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Titles, IDs, Description, and History (CMMI)

You use the Title and ID fields to uniquely identify work items in a list. You use the Description and History fields to provide additional information that team members need to implement the work item and to track changes to the work item. Additional fields support tracking information that is specific to requirements, tasks, and revision tracking.

After a work item is created, you can modify each of these fields except for ID. When you create and save a work item, Team Foundation assigns the ID, and it cannot be changed.

You use the fields that this topic describes to track information and changes for types of work items that the process template for Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) for CMMI Process Improvement v5.0 provides.

In this topic

  • Fields that Appear on All Work Item Forms

  • Fields that Are Specific to Requirements

  • Fields that Are Specific to Tasks

  • Fields that Support Revision Tracking

  • Additional Fields that Support Query and Reporting

Fields that Appear on All Work Item Forms

The following table describes the fields that you can use to track detailed information and historical revisions made for a work item. For more information about data types and default field attributes, see Working with Work Item Fields.

Field name

Description

Reference name

Data type

Default value of the reportable type attribute

Default value of the index attribute

ID

Specifies an identifier that is assigned to a work item. Work item IDs are unique across all team projects that are defined in a team project collection.

System.Id

Integer

Dimension

True

Title

Summarizes what the work item is and helps team members distinguish it from other work items in a list.

System.Title

String

Dimension

True

Description

Provides more details about a work item than its title does.

System.Description

PlainText

None

False

History

Lists all changes to the work item since it was created. Every time that any field of the work item is updated, information is added to the history. This information includes on which date the change was made, who made the change, and which fields were changed.

You can also add formatted text to the history field.

System.History

History

None

False

Fields that Are Specific to Requirements

The following table describes fields that you can use to track the type of Requirement to be developed and its importance to the overall product.

Field name

Description

Reference name

Data type

Default value of the reportable type attribute

Default value of the index attribute

Requirement Type

Specifies the kind of requirement to implement. You can specify one of the following values:

  • Business Objective

  • Feature (default)

  • Functional

  • Interface

  • Operational

  • Quality of Service

  • Safety

  • Scenario

  • Security

Microsoft.VSTS.CMMI.RequirementType

String

Dimension

False

Impact Assessment

Describes the customer impact of not implementing this requirement. You might include details from the Kano model about whether this requirement is in the surprise, required, or obvious categories.

Microsoft.VSTS.CMMI.ImpactAssessmentHtml

HTML

None

False

User Acceptance Test

Specifies the status of the user acceptance test for a requirement. You can specify one of the following values:

  • Pass (default)

  • Fail

  • Not Ready

  • Ready

  • Skipped

  • Info Received

You specify Not Ready when the requirement is in the Active state, and you specify Ready when the requirement is in the Resolved state.

Microsoft.VSTS.CMMI.UserAcceptanceTest

String

None

False

Subject matter experts

Specifies up to three team members who are familiar with the customer area that this requirement represents.

You can specify the names of valid team members only.

Microsoft.VSTS.CMMI.SubjectMatterExpert1

Microsoft.VSTS.CMMI.SubjectMatterExpert3

String

None

False

Fields that Are Specific to Tasks

The following table describes fields that you can use to track the type of task on which the team is working.

Field name

Description

Reference name

Data type

Default value of the reportable type attribute

Default value of the index attribute

Discipline

Specifies the discipline of the team member who will complete the task. You can specify one of the following values:

  • Analysis

  • User Experience

  • User Education

  • Development

  • Test

Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Discipline

String

Dimension

None

Task Type

Specifies the kind of task to implement. You can specify one of the following values:

  • Corrective Action

  • Mitigation Action

  • Planned

Microsoft.VSTS.CMMI.TaskType

String

Dimension

None

Fields that Support Revision Tracking

The following table describes fields that you can use to filter queries and create reports based on who changed a work item and when it was changed. These fields are updated with information every time that a team member changes a work item. These fields appear in the History field and are tracked for all types of work items.

Field name

Description

Reference name

Data type

Default value of the reportable type attribute

Default value of the index attribute

Changed By

Specifies the name of the team member who modified the work item most recently.

System.ChangedBy

String

Dimension

True

Changed Date

Specifies the date and time when the work item was modified most recently.

System.RevisedDate

DateTime

None

False

Rev

Provides the number that is assigned to the historical revision of a work item.

System.Rev

Integer

Dimension

False

Additional Fields that Support Query and Reporting

The following table describes fields that you can use to filter queries and create reports that are based on the type of work item, the product area, or the team project. The following fields do not appear on work item forms, but they are tracked for all types of work items.

Field name

Description

Reference name

Data type

Default value of the reportable type attribute

Default value of the index attribute

Node Name

Specifies the name of the parent node to which this work item belongs. The value of this field matches the name of the product area that is assigned to the work item by the Area (path) field.

For more information, see Areas and Iterations.

System.NodeName

String

None

False

Team Project

Specifies the name of the team project to which this work item belongs.

System.TeamProject

String

Dimension

False

Work Item Type

Specifies the name of the work item type.

System.WorkItemType

String

Dimension

True

See Also

Concepts

Using System Fields and Fields Defined by the MSF Process Templates

Other Resources

Work Items and Workflow (CMMI)

Work Item Fields (CMMI)