Resolve data validation errors (publish and refresh)

A data validation error occurs when a change in the work item list or project plan violates a rule of the work item type. The following examples show common data validation errors:

• Someone assigns a work item to a team member whose name is not included in the list of allowed values.

• Someone creates a work item but forgets to complete a required field, such as the work item type.

If a data validation error occurs when you try to publish changes, the Work Item Publishing Errors dialog box appears, and in the Unpublished work items list the Issue column shows Validation error or another phrase that contains Invalid.

To resolve a data validation error, complete one of the following procedures:

• Resolving a Data Validation Error

• Resolving a Data Validation Error by Using Error Checking in Office Excel

Required Permissions

To perform these procedures, you must be a member of the Contributors group or have your View work items in this node and your Edit work items in this node permissions set to Allow. For more information, see Permission reference for Team Foundation Server.

Resolving a Data Validation Error

You can use the Work Item Publishing Errors dialog box to resolve a data validation error.

To resolve a data validation error

1. In the Work Item Publishing Errors dialog box, for each work item that appears with a data validation error, follow these steps.

   Note

   If the data validation error is an invalid work item type, the Edit Work Item button is not visible, and a work item form does not appear. You must correct the error in the Office Excel worksheet or the Office Project plan. For information about how to resolve an error in Office Excel, see the next procedure in this topic.

   1. In the Unpublished work items box, click the work item, and then click Edit Work Item.

      A work item form appears.

   2. In the work item form, review the information and correct the value.

   3. Click Close to save your changes and close the work item form.

2. After you correct the data validation errors, click Publish to publish the corrected work items.

   Note

   This step publishes only the work items that you corrected. If you do not resolve a data validation error, that work item is not published.

3. Click Close to close the Work Item Publishing Errors dialog box.

Resolving a Data Validation Error by Using Error Checking in Office Excel

You can use the Office Excel tools to find and resolve an error in a work item list. For more information about how to use Office Excel error checking tools, see the Office Excel Help.

To resolve a data validation error by using error checking in Office Excel 2007

1. Start Office Excel, and click the Formulas tab.

2. In the Formula Auditing group, click Error Checking.

   If the error checking tool finds an error, the Error Checking dialog box appears.

3. For basic information about the error, see the text that describes the error in the Error Checking dialog box. For more information about the error, click Help on this error.

4. In the work item list, click the cell that contains the error, and then correct the value.

5. In the Error Checking dialog box, click Resume to find the next data validation error.

   • If the Error Checking dialog box shows another error, repeat the previous two steps to resolve the error.

   • If a message appears that indicates error checking has completed, click OK to close both this message and the Error Checking dialog box.

See Also

Tasks

Resolve data conflicts (publish and refresh)

Resolve invalid links in an Excel tree list

Concepts

Work in Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project connected to Team Foundation Server