Link model elements and work items

Track tasks, test cases, bugs, requirements, issues, and other work related to your model by linking model elements in Visual Studio and work items in Team Foundation Server or Visual Studio Team Services. Attach documents to linked work items to associate them with model elements.

To see which versions of Visual Studio support this feature, see Version support for architecture and modeling tools.

For example, you can link:

• A user story work item and an activity diagram to show how to realize the story as a sequence of operations

• A use case on a use case diagram and test case work items to make sure the use case is implemented correctly

• An attribute in a class on a UML class diagram and a bug work item to show an error in the implementation of the attribute

• A component on a component diagram and a task work item to track the component's development. Such a task is usually broken into smaller tasks

  You can link work items to any element that you can select on modeling diagrams or in UML Model Explorer, like these items:

• All elements in UML models, such as UML classes, lifelines, use cases, subsystems, activities, object nodes, components, interfaces

• All relations in UML models, such as associations, generalizations, dependencies, flows, messages

• Parts of elements, such as the attributes and operations of classes, the execution occurrences of lifelines, the input and output pins of activities, and the parts and ports of components

• Layers and layer dependencies

• Comments and comment links

• Diagrams. To select a diagram, choose a blank part of the diagram.

• Connect to a team project

• Link a model element to a new work item

• Link a model element to an existing work item

• View work items linked to a model element

• View model elements linked to a work item

• Delete links between model elements and work items

• Troubleshooting

Connect to a team project

You must first connect to your team project to create, view, or remove links.

1. On the Team menu, choose Manage Connections to show the Team Explorer window.

2. If the correct project doesn't appear, in Team Explorer, choose Manage Connections and then choose Connect to Team Project. Then choose the correct projects, or server if necessary.

3. In Team Explorer, choose the project where you want to create, link, or view work items.

Link a model element to a new work item

1. Make sure you are connected to the TFS instance you want to use.

2. On the modeling diagram or in UML Model Explorer, open the shortcut menu for the model element.

3. Choose Create Work Item and the kind of work item that you want to create.

4. In the work item form, fill in the fields. Choose Save Work Item.

   Visual Studio links the model element to the new work item. An icon appears on or near the model element.

Link a model element to an existing work item

When you link model elements to work items, start from the model element, not from the work item.

1. Make sure you are connected to the TFS instance you want to use.

2. On the modeling diagram or in UML Model Explorer, open the shortcut menu for the model element. Choose Link to Work Item. Then select your project in the Project field.

3. Choose one or more work items to link to the model element by following one of these steps:

   • Choose a query in Saved Query.

   • Type the IDs of one or more work items, separated by spaces, in IDs.

   • Type a word or phrase in Title Contains.

4. Choose Find.

5. In the work item list, select the work item or work items that you want to link.

   When you're done, the Work Items property of the model element shows a larger number than before. An icon also appears on or near the model element.

View work items linked to a model element

1. In Team Explorer, make sure you're connected to the team project where the work items are linked to the model element.

2. On the modeling diagram or in UML Model Explorer, open the shortcut menu for the model element. Choose View Work Items to view the list of linked work items.

   Note

   Only work items from the currently connected server appear. If you don't see any work items, make sure you're connected to the correct server in Team Explorer.

View model elements linked to a work item

You can view modeling diagrams and elements that are linked to a work item in Visual Studio Team Services and in Team Foundation Server 2012 or later. For example, a work item might be linked to class models that show the design of new classes to be implemented.

1. In Team Explorer, make sure you're connected to the team project where the model elements are linked to the work item.

   Note

   You can only use Team Explorer, not Team Web Access, to view linked model elements. Make sure your workspace is mapped to the modeling project that contains the modeling diagrams or elements. If you don't have a workspace, you must create it. See Troubleshooting and Create and work with workspaces.

2. Open the work item, choose Links. Under Model Link, open the shortcut menu for the linked model element. Choose Open Linked Item.

   

Delete links between model elements and work items

Remove a linked work item by starting from the model element. This correctly removes the reciprocal link to that model element from the work item. Otherwise, if you start with the work item, the reciprocal link from the model element to the work item won't be deleted.

1. On the modeling diagram or in UML Model Explorer, open the shortcut menu for the model element.

2. Choose Remove Work Items.

   - or -

   1. Choose Properties, then Work Items where the number of linked work items appears.

   2. In the Work Items property, choose the ellipsis button […].

      Note

      Only work items on the current server appear. If the list is empty, but the number of work items is not zero, make sure you are connected to the correct server in Team Explorer.

3. Under Remove Links to Work Items, clear the selected items that you want to unlink. Choose OK.

Troubleshooting

See Also

Edit UML models and diagrams Create models for your app