Areas and Iterations
You use the area and iteration fields to categorize work into product areas and iteration or sprint cycles. These fields display entries in a hierarchical or tree structure. These structures are useful for assigning work to specific project areas and time durations, as well as filtering project information in charts and reports. For more information and examples of tree structures for areas and iterations, see Create and Modify Areas and Iterations.
You can assign the area and iteration fields to most work items based on a process template for Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF). You specify values for the area and iterations fields when you create a work item or during a review of the product or iteration backlog. If you defer a work item to a later time, you should change its iteration accordingly.
In this topic
Classification Fields that Appear on Work Item Forms
Additional Fields Tracked for Query and Reporting Purposes
Classification Fields that Appear on Work Item Forms
The following table lists the fields that you can use to categorize work items into areas or iterations. All of these fields appear on the forms for all work item types for MSF for Agile Software Development v5.0. For information about data types and default field attributes, see Working with Work Item Fields.
Important
If you define a path name that is longer than 256 characters, you will not be able to specify it in Office Project. To avoid this problem, define path names of no more than 10 characters, and do not nest nodes more than 14 levels deep.
Field name |
Description |
Reference name |
Data type |
Default value of the reportable type attribute |
Default value of the index attribute |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Area |
Groups work items into product feature or team areas. The area must be a valid node in the project hierarchy. |
System.AreaPath |
TreePath |
Dimension |
True |
Iteration |
Groups work items by named sprints or time periods. The iteration must be a valid node in the project hierarchy. |
System.IterationPath |
TreePath |
Dimension |
True |
Additional Fields Tracked for Query and Reporting Purposes
The following fields do not appear on work item forms but are tracked for each type of the work items. These fields provide a numeric value for each classification value that is defined for a team project. You can use these fields to filter queries and create reports.
Field name |
Description |
Reference name |
Data type |
Default value of the reportable type attribute |
Default value of the index attribute |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Area ID |
The unique ID of the area to which this work item is assigned. |
System.AreaId |
Integer |
None |
True |
Iteration ID |
The unique ID of the iteration to which this work item is assigned. |
System.IterationId |
Integer |
None |
True |
See Also
Concepts
Using System Fields and Fields Defined by the MSF Process Templates
Finding Bugs, Tasks, and Other Work Items
Query Fields, Operators, Values, and Variables
Naming Restrictions in Team Foundation