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260

answers:

2

We're using TFS with MSF for Agile 4.2 on a project, and I have a bunch of work to do, both Tasks and Bugs. Both are prioritized by our managers, and assigned due dates and target releases.

I use a Work Item query as my main TODO list, and I want to list all the Work Items assigned to me, in order by due date and priority.

Problem: I can't seem to find a way to write a unified query that will list both Tasks and Bugs sorted by date and then priority. The problem is that Tasks and Bugs use different fields for Priority. So, my query currently lists the tasks by Due Date, then by Task Priority, then it lists Bugs by Due Date, then by Priority. So, I see tasks that are due later than bugs:

Title    Due Date    Priority   Task Priority
task1    4/23/2010              Medium
task2    4/23/2010              High
task3    4/30/2010              Low
task4    4/30/2010              Medium
bug1     4/23/2010   1
bug2     4/23/2010   2

What I want:

Title    Due Date    Priority   Task Priority
task1    4/23/2010              Medium
task2    4/23/2010              High
bug1     4/23/2010   1
bug2     4/23/2010   2
task3    4/30/2010              Low
task4    4/30/2010              Medium

I don't care if the bugs come before or after the tasks on the same due date; I just want all the work items grouped together by due date, so I never see Tasks for a later due date before Bugs for an earlier one.

Another problem is the sorting on Task Priority -- alpha sort means I can't get them to sort by the meaning of the priority. But that's a minor problem I can live with if I can get the Tasks and Bugs intermingled. Any way to do this in a single query?

+1  A: 

Have you been able to find a solution?

I was thinking that I’d rather only use the Task Work Item and ignore the Bug Work Item. This is my thinking as I set things up for my team. I’m on a quest to see why I shouldn’t do this. From my perspective a Task is either a new item or a bug item. There is no need to use two distinct Work Item Types. To make this happen in TFS I’ll start with the Bug Work Item and create a custom field (“Item Type”) to distinguish the two task types: new/bug. Both new tasks and bugs will share the same fields. Anyone see any major drawbacks to this approach?

alivelee
The solution came when we recently upgraded to TFS 2010, in which the Bug and Task work items share the same priority field. And, instead of having to create a custom field, you can use the existing Bug and Task items, so you get separate reporting without any customization.
Val
A: 

Fixed in TFS 2010: Bugs and Tasks now share the same Priority field, and priority is a number, so items sort sensibly.

Val