSCX Cmdlet: Gets NTFS reparse point data.
Get-Service	Gets the services on the local computer.
Get-ShortPath	PSCX Cmdlet: Gets the short, 8.3 name for the given path.
Get-TabExpansion	PSCX Cmdlet: Gets matching tab expansions.
Get-TerminalSession	PSCX Cmdlet: Gets information on terminal services sessions.
Get-TraceSource	Gets the Windows PowerShell components that are instrumented for tracing.
Get-UICulture	gets information about the current user interface culture for Windows PowerShell.
Get-Unique	Returns the unique items from a sorted list.
Get-Variable	Gets the variables in the current console.
Get-WmiObject	Gets instances of WMI classes or information about available classes.
Group-Object	Groups objects that contain the same value for specified properties.
Import-Alias	Imports an alias list from a file.
Import-Bitmap	PSCX Cmdlet: Loads bitmap files.
Import-Clixml	Imports a CLIXML file and creates corresponding objects within Windows PowerShell.
Import-Csv	Imports comma-separated value (CSV) files in the format produced by the Export-CSV cmdlet and returns objects that correspond to the objects represented in that CSV file.
Invoke-AdoCommand	PSCX Cmdlet: Execute a SQL query against an ADO.NET datasource.
Invoke-Apartment	PSCX Cmdlet:
Invoke-Expression	Runs a Windows PowerShell expression that is provided in the form of a string.
Invoke-History	Runs commands from the session history.
Invoke-Item	Invokes the provider-specific default action on the specified item.
Join-Path	Combines a path and child-path into a single path. The provider supplies the path delimiters.
Join-String	PSCX Cmdlet: Joins an array of strings into a single string.
Measure-Command	Measures the time it takes to run script blocks and cmdlets.
Measure-Object	Measures characteristics of objects and their properties.
Move-Item	Moves an item from one location to another.
Move-ItemProperty	Moves a property from one location to another.
New-Alias	Creates a new alias.
New-GenericObject	PSCX Cmdlet: Creates objects from generic types using an easier syntax. NOTE: PowerShell V2 users can use PowerShell’s built-in New-Object cmdlet. In V2, it also supports an easier syntax for creating generic objects.
New-Hardlink	PSCX Cmdlet: Creates filesystem hard links. The hardlink and the target must reside on the same NTFS volume.
New-Item	Creates a new item in a namespace.
New-ItemProperty	Sets a new property of an item at a location.
New-Junction	PSCX Cmdlet: Creates NTFS directory junctions.
New-MSMQueue	PSCX Cmdlet: Creates a new queue object with the defined properties
New-Object	Creates an instance of a .Net or COM object.
New-PSDrive	Installs a new WIndows PowerShell drive.
New-Service	Creates a new entry for a Windows Service in the registry and the Service Database.
New-Shortcut	PSCX Cmdlet: Creates shell shortcuts.
New-Symlink	PSCX Cmdlet: Creates filesystem symbolic links. Requires Microsoft Windows Vista or later.
New-TimeSpan	Creates a TimeSpan object.
New-Variable	Creates a new variable.
Out-Clipboard	PSCX Cmdlet: Formats text via Out-String before placing in clipboard.
Out-Default	Send the output to the default formatter and the default output cmdlet. This cmdlet has no effect on the formatting or output. It is a placeholder that lets you write your own Out-Default function or cmdlet.
Out-File	Sends output to a file.
Out-Host	Sends output to the command line.
Out-Null	Deletes output instead of sending it to the console.
Out-Printer	Sends output to a printer.
Out-String	Sends objects to the host as a series of strings.
Ping-Host	PSCX Cmdlet: Sends ICMP echo requests to network hosts.
Pop-EnvironmentBlock	PSCX Cmdlet: Pops the topmost environment block.
Pop-Location	Changes the current location to the location most recently pushed onto the stack. You can pop the location from the default stack or from a stack that you create by using Push-Location.
Push-EnvironmentBlock	PSCX Cmdlet: Pushes the current environment onto the environment block stack.
Push-Location	Pushes the current location onto the stack.
Read-Archive	PSCX Cmdlet: Enumerates compressed archives such as 7z or rar, emitting ArchiveEntry objects representing records in the archive.
Read-Host	Reads a line of input from the console.
Receive-MSMQMessage	PSCX Cmdlet: Receives the first message available in the queue. This call is synchronous, and blocks the current thread of execution until a message is available.
Remove-Item	Deletes the specified items.
Remove-ItemProperty	Deletes the property and its value from an item.
Remove-MountPoint	PSCX Cmdlet: Removes a mount point, dismounting the current media if any. If used against the root of a fixed drive, removes the drive letter assignment.
Remove-PSDrive	Removes a Windows PowerShell drive from its location.
Remove-PSSnapin	Removes Windows PowerShell snap-ins from the current console.
Remove-ReparsePoint	PSCX Cmdlet: Removes NTFS reparse junctions and symbolic links.
Remove-Variable	Deletes a variable and its value.
Rename-Item	Renames an item in a Windows PowerShell provider namespace.
Rename-ItemProperty	Renames a property of an item.
Resize-Bitmap	PSCX Cmdlet: Resizes bitmaps.
Resolve-Assembly	PSCX Cmdlet: Resolve and optionally import Assemblies by partial name with optional Version.
Resolve-Host	PSCX Cmdlet: Resolves host names to IP addresses.
Resolve-Path	Resolves the wildcard characters in a path and displays the path contents.
Restart-Service	Stops and then starts one or more services.
Resume-Service	Resumes one or more suspended (paused) services.
Scroll-Table	PSCX Cmdlet: An object oriented “pager” for PowerShell. Designed as an interactive replacement of Format-Table and Format-List. Press ? or h inside to get keyboard help.
Scroll-Text	PSCX Cmdlet: A less-like pager for Windows Powershell. Press ? or h inside to get keyboard help.
Select-Object	Selects specified properties of an object or set of objects. It can also select unique objects from an array of objects or it can select a specified number of objects from the beginning or end of an array of objects.
Select-String	Identifies patterns in strings.
Select-Xml	PSCX Cmdlet: Select elements in XML files and XmlDocument objects with XPath expressions.
Send-MSMQMessage	PSCX Cmdlet: Wraps an object in a Message, and places it onto the defined queue.
Send-SmtpMail	PSCX Cmdlet: Sends email via specified SMTP server to specified recipients.
Set-Acl	Changes the security descriptor of a specified resource, such as a file or a registry key.
Set-Alias	Creates or changes an alias (alternate name) for a cmdlet or other command element in the current Windows PowerShell session.
Set-AuthenticodeSignature	Uses an authenticode signature to sign a Windows PowerShell script or other file.
Set-Clipboard	PSCX Cmdlet: Puts the specified object into the system clipboard.
Set-Content	Writes or replaces the content in an item with new content.
Set-Date	Changes the system time on the computer to a time that you specify.
Set-ExecutionPolicy	Changes the user preference for the execution policy of the shell.
Set-FileTime	PSCX Cmdlet: Sets a file or folder’s created and last accessed/write times.
Set-ForegroundWindow	PSCX Cmdlet: Given an hWnd or window handle, brings that window to the foreground. Useful for restoring a window to uppermost after an application which seizes the foreground is invoked. See also Get-ForegroundWindow
Set-Item	Changes the value of an item to the value specified in the command.
Set-ItemProperty	Sets the value of a property at the specified location.
Set-Location	Sets the current working location to a specified location.
Set-PathVariable	PSCX Cmdlet: Sets the specified path-oriented environment variable.
Set-Privilege	PSCX Cmdlet: Adjusts privileges associated with a user (identity).
Set-PSDebug	Turns script debugging features on and off, sets the trace level and toggles strict mode.
Set-Service	Changes the display name, description, or starting mode of a service.
Set-TraceSource	Configures, starts, and stops a trace of Windows PowerShell components.
Set-Variable	Sets the value of a variable. Creates the variable if one with the requested name does not exist.
Set-VolumeLabel	PSCX Cmdlet: Modifies the label shown in Windows Explorer for a particular disk volume.
Skip-Object	PSCX Cmdlet: Skips the specified objects in the pipeline.
Sort-Object	Sorts objects by property values.
Split-Path	Returns the specified part of a path.
Split-String	PSCX Cmdlet: Splits a single string into an array of strings.
Start-Process	PSCX Cmdlet: Starts a new process.
Start-Service	Starts one or more stopped services.
Start-Sleep	Suspend shell, script, or runspace activity for the specified period of time.
Start-TabExpansion	PSCX Cmdlet: Initializes the tab expansion caches.
Start-Transcript	Creates a record of all or part of a Windows PowerShell session in a text file.
Stop-Process	Stops one or more running processes.
Stop-Service	Stops one or more running services.
Stop-TerminalSession	PSCX Cmdlet: Logs off a specific remote desktop session on a system running Terminal Services/Remote Desktop
Stop-Transcript	Stops a transcript.
Suspend-Service	Suspends (pauses) one or more running services.
Tail-File	PSCX Cmdlet: Tails the contents of a file – optionally waiting on new content.
Tee-Object	Pipes object input to a file or variable, then passes the input along the pipeline.
Test-Assembly	PSCX Cmdlet: Tests whether or not the specified file is a .NET assembly.
Test-MSMQueue	PSCX Cmdlet:
Test-Path	Determines whether all elements of a path exist.
Test-Scroll	PSCX Cmdlet:
Test-UserGroupMembership	PSCX Cmdlet: Tests whether or not a user (current user by default) is a member of the specified group name.
Test-Xml	PSCX Cmdlet: Tests for well formedness and optionally validates against XML Schema.
Trace-Command	The Trace-Command cmdlet configures and starts a trace of the specified expression or command.
Update-FormatData	Updates and appends format data files.
Update-TypeData	Updates the current extended type configuration by reloading the *.types.ps1xml files into memory.
Where-Object	Creates a filter that controls which objects will be passed along a command pipeline.
Write-BZip2	PSCX Cmdlet: Create BZIP2 format archive files from pipline or parameter input.
Write-Clipboard	PSCX Cmdlet: Writes objects to the clipboard using their string representation, bypassing the default PowerShell formatting.
Write-Debug	Writes a debug message to the host display.
Write-Error	Writes an object to the error pipeline.
Write-GZip	PSCX Cmdlet: Create GNU ZIP (GZIP) format files from pipeline or parameter input.
Write-Host	Displays objects by using the host user interface
Write-Output	Writes objects to the success pipeline.
Write-Progress	Displays a progress bar within a Windows PowerShell command window.
Write-Tar	PSCX Cmdlet: Create Tape Archive (TAR) format files from pipeline or parameter input.
Write-Verbose	Writes a string to the verbose display of the host.
Write-Warning	Writes a warning message.
Write-Zip	PSCX Cmdlet: Create ZIP format archive files from pipline or parameter input.

$Provider=”System.Data.SQLClient”
$ConnectionString=”Data Source=.;Initial Catalog=Northwind;Integrated Security=SSPI”
$Connection = Get-AdoConnection $Provider $ConnectionString
$Query = “SELECT * FROM Orders”

Invoke-AdoCommand -ProviderName $Provider -Connection $Connection -CommandText $Query

$Connection.Close()

Here is a great sample of using Rhino Mocks.

This is a great hello world article for the simple NUnit Mock Framework.

This is a simple templating tool.

Here is the documentation for the templates.

This is what you need to get NVelocity to work:

NVelocity.Context.IContext context = new VelocityContext();

context.Put(“name”, “Chris”);

NVelocity.Runtime.RuntimeSingleton.Init();
NVelocity.Template template = NVelocity.Runtime.RuntimeSingleton.GetTemplate(“helloworld.vm”);

StringWriter writer = new StringWriter();

template.Merge(context, writer);

Console.WriteLine(writer.ToString());

Here  is the template:

Hello $name!  Welcome to Velocity!

Of late I have been using “service locator” similar to the below:

//=== class ServiceLocator ====

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Xml;

namespace PerfectStorm
{
/// <summary>
/// This is used to allow the creation of a class to be decoupled from the implementation.
/// The client only needs to know the name and have a supported interface or base class.
///
/// The only restriction this imposes on the created class is that it must have an empty
/// constructor.
///
/// The registry may be populated automatically from the appropriate config file or the
/// client may populate it itself.  By default the full name of the class is used, but
/// if client-populated then any unique string identifier will do.
///
/// The beauty of this clarity of split is that the caller may not know any of the
/// implementation details. This ensures that the implementation can be replaced only
/// requiring a configuration setting.
///
/// </summary>
public static class ServiceLocator
{
static Dictionary<string, Type> _dict = new Dictionary<string, Type>();

// This will be called before the first method on the type.
static ServiceLocator()
{
XmlNode configNode = (XmlNode)ConfigurationManager.GetSection(“PerfectStorm.ServiceLocator”);
if (configNode != null)
{
foreach (XmlNode node in configNode.SelectNodes(“//PerfectStorm.ServiceLocator/assembly”))
{
LoadAssembly(node.Attributes[“name”].InnerText);
}
}
}

/// <summary>
///
/// </summary>
/// <param name=”Name”></param>
public static void LoadAssembly(string Name)
{
Assembly a = Assembly.Load(“Name”);
Type[] types = a.GetTypes();
foreach (Type t in types)
{
if (!t.IsAbstract)
{
// Only add if can be constructed.
if (t.GetConstructor(System.Type.EmptyTypes) != null)
{
AddType(t.FullName, t);
}
}
}

}

/// <summary>
/// Creates an instance of a named class that conforms to the supplied interface or base type.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name=”T”></typeparam>
/// <param name=”name”></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static T CreateInstance<T>(string name)
{
Type t = null;
if (_dict.ContainsKey(name))
{
t = _dict[name];
}
else
{
throw new Exception(string.Format(“ServiceLocator is Unable to create {0}”, name));
}

return (T)Activator.CreateInstance(t);
}

/// <summary>
///
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name=”T”></typeparam>
/// <remarks>Can only register classes with parameterless constructors.</remarks>
public static void Register<T>() where T : new()
{
Type type = typeof(T);
AddType(type.FullName, type);
}

/// <summary>
///
/// </summary>
/// <param name=”Name”></param>
/// <param name=”T”></param>
private static void AddType(string Name, Type T)
{
if (_dict.ContainsKey(Name))
{
_dict[Name] = T;
}
else
{
_dict.Add(Name, T);
}
}

/// <summary>
/// Empties the registry.
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>This has been included to assist unit testing.</remarks>
public static void Clear()
{
_dict.Clear();
}
}
}

This allows applications to load an assembly based upon config.

You will also need the Trivial section handler:

using System;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using System.Xml.XPath;

namespace PerfectStorm
{
/// <summary>
/// This allows the config section to be read as an XML node.
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>
/// This is identical code to that used in PerfectStorm.CodeGenLibrary but I don’t want to cause
/// a dependency between the two.
/// </remarks>
public class ServiceLocatorConfig : IConfigurationSectionHandler
{
/// <summary>
///
/// </summary>
/// <param name=”parent”></param>
/// <param name=”configContext”></param>
/// <param name=”section”></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public object Create(
object parent,
object configContext,
System.Xml.XmlNode section)
{
// This was based upon an idea that I got from:
// (http://alt.pluralsight.com/wiki/default.aspx/Craig/XmlSerializerSectionHandler.html)
return section;
}
}

}

This permit usages based upon config such as:

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″ ?>
<configuration>
<configSections>
<section name=”PerfectStorm.ServiceLocator” type=”PerfectStorm.ServiceLocatorConfig, PerfectStorm.ServiceLocator” />
</configSections>
<PerfectStorm.ServiceLocator>
<assembly name=”My fully qualified name” />
</PerfectStorm.ServiceLocator>
</configuration>

This permits the use:

IYourInterface svc = ServiceLocator.CreateInstance<IYourInterface>(“fully qualified name of class”);

This means that the caller and implementer only need agree on the interface and everything else can be setup in config.

This has allowed me to make rapid changes to the architecture of an application (in one case to break a cyclic dependency and in another to replace a set of pointless local WCF calls with a call to an interface.  This has been easy to retrofit to an existing application – probably because we have been working through some narrow interfaces (that is almost all remote calls went through one of three interfaces).  I have found it useful to move the interfaces into a common assembly providing the service interfaces.

The only limitation of the ServiceLocator is that the classes created require a parameterless constructor.

I have started looking at Winsor (from the Castle project) as an alternative.

The following is a usage sample of Winsor:

using System;
using Castle.Windsor;
using Castle.Windsor.Configuration.Interpreters;
using TestLib;

namespace TestProject
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
IWindsorContainer container = new WindsorContainer(new XmlInterpreter());
IExecutor service = container.Resolve<IExecutor>();

// Or to be specific IExecutor service = container.Resolve<IExecutor>(“test”);

service.Execute();
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}

This was controlled by the following config file:

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″ ?>
<configuration>
<configSections>
<section
name=”castle”
type=”Castle.Windsor.Configuration.AppDomain.CastleSectionHandler, Castle.Windsor” />
</configSections>

<castle>

<components>
<component id=”test”
service=”TestLib.IExecutor, TestLib”
type=”TestLibImplementation.Executor2, TestLibImplementation” />
</components>

</castle>
</configuration>

There is no reason why you can’t alter Winsor to use reflection to get all types from an assembly (in fact Binsor frequently does this).

Now this is very similar to the above Service Locator (With the right id name the usage would be identical).

I have more investigation of Winsor to do…

I don’t understand what has happened to the personal organisers.  5 years ago there was a competitive market here covering Palm, Windows CE &c

Now you can’t buy these devices any more – yet the integrated phone versions have yet to catch up.

Quite often you need to use a third party application in your code.  This may be a workflow tool, a reporting service.

If you need to integrate with it  (you need to call it or it needs to call you) keep these to a small well defined interface.

Build a simple assembly for calling it an use that for all access.  For it to call you produce a second small assembly.

Do not let any of it’s implementation details leak beyond that.  Those should be the only assemblies that have a reference to the third party code.

Careful use of this can allow you to replace a product (possibly with some custom code) at a later time with minimal effort.

Here is a great site on customising TFS. In particular it covers replacing the naff built in diff and compare tool with one of you own choosing.

Personally I am a big fan of Beyond Compare.