TFS Process Template Editor

This extension is deprecated, future updates won't be updated here. Please visit Process Template Editor for VS 2019 for latest version.

Process Editor Tool

An extension to Visual Studio "2017" Community (and other versions) which provides a convenient method for viewing and updating process templates. The Process Editor also provides tools for updating global lists and work item types, as well as viewing the attributes of work item fields. This tool was formerly provided via Team Foundation Server 2015 Power Tools (and earlier versions). This is a client extension which needs to be installed by each user locally for their own version of VS.

Summary of tools

Once installed, the Process Editor is accessible from the Visual Studio Tools menu. From it, you can access these four main tools:

Work Item Types: Import and export the XML definition file for a work item type (WIT)
Process Template: Open and edit a process template (you can only edit the old-style work item forms, those that don’t reflect the new web layout)
Work Item Field Explorer: Review the list of fields and their attributes defined for a collection
Global List: Import and export a global list XML definition file

Descriptions of each tool

Work Item Types

From the Work Item Types menu, you can open a WIT or import/export a WIT XML definition file.

To learn more about work item types, see [Add or modify a work item type] (https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/docs/work/customize/add-modify-wit).

Process Template

From the Process Template menu, you can open a process template and edit the various parts.

To learn more about process templates, see [Overview of process template files](https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/ms243856.aspx).

Global List

Just like the Work Item Types menu, from the Global List menu you can open a global list from a file or server, or import/export the XML definition file for a global list.

To learn more about global lists, see [Define global lists](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms194977.aspx).

Work Item Field Explorer

The Work Item Field Explorer opens the following window. You can’t edit or delete a field, but you can review all fields defined for the collection and the assignments made to all attributes--both changeable and non-changeable.

Here’s a description of each of the attributes that the Work Item Field Explorer lists. Each attribute is linked to its corresponding WorkItemTracking SDK reference topic.

(The HTML syntax for the following info can be accessed from this blog post: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/visualstudioalm/2012/08/17/work-item-field-attributes-what-you-can-and-cant-change/) .

Name	Can Change?	Description
AllowedValues	Yes	Gets the collection of valid values for a Field that uses this field definition. You can change this by specifying a pick list or global list. See Defining and Using Lists, Pick Lists, and Global Lists.
CanSortBy	No	Specifies whether work items within a query can be sorted by this field.
FieldType	No	Specifies the data type defined for the field. You cannot change this except for the PlainText and HTML data types.
HelpText	Yes	Specifies the help text defined for the field. You can change this for each work item type using the HELPTEXT XML element.
Id	No	Specifies the internal ID of the field.
IsComputed	No	Indicates if the value set by this field is computed (True) or not (False). Examples of computed fields are ones that are set by the system, such as the ID, Revised Date, Changed Date, and External Link Count.
IsEditable	No	Indicates if users can modify this field (True) or not (False). Examples of non-editable fields are ones that are set by the system, such as the ID, Revision, Created By, and Changed By fields.
IsIndexed	Yes	Indicates if the field is indexed (True) or not (False). When you enable indexing for a field, you may increase the performance of finding work items whose queries specify that field. If you add a custom field that you use in many of your work item queries, you may want to enable indexing for that field.
IsQueryable	No	Indicates if the field shows up within the set of fields you can add to filter a query (True) or not (False).
Name	Yes	Specifies the friendly display name of this field definition.
ReferenceName	No	Specifies the reference name of the field definition.
ReportingAttributes	Yes	Specifies the reporting attributes of the field definition.
SystemType	No	Specifies the type declaration: class types, interface types, array types, value types, enumeration types, type parameters, generic type definitions, and open or closed constructed generic types.
Usage	No	Specifies whether the field is intended for use with work items or work item link objects.

For more information about the Work Item Tracking SDK, see Extending Work Item Tracking by Using the Client Object Model for Team Foundation.

Microsoft DevLabs