Use keywords and phrases to find specific text in work items. Keywords are just typed into the Search box. Phrases must be enclosed in quotation marks. Team System Web Access searches the Title and Description fields for any keywords and phrases that you type.

The following are examples of how to use keywords and phrases in the Search box.

• To find all work items with the keyword "duplication" in the title or description:

  Duplication

  To find all work items with the phrase "Getting Started" in the title or description:

  "Getting Started"

  To find all work items with the phrase "Getting Started" and the keyword "feature" in the title or description:

  feature "Getting Started"

You can also specify search criteria for fields other than Title and Description. To specify the work item field name, type the search string as shown in the following examples.

• To find all of the work items that are in the Active state, specify one of the following two search strings:

  system.State=Active

  State=Active

• To find all of the Bug work item types that are in the Active state:

  State=Active WorkItemType=bug

  Note:
  If the text for which you are searching contains spaces, you must enclose it in quotation marks. For example, when you search for work items assigned to a team member, use the format System.AssignedTo=" First Last".

The following table lists the shortcut identifiers for several frequently used fields that you can use when you create a search string:

The following examples show how to use a shortcut identifier that specifies the State field to search for work items.

• To find all work items that are in the Active state:

  S=Active

• To find all bugs that that are in the Active state:

  S=Active T=bug

You can also use the @Me macro to specify a search string for work items that are associated with you in some way. @Me is a macro that expands to your full name in any Team System Web Access search. Use the following examples to search for work items by using the @Me macro.

• To find all work items assigned to me:

  A=@me

• To find all work items created by me:

  C=@me

There are three operators that you can use when you specify search criteria. The following table describes each operator.

The following examples show how to use operators when you create a search string.

• To find all work items assigned to me:

  A=@me

• To find all work items where the discipline field contains the text "proj":

  Discipline:proj

  Note:
  Some fields, such as History and Description, cannot be searched with partial words. For example, if the History field contains the phrase "reproducible behavior" and you search for "History:repro" the work item will not be found. If you search for "History:reproducible" the work item will be found.

• To find all work items that contain the keyword "triage" in the title or description, are not assigned to me, and are not closed:

  triage -A=@me -S=Closed

• To find all work items that contain the keyword "triage" but not "repro":

  triage -repro

• To find all active bugs that are assigned to me that do not contain the keyword "bugbash" in the title.

  S=Active W=bug A=@Me -Title:bugbash

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