Adding Workbooks to Team Projects

Article
07/27/2010

You can use the Product Backlog and Iteration Backlog workbooks to support the planning phases of your team project. You can add these workbooks to your upgraded team project if it was based on version 4.2 of the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) process template for agile software development.

You can use the Product Backlog workbook to create and manage the product backlog, estimate team velocity, and to assign development areas to iterations. You can use the Iteration Backlog workbook to plan and track progress for an iteration. This workbook helps you effectively load balance your team resources and make sure that your team commits to goals that it can achieve.

These workbooks are included in the process template for MSF for Agile Software Development – v5.0. For more information, see Product Planning Workbook and Iteration Backlog Workbook.

Important

You should upgrade your existing team project after your deployment has been updated to Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010.

To enable the workbooks, you first download the MSF process template for agile software development v5.0. The next step requires that you modify the scenario and task work item type definition files, create work item queries for each workbook, and then bind each workbook to its corresponding query.

In this topic

Download the MSF for Agile Software Development v5.0 Process Template
Enabling Support for the Product Backlog Workbook
Enabling Support for the Iteration Backlog Workbook
Creating a Triage Workbook

Required Permissions

To perform these procedures, you must have the following permissions:

To download a process template you must be a member of the Project Collection Administrators group. If the required security permissions are set explicitly, your Manage process template permission for the team project collection must be set to Allow.
To run the witadmin command-line tool, you must be a member of the Team Foundation Administrators group or a member of the Project Administrators group for the project.
To create and save work item queries, you must be a member of the Readers group, or your View work items in this node permission must be set to Allow for the team project. To save a query as a team query, you must have Contribute permissions or be a member of the Project Administrators group. For more information, see Organize and Set Permissions on Work Item Queries.

For more information, see Team Foundation Server Permissions.

Download the MSF for Agile Software Development v5.0 Process Template

Download the MSF for Agile Software Development v5.0 process template. For more information, Download Version 5.0 of the MSF Process Templates.

Enabling Support for the Product Backlog Workbook

To use the Product Backlog workbook, you must add the Story Points field to the scenario work item type, create the Product Backlog query, and then bind the query to the Product Backlog workbook.

Perform the following tasks in the indicated sequence:

Modify the Scenario Type Definition
Create a Query for the Product Backlog
Bind the Product Backlog Workbook to the Iteration Backlog Query

Modify the Scenario Type Definition

To modify the Scenario work item type definition file

On a computer where Visual Studio 2010 is installed, open a Command Prompt window.
Change to the directory that contains the witadmin command-line tool by typing the following command and then pressing ENTER.

cd Drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE
To export the Scenario work item type definition, type the following command, substituting your data by using the arguments shown, and then press ENTER.
```
witadmin exportwitd /collection:https://ServerName:Port/VirtualDirectoryName/CollectionName /p:project /n:Scenario /f:MyScenario.xml
```
For more information, see Export and Import Work Item Types from an Existing Project.
In Visual Studio or a text editor, open the MyScenario file that you just exported.

Add the following FIELD element under the FIELDS section:

<FIELD name="Story Points" type="Double" refname="Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.StoryPoints" > 
<HELPTEXT>An estimate of the size of a User Story or Scenario</HELPTEXT> 
</FIELD>

Find the group that is labeled "Status" under the FORM section in the XML file, as the following excerpt shows:

<Group Label="Status">
   <Column PercentWidth="50">
      <Control Type="FieldControl" FieldName="System.AssignedTo" Label="Assi&amp;gned to:" LabelPosition="Left"/>
      <Control Type="FieldControl" FieldName="Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Rank" Label="Ran&amp;k:" LabelPosition="Left" NumberFormat="WholeNumbers" MaxLength="10"/>
   </Column>
   . . .
</Group>

To display the Story Points field on the work item form, add the following CONTROL element to the first Column section in the Status group:

<CONTROL type="FieldControl" 
    fieldname="Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.StoryPoints" 
    label="Story Points:" 
    labelposition="Left" 
    numberformat="WholeNumbers" 
    maxlength="10" />

Save the XML file.
Type the following command to import the modified MyScenario file, substituting your data by using the arguments shown in the following syntax, and then press ENTER:
```
witadmin importwitd /collection:https://ServerName:Port/VirtualDirectoryName/CollectionName /p:project /f:MyScenario.xml
```
When the import has successfully completed, the following message appears:

The work item type import has been completed.
To verify the changes, in Team Explorer , right-click your team project, and then click Refresh.
Right-click Work Items, point to New Work Item, and then click Scenario.
Verify that the Story Points field appears in the work item form.

Create a Query for the Product Backlog

To create the Product Backlog query in Team Explorer

Open your team project, right-click Work Items, and then click Add Query.

A new Flat List of Work Items (Default) query opens.
Add the fields and values in the following table:

And/Or

Field

Operator

Value

Team Project

=

@Project

And

Work Item Type

=

Scenario

And

State

< >

Closed
Click Column Options, and add the following columns to your query:
- ID
- Rank
- Story Points
- Assigned To
- Title
- Area Path
- Iteration Path
- Work Item Type
For more information, see Add, Remove, Reorder, and Sort Columns.
Click OK.
On the query toolbar, click Run.
Click Save As, and save the query under the Team Queries node as Product Backlog.

For more information, Save, Copy, Rename, and Delete Work Item Queries.
Click OK.

And/Or	Field	Operator	Value
	Team Project	=	@Project
And	Work Item Type	=	Scenario
And	State	< >	Closed

Bind the Product Backlog Workbook to the Product Backlog Query

To bind the Product Backlog workbook to the Product Backlog query

In Windows Explorer, open the folder where you downloaded the agile process template files.

For more information, see Download the Process Template: MSF for Agile Software Development v5.0 earlier in this topic.
Open the Project Management folder that is located under \Windows SharePoint Services\Shared Documents.
Copy the Product Backlog.xlsm file to a new working folder, and then open the file.

The workbook opens in Microsoft Excel. Macros are automatically disabled.
Click Options next to the security warning at the top of the workbook, click Enable this content, and then click OK.
Click in cell A1 of the Product Backlog worksheet, and then click the Team tab.
In the Work Items group, click New List.

The Connect to Team Project dialog box appears, which indicates that the worksheet is not connected to Team Foundation Server.
In the Select a Team Foundation Server list, click the name of the server that contains your upgraded team project.

If that server does not appear in the list, perform the following steps:
1. Click Servers, and then click Add.
2. In the Team Foundation Server name box, type the name of the server to which you want to connect.
3. If Team Foundation Server uses a port number other than the default (8080) to communicate with client programs, type the appropriate port number in the Port number box, and then click OK.
4. Click Close.
Under Directory, click the name of the project collection that hosts your upgraded team project.
In the Team Projects list, click the name of your upgraded team project, and then click OK.

The workbook is now connected to your team project.
In the New List dialog box, click Query List.
In the Select a Query list, click the Product Backlog query that you created by following the procedure earlier in this topic, and then click OK.

The workbook is now bound to the Product Backlog query.
Click Save to save the workbook.
(Optional) Upload the workbook to your team project portal.

For more information, see Managing Documents and Document Libraries.

Enabling Support for the Iteration Backlog Workbook

To use the Iteration Backlog workbook, you must add the Original Estimate field to the task work item type, create the Iteration Backlog query, and then bind the query to the Iteration Backlog workbook. The Iteration Backlog workbook also requires that you add the Story Points field to the scenario work item type.

Perform the following tasks in the indicated sequence:

Modify the Task Type Definition
Create a Query for the Iteration Backlog
Bind the Iteration Backlog Workbook to the Iteration Backlog Query

Modify the Task Work Item Type Definition

To modify the Task work item type definition file

On a computer where Visual Studio 2010 is installed, open a Command Prompt window.
Change to the directory that contains the witadmin command-line tool by typing the following command and then pressing ENTER.

cd Drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE
To export the task work item type definition, type the following command, substituting your data by using the arguments shown, and then press ENTER.
```
witadmin exportwitd /collection:https://ServerName:Port/VirtualDirectoryName/CollectionName /p:project /n:task /f:MyTask.xml
```
In Visual Studio or a text editor, open the MyTask.xml file that you exported in the previous step.

Add the following FIELD element under the Scheduling Fields area in the FIELDS section of the XML file:

<FIELD name="Original Estimate" refname="Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.OriginalEstimate" type="Double" reportable="measure" formula="sum"><HELPTEXT>The number of hours originally estimated to complete this task</HELPTEXT></FIELD>

Find the group that is labeled "Schedule" in the Tab that is labeled "Details" under the FORM section in the XML file, as the following excerpt shows:

<Group Label="Schedule">
   <Column PercentWidth="100">
   <Control Type="FieldControl" FieldName="Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.RemainingWork" Label="Remaining &amp;work (hours):" LabelPosition="Left" NumberFormat="DecimalNumbers" MaxLength="10"/>
       <Control Type="FieldControl" FieldName="Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.CompletedWork" Label="Com&amp;pleted work (hours):" LabelPosition="Left" NumberFormat="DecimalNumbers" MaxLength="10"/>
       <Control Type="FieldControl" FieldName="Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.StartDate" Label="Start Dat&amp;e:" LabelPosition="Left" ReadOnly="True"/>
       <Control Type="FieldControl" FieldName="Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.FinishDate" Label="&amp;Finish Date:" LabelPosition="Left" ReadOnly="True"/>
    </Column>
</Group>

To display the Original Estimate field on the work item form, add the following CONTROL element to the first Column section in the Status group:

<CONTROL type="FieldControl" fieldname="Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.OriginalEstimate" label="Original Estimate &amp;(hours):" labelposition="Left" numberformat="DecimalNumbers" maxlength="10" />

Save the XML file.
Type the following command to import the MyTask file, substituting your data by using the arguments shown, and then press ENTER:
```
witadmin importwitd /collection:https://ServerName:Port/VirtualDirectoryName/CollectionName /p:project /f:MyTask.xml
```
When the import has successfully completed, the following message appears:

The work item type import has been completed.
To verify the changes, in Team Explorer , right-click your team project, and then click Refresh.
Right-click Work Items, point to New Work Item, and then click Task.
Verify that the Original Estimate field appears in the work item form.

Create a Query for the Iteration Backlog

To create the Iteration Backlog query

In Team Explorer, open your team project, right-click Work Items, and then click Add Query.

A new Flat List of Work Items (Default) query opens.
Add the fields and values in the following table:

And/Or

Field

Operator

Value

Team Project

=

@Project

And

Iteration Path

=

<Iteration You Are Planning>

And

State

< >

Closed

And

Work Item Type

=

Task
Click Column Options, and add the following columns to your query:
- ID
- Assigned To
- State
- Title
- Remaining Work
- Completed Work
- Original Estimate
- Area Path
- Iteration Path
- Work Item Type
For more information, see Add, Remove, Reorder, and Sort Columns.
Click OK.
On the query toolbar, click Run.
Click Save As, and save the query under the Team Queries node as Iteration Backlog.

For more information, Save, Copy, Rename, and Delete Work Item Queries.
Click OK.

And/Or	Field	Operator	Value
	Team Project	=	@Project
And	Iteration Path	=	<Iteration You Are Planning>
And	State	< >	Closed
And	Work Item Type	=	Task

Bind the Iteration Backlog Workbook to the Iteration Backlog Query

To bind the Iteration Backlog workbook to the Iteration Backlog query

In Windows Explorer, open the folder where you downloaded the agile process template files.

For more information, see Download the Process Template: MSF for Agile Software Development v5.0 earlier in this topic.
Open the Project Management folder that is located under \Windows SharePoint Services\Shared Documents.
Copy the Iteration Backlog.xlsm file to a new working folder, and then open the file.

The workbook opens in Microsoft Excel. Macros are automatically disabled.
Click Options next to the security warning at the top of the workbook, click Enable this content, and then click OK.
Click in cell A1 of the Iteration Backlog worksheet, and then click the Team tab.
In the Work Items group, click New List.

The Connect to Team Project dialog box appears, which indicates that the worksheet is not connected to Team Foundation Server.
In the Select a Team Foundation Server list, click the name of the server that contains your upgraded team project.
Under Directory, click the name of the project collection that hosts your upgraded team project.
In the Team Projects list, click the name of your upgraded team project, and then click OK.

The workbook is now connected to your team project.
In the New List dialog box, click Query List.
In the Select a Query list, click the Iteration Backlog query that you created by following the procedure earlier in this topic, and click OK.

The workbook is now bound to the Iteration Backlog query.
Click Save to save the workbook.
(Optional) Upload the workbook to your team project portal.

For more information, see Managing Documents and Document Libraries.

Create a Triage Workbook

You can create a Triage workbook by defining a triage work item query for bugs. For more information, see Triage Workbook.

To create a triage workbook

In Team Explorer, open your team project, right-click Work Items, and then click Add Query.

A new Flat List of Work Items (Default) query opens.
Add the following fields and values in the following table:

And/Or

Field

Operator

Value

Team Project

=

@Project

And

Iteration Path

=

<Iteration You Are Planning>

And

Work Item Type

=

Bug

And

State

=

Active
Click Column Options, and add the following columns to your query:
- ID
- Rank
- Priority
- Title
- Assigned To
- Area Path
- Iteration Path
- Work Item Type
Click OK.
On the query toolbar, click Run.
Click Save As, save the query under the Team Queries node as Triage, and then click OK.
On the results toolbar, click Open in Microsoft Office, and then click Open Query in Microsoft Excel.

The query opens in Microsoft Excel.
(Optional) Save the workbook, and upload it to your team project portal.