Working with Team Foundation Clients
You can use one of several Team Foundation client applications to interact with Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010. All clients require that you connect to a server that runs Team Foundation Server, and select a project collection and a team project. All clients require that you have the required permissions to access the team projects that you select.
Each client supports your ability to collaborate and coordinate your efforts with other team members in building a product or completing a project. The versions of Team Foundation clients that you can use are as follows:
Team Explorer is installed with each version of Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. You can use Team Explorer to access application lifecycle management features of Visual Studio, including team projects, version control, team builds, and project management.
Team Web Access is a customizable Web interface that provides most, but not all, of the functionality available through the Team Explorer client. Team Web Access also enables you to quickly find work items by using a special search syntax.
Team Web Access is automatically installed and configured when Team Foundation Server is installed. For information about supported Web browsers, see Managing Work Using Team Web Access.
Team Web Access - Work Item View Only enables people to create work items and allows team members to view only their assigned work items.
This view is designed to help you work with work items in Team Foundation without a client access license (CAL). With this view, you do not need a CAL to create work items or to view and update work items that you created. The work-item only view restricts functionality so that you are in compliance with this aspect of the Team Foundation Server end-user license agreement.
Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project. Team Foundation integrates with Excel and Project to help you manage your project and stay synchronized with the work item database for Team Foundation.
After you install Team Explorer, Excel and Project can communicate with Team Foundation Server. In Excel, a Team tab displays work items in a list. In Project, a Team toolbar and a Team menu appear, and work items appear as tasks in a project plan.
Microsoft Test Manager. You can use Test Manager to define your test effort and create and run manual tests. Test Manager also integrates with the work item database in Team Foundation to create and track bugs that are found during test efforts. For more information about Test Manager, see What's New for Testing.
The following sections summarize the tasks that you can perform with each of the client applications of Team Foundation Server. A blank field indicates that the task is not supported for that client.
Common Tasks: Connection and Access
Tasks |
Team Explorer |
Team Web Access |
Team Web Access - Work Item View Only |
Office Excel |
Office Project |
Related topics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grant permissions to connect to team projects and access Team Foundation functions |
Yes |
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View permissions assigned to groups or users |
Yes |
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|
Connect to a team project |
Required |
Required |
Required |
Required |
Required |
Connect to and Access Team Projects in Team Foundation Server Connect a Microsoft Office Document to Team Foundation Server |
Customize the appearance and modify the application behavior |
|
Yes |
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Refresh the display and update the client cache |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
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View process guidance and project portals (requires SharePoint Products) |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
|
Access report site (requires SQL Server Reporting Services) |
Yes |
Yes |
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Access source control (requires Team Foundation version control) |
Yes |
Yes |
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Access builds (requires Team Foundation Build) |
Yes |
Yes |
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Share documents and reports |
Yes |
Yes |
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Common Tasks: Tracking Projects, Progress, and Work
Tasks |
Team Explorer |
Team Web Access |
Team Web Access - Work Item View Only |
Office Excel |
Office Project |
Related topics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Create a team project |
Yes |
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Set areas and iteration paths |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
|
Add, modify, copy, and view work items |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes (with restrictions) |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Manage work items |
Yes |
Yes (with restrictions) |
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Link work items, and attach files and hyperlinks to work items |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes (with restrictions) |
Yes |
Yes |
Creating Relationships Between Work Items and Other Resources |
Find work items and create work item lists |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes (with restrictions) |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Find work items by using a specialized syntax |
|
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
|
Open frequently and recently accessed work items, queries, and reports |
Yes |
Yes |
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Access Frequently Used or Recently Viewed Work Items, Queries, and Reports |
Share work items and work item queries |
Yes |
Yes |
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Organize queries into folders and subfolders |
Yes |
Yes |
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Restrict access to shared queries and query folders |
Yes |
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|
Export or import work items to or from Office Excel |
Export |
|
|
Import |
|
Managing Work Items Using Microsoft Excel Bound to Team Foundation Server |
Export or import work items to or from Office Project |
Export |
|
|
|
Import |
Scheduling Tasks and Assigning Resources Using Microsoft Project |
Publish and refresh work items in Office Excel |
|
|
|
Yes |
|
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Publish and refresh work items in Office Project |
|
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|
|
Yes |
|
Work offline, when you are disconnected from Team Foundation Server |
|
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Yes |
Yes |
|
Set alerts to notify you when changes are made to work items |
Yes |
Yes |
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|
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Generate reports from a work item query. |
Yes |
|
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Yes |
|
Creating Reports in Microsoft Excel by Using Work Item Queries |
See Also
Concepts
Compatibility between Team Foundation Clients and Team Foundation Server
Working in Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project Connected to Team Foundation Server