WHENNOTCHANGED Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)

Specifies one or more rules to apply to the current field when the value of another field is not changed in a revision to a work item. The parent element defines the current field.

<WHENNOTCHANGED field="field reference name">
    <REQUIRED>…</REQUIRED>
    <READONLY>…</READONLY>
    <EMPTY>…</EMPTY>
    <FROZEN>…</FROZEN>
    <CANNOTLOSEVALUE>…</CANNOTLOSEVALUE>
    <NOTSAMEAS>…</NOTSAMEAS>
    <VALIDUSER>…</VALIDUSER>
    <ALLOWEXISTINGVALUE>…<ALLOWEXISTINGVALUE>
    <MATCH>…</MATCH>
    <ALLOWEDVALUES>…</ALLOWEDVALUES>
    <SUGGESTEDVALUES>…</SUGGESTEDVALUES>
    <PROHIBITEDVALUES>…</PROHIBITEDVALUES>
    <DEFAULT>…</DEFAULT>
    <COPY>…</COPY>
    <SERVERDEFAULT>…</SERVERDEFAULT>
</WHENNOTCHANGED>

Attributes and Elements

The following sections describe the attributes and child elements that define the WHENNOTCHANGED element. They also describe parent elements that define how the WHENNOTCHANGED element is applied. You must define at least one child element.

Attributes

Attribute	Description
field	Required attribute. When the value of the specified field does not change, the rules in this element are applied to the current field. You specify this attribute by the field reference name. For more information about reference names, see FIELD Element (WORKITEMTYPE Element).

Child Elements

Element	Description
REQUIRED	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, the current field must have a value.
READONLY	Optional element. When the value of specified field is not changed, the current field is read-only.
EMPTY	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, the current field must be empty.
FROZEN	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, the current field is frozen. When a field is frozen, you can change its value to NULL, but you cannot change it to any other value.
CANNOTLOSEVALUE	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, you can change the value of the current field to NULL, but you cannot change it to any other value.
NOTSAMEAS	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, the value of the current field cannot match the value of a third field. You specify the third field in the NOTSAMEAS element.
VALIDUSER	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, only the specified users can modify the field.
ALLOWEXISTINGVALUE	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, the value of the current field that already exists will be allowed, even if it violates other rules. If the value of the current field is changed, this element does not apply.
MATCH	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, the value of the current field must match the specified pattern.
ALLOWEDVALUES	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, the current field must have a value that comes from the specified list of values.
SUGGESTEDVALUES	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, the specified list contains suggested values for the current field.
PROHIBITEDVALUES	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, the current field cannot contain any values in this list.
DEFAULT	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, the specified value is the default value for the current field.
COPY	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, the value from a third field is automatically copied into the current field. You specify the third field in the COPY element.
SERVERDEFAULT	Optional element. When the value of the specified field is not changed, the current field takes its value from the specified server component. The server components are clock, which is the time when the work item is updated, and currentuser, which is the identity that updated the work item.

Parent Elements

Element	Description
FIELD (Work Item Type Definition Schema)	Required element. References a work item field definition and the rules and conditions that apply to the field. The reference is based on the STATE, TRANSITION, DEFAULTREASON, or REASON element that its parent FIELDS element is a child of.
FIELD (WORKITEMTYPE element)	Required element. Defines a work item field and specifies the rules and conditions that apply to it.

Remarks

WHENNOTCHANGED is an optional child element of FIELD (Work Item Type Definition Schema) and FIELD (WORKITEMTYPE element).

Element Information

Namespace	https://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/workitemtracking/typedef
Schema Name	Work Item Type Definition
Validation File	WorkItemTypeDefinition.xsd
Element Type	FieldCondition
Can Be Empty	No

See Also

Reference

FIELD Element (WORKITEMTYPE Element)
FIELD Element (Work Item Type Definition Schema)

Other Resources

Work Item Type Definition Schema
Field Conditions
Defining Field Rules