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Map Microsoft Project fields to Team Foundation fields

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You can customize the way in which work item fields that are stored in Team Foundation are mapped to fields that are defined for Microsoft Project. You can change the way specific fields are published and designate the default link type to use when you create hierarchical or tree links and dependency links.

Unlike Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Project uses a limited set of columns, which include predefined columns, such as Task Name, and custom fields. When a user publishes or refreshes work item data in a Microsoft Project file, the field map determines which fields in the work item database match the columns in Microsoft Project.

You can customize the mappings, for example, to support a field that you created or to map fields to predefined columns instead of to custom columns. For complete documentation on the field mapping file for Microsoft Project, see Add or change how Project fields map to TFS fields.

You customize the mapping by modifying the FileMapping.xml file. The following table summarizes the names of the file, the folder, and the plug-in for the process templates for Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF). The plug-in contains the definition of the task that uploads the file to the team projection collection.

File name:

FileMapping.xml

Folder name:

Classification

Plug-in name:

Microsoft.ProjectCreationWizard.Classification

For more information, see Define the initial areas and iterations in the classification plug-in.

Specify how fields are mapped

You specify mapped fields by using the Mapping element and the following syntax structure:

<Mappings>
   <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="System.Id" 
            ProjectField=""
            ProjectName=""
         ProjectUnits=""
         PublishOnly=""
         IfSummaryRefreshOnly=""/>
</Mappings>

The following table describes the attributes of the Mapping element.

Attribute

Description

WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName

Required. Specifies the reference name of a field in a type of work item.

ProjectField

Required. Specifies the name of a column in Microsoft Project. Specify predefined column names by prefixing "pj" to the name, such as pjTaskName for the Task Name column. Specify custom fields as pjTaskText followed by a number, such as pjTaskText11.

ProjectName

Optional. Specifies the name to display as the column name to the user. If this attribute is not specified, the name of the field in the type of work item is used.

ProjectUnits

Optional. Specifies the type of units to use when you map a type of field to Microsoft Project. Valid values are pjMinute, pjHour, pjDay, pjWeek, and pjMonthUnit.

PublishOnly

Optional. If set to true, indicates that the field is published to the work item database but not refreshed. This value is typically used for calculated fields that should not be updated in Team Explorer. If set to false, indicates that the field is both published and refreshed. By default, this attribute is set to false.

By default, only Start Date and Finish Date have this attribute set to true.

IfSummaryRefreshOnly

Optional. If set to true, indicates that the field is never published to the work item database but is refreshed from the work item database when the following conditions are also true:

  • The row for the field is a summary task in Microsoft Project.

  • The summary task has the values of Publish and Refresh set to Yes.

  • The summary task contains at least one child task that is bound to Team Foundation Server.

Any updates or calculations that Microsoft Project makes can overwrite the value that is refreshed from the work item database in the project plan. However, the modified value is never saved to the work item database. This attribute is typically used for summary fields that, if published to the work item database, lead to data inconsistencies.

If set to false, indicates that the field may be both published and refreshed. By default, this attribute is set to false.

Note

The IfSummaryRefreshOnly attribute supersedes the PublishOnly attribute. For more information, see Customize the Microsoft Project field mapping file.

By default, the IfSummaryRefreshOnly attribute is set to true for the Original Estimate, Remaining Work, and Completed Work fields.

In addition to the Mapping element, two other elements determine how fields will synchronize and which field will support links and attachments.

The SyncField element specifies which column serves as the synchronization field. The synchronization field is titled "Publish and Refresh" and allows the user to indicate whether a task row is published or refreshed only.

You use the following XML syntax to specify which column maps to the synchronization field. You set the ProjectField attribute to a valid column in Microsoft Project.

<SyncField ProjectField="" />

The LinksField element specifies the links and attachments column. By using the links and attachments column, users can indicate whether a particular task row has links or attachments.

You use the following XML syntax to specify which column maps to the links and attachments field. You set the ProjectField attribute to a valid column in Microsoft Project.

<LinksField ProjectField="" />

Default field mappings

The following example shows how the MSF for Agile Software Development process template maps fields in work items to columns in Microsoft Project.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<MSProject>
  <Mappings>
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="System.AreaPath" ProjectField="pjTaskOutlineCode9" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="System.AssignedTo" ProjectField="pjTaskResourceNames" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="System.Id" ProjectField="pjTaskText10" ProjectName="Work Item ID" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="System.IterationPath" ProjectField="pjTaskOutlineCode10" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="System.Reason" ProjectField="pjTaskText14" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="System.Rev" ProjectField="pjTaskText23" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="System.State" ProjectField="pjTaskText13" ProjectName="State" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="System.Title" ProjectField="pjTaskName" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="System.WorkItemType" ProjectField="pjTaskText24" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Priority" ProjectField="pjTaskText19" ProjectName="Work Item Priority" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="Microsoft.VSTS.Common.StackRank" ProjectField="pjTaskNumber1" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.CompletedWork" ProjectField="pjTaskActualWork" ProjectUnits="pjHour" IfSummaryRefreshOnly="true" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.FinishDate" ProjectField="pjTaskFinish" PublishOnly="true" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.OriginalEstimate" ProjectField="pjTaskBaselineWork" ProjectUnits="pjHour" IfSummaryRefreshOnly="true" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.RemainingWork" ProjectField="pjTaskRemainingWork" ProjectUnits="pjHour" IfSummaryRefreshOnly="true" />
    <Mapping WorkItemTrackingFieldReferenceName="Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.StartDate" ProjectField="pjTaskStart" PublishOnly="true" />
    <LinksField ProjectField="pjTaskText26" />
    <SyncField ProjectField="pjTaskText25" />
  </Mappings>
</MSProject>

See Also

Concepts

Define the initial areas and iterations in the classification plug-in

Add or change how Project fields map to TFS fields

Customize the Microsoft Project field mapping file