WHENNOTCHANGED Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)

Article
12/06/2010

Specifies a condition under which to apply one or more rules to the current field. The rules apply to the current field when the value of another field is not changed in a revision to a work item. The parent element defines the current field.

<xs:element name="WHENNOTCHANGED" type="FieldCondition"/>

<WHENNOTCHANGED field="field reference name" >
   <ALLOWEDVALUES> . . . </ALLOWEDVALUES>
   <ALLOWEXISTINGVALUE />
   <CANNOTLOSEVALUE />
   <COPY />
   <DEFAULT />
   <EMPTY />
   <FROZEN />
   <MATCH />
   <NOTSAMEAS />
   <PROHIBITEDVALUES /> . . . </PROHIBITEDVALUES>
   <READONLY />
   <REQUIRED />
   <SERVERDEFAULT />
   <SUGGESTEDVALUES /> . . . </SUGGESTEDVALUES>
   <VALIDUSER />
</WHENNOTCHANGED>

Attributes and Elements

The following sections describe the attributes and child elements that define the WHENNOTCHANGED element. They also describe parent elements that define how the WHENNOTCHANGED element is applied. You must define at least one child element.

Attributes

Attribute	Description
field	Required attribute. Identifies a field that must not change for the rules in this element to be applied to the current field. You specify this attribute by the field reference name. For more information about reference names, see FIELD Element (WORKITEMTYPE Element).

field

Required attribute.

Identifies a field that must not change for the rules in this element to be applied to the current field.

You specify this attribute by the field reference name. For more information about reference names, see FIELD Element (WORKITEMTYPE Element).

Child Elements

Element	Description
REQUIRED Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the current field (the field that contains the WHEN Element) must have a value.
READONLY Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the current field is read-only.
EMPTY Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the current field must be empty.
FROZEN Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the current field is frozen. A frozen field cannot be changed to any non-empty value after changes are committed. However, you can manually clear the field, save the work item, and then specify a different value.
CANNOTLOSEVALUE Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the current field cannot be cleared or made empty after it has acquired a value.
NOTSAMEAS Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the value of the current field cannot match the value of a third field. You specify the third field in the NOTSAMEAS element.
VALIDUSER Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the list of allowed values must consist only of valid users of the system.
ALLOWEXISTINGVALUE Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the value of the current field that already exists will be allowed, even if it violates other rules. If the value of the current field is changed, this element does not apply.
MATCH Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the value of the current field must match the specified pattern.
ALLOWEDVALUES Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the current field must have a value that comes from the specified list of values. Allowed values are values that are available for selection in a field list on work item forms and in the query builder. You must select from one of these values.
SUGGESTEDVALUES Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the specified list contains suggested values for the current field. Suggested values are values that are available for selection in a field list on work item forms and in the query builder. You can enter other values in addition to the ones in the list.
PROHIBITEDVALUES Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the current field cannot contain any values in this list.
DEFAULT Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the specified value is the default value for the current field.
COPY Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the value from a third field is automatically copied into the current field. You specify the third field in the COPY element.
SERVERDEFAULT Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Optional element. Specifies that when the value of the field that is identified by the field attribute is not changed, the current field uses the value from the specified server component. The server components are clock, which is the time when the work item is updated, and currentuser, which is the identity that updated the work item.

Parent Elements

Element	Description
FIELD Element (WORKFLOW)	Required element. References a work item field definition and the rules and conditions that apply to the field. The reference is based on the STATE, TRANSITION, DEFAULTREASON, or REASON element that its parent FIELDS element is a child of.
FIELD Element (WORKITEMTYPE Element)	Required element. Defines a work item field and specifies the rules and conditions that apply to it.

FIELD Element (WORKFLOW)

Required element.

References a work item field definition and the rules and conditions that apply to the field. The reference is based on the STATE, TRANSITION, DEFAULTREASON, or REASON element that its parent FIELDS element is a child of.

FIELD Element (WORKITEMTYPE Element)

Required element.

Defines a work item field and specifies the rules and conditions that apply to it.

Remarks

WHENNOTCHANGED is an optional child element of FIELD (Work Item Type Definition Schema) and FIELD (WORKITEMTYPE element).

Element Information

Namespace	https://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/workitemtracking/typedef
Schema Name	Work Item Type Definition
Validation File	WorkItemTypeDefinition.xsd
Element Type	FieldCondition Complex Type (Work Item Type Definition Schema)
Can Be Empty	No