Find Work Items to Link or Import

  • Article

You can select work items from a list to either import into an Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Project document or to link to the current work item. You use one of the following methods to create a list of work items:

  • Saved query. Use this method when you have created a query that you know contains the set or superset of the work items that you want. For more information, see Query for Bugs, Tasks, or Other Work Items.

  • Work item IDs. Use this method when you know the IDs of the work items that you want to find.

  • Title search. Use this method to find work items that have a common word or phrase in the work item title field.

Required Permissions

To add, modify, or remove a link between work items or import work items to Office Excel or Office Project, you must have permission to view both of the work items and to modify at least one of them. You must be a member of the Contributors group or have your View work items in this node, and your Edit work items in this node permissions set to Allow. For more information, see Team Foundation Server Permissions.

  1. (Optional) If you are going to find and list work items to link to by using a saved query, you must define the query that you want to use. For more information, see Query for Bugs, Tasks, or Other Work Items.

  2. (Optional for Team Explorer) To link to a work item stored in another team project, in the Project list, choose the name of that team project.

    Note

    The Project list appears only when you search for work items to link to the current work item.

  3. To find work items by using a saved query, follow these steps:

    1. Choose Saved query.

    2. (Team Web Access only) In the Saved query list, expand the team project,

    3. In the Saved query list expand My Queries or Team Queries, and then choose the name of the saved query for which you want to display results.

      (Team Explorer only) You can also choose the Browse button next to the Saved query list, select a saved query in the Select Query dialog box, and then choose OK. 

      Note

      The Select Query dialog box is easier to use if your team project contains many queries. You can drag a corner of the dialog box to show more saved queries.

  4. To specify the IDs of the work items, follow these steps:

    1. Choose IDs.

    2. In the IDs box, type the IDs of the work items that you want to find.

      Separate IDs by commas or spaces.

  5. To find work items that have common text in their titles, follow these steps:

    1. Choose Title contains.

    2. In the Title contains box, type the words to find in the work item title.

    3. (Optional for Team Explorer) In the and type list, click the type of work item that you want to retrieve.

    4. (Optional for Team Web Access) In the Work item type list, click the team project and type of work item that you want to retrieve.

      Note

      To minimize the time required to run the query, narrow the filter criteria of the search.

  6. Choose Find.

    Only those work items defined for the selected team project and specified work item type are listed. You can change the display of the work items that are listed by using one of the following user interface controls:

    • To expand or collapse a tree view list, choose the + or - signs.

    • To resize a column, point your cursor at the edge of a column header and drag it to a new location.

    • To sort on a column field, choose the column title.

    • To move a column field, choose the column title and drag to another location.

    For additional controls, see Keyboard Shortcuts for the Query Editor and Query Results View.

  7. In the list of returned work items, perform these steps:

    • For Team Web Access, specify each work item that you want by selecting or clearing the check box next to the work item. Or, choose Select All to select all the work items displayed.

    • For Team Explorer, select each work item that should link to the current work item. You can also press the SHIFT key while clicking to select a range of work items, or press the CTRL key while clicking to select multiple work items.

  8. (Optional for Team Web Access) Type a description in the Comment dialog box.

  9. Choose OK.

See Also

Tasks

Create or Delete Relationships between Work Items

Concepts

Bulk add or modify work items with Excel

Create your schedule, backlog, and tasks using Microsoft Project

Query for Bugs, Tasks, or Other Work Items