Effort, schedules, and time tracking field reference
You use the fields described in this topic to track estimated, completed, and remaining work for a backlog item, bug, or task and to report on the progress toward completing tasks. By tracking work, you gain more detailed insight into which user stories, requirements, or backlog items are almost finished and what the team burn rate is. Several reports and dashboards provide charts that display the data that these fields contain.
You specify the level of effort for the tasks that you are assigned. For more information about how to track work, see Work in sprints.
Fields used to estimate and track work
The following table describes the fields that you can use to track work. This information is tracked only for task work items. For information about data types and default field attributes, see Define and modify work item fields.
Field name |
Description |
Reference name |
Data type |
Default value of the reportable type attribute |
Default value of the index attribute |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Activity |
The type of activity that is required to perform a task. (Agile and Scrum process templates) Allowed values (See note 1):
Note This field is also used to calculate capacity by activity. It is assigned to type="Activity" in the ProcessConfiguration file. (2) |
Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Activity |
String |
Dimension |
False |
Completed Work |
The amount of work that has been spent implementing a task. You can specify work in hours or in days. There are no inherent time units associated with this field. |
Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.CompletedWork |
Double |
Measure, Sum |
False |
Discipline |
The type of activity or discipline that is assigned to a task. (CMMI process template) Allowed values (1):
Note This field is also used to calculate capacity by activity. It is assigned to type="Activity" in the ProcessConfiguration file. (2) |
Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Discipline |
String |
Dimension |
False |
Due Date |
The forecasted due date for an issue to be resolved. (Agile process template only) |
Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.DueDate |
DateTime |
Dimension |
False |
Target Date |
The date by which a feature should be completed. (Feature work item type) |
Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.TargetDate |
DateTime |
Dimension |
False |
Effort |
A subjective unit of measure that captures the size of a bug or product backlog item. If you assign more effort to an item, you indicate that more work is required to implement it. (Scrum process template only) This field is also used to calculate team velocity and forecasting. It is assigned to type="Effort" in the CommonConfiguration file. (2, 3) |
Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.Effort |
Double |
Measure, Sum |
False |
Story Points |
A subjective unit of measure that captures the size of a user story. If you assign more points to a user story, you indicate that more work is required to implement it. (Agile process template only) This field is also used to calculate team velocity and forecasting. It is assigned to type="Effort" in the ProcessConfiguration file. (2, 3) |
Microsoft.VSTS. Scheduling.StoryPoints |
Double |
Measure, Sum |
False |
Size |
A subjective unit of measure that captures the size of a requirement. The larger the size, the more work is required to implement it. (CMMI process template only) This field is also used to calculate team velocity and forecasting. It is assigned to type="Effort" in the ProcessConfiguration file. (2, 3) |
Microsoft.VSTS. Scheduling.Size |
Double |
Measure, Sum |
False |
Original Estimate |
The amount of work required to complete a task. You can specify work in hours or in days. There are no inherent time units associated with this field. (Agile and CMMI process templates) |
Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.OriginalEstimate |
Double |
Measure, Sum |
False |
Remaining |
The amount of work that remains to finish a task. You can specify work in hours or in days. There are no inherent time units associated with this field. This field is also used to calculate burn down. It is assigned to type="RemainingWork" in the ProcessConfiguration file. (2) |
Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.RemainingWork |
Double |
Measure, Sum |
False |
Task Type |
Specifies the kind of task to implement. (CMMI process template) Allowed values (1):
|
Microsoft.VSTS.CMMI.TaskType |
String |
Dimension |
False |
Notes:
To change the menu selection, see Define pick lists.
To change the field assignment, see Configure and customize Agile planning tools for a team project.
Note: The values displayed in the Agile planning tool Capacity page reflect a union of all values defined for the field in all team projects within the project collection instance. Therefore, to restrict the values that appear for Capacity on the sprint backlog pages, you must make the values match in all the team projects for the field assigned to type="Activity".
For additional guidance, see the white paper about Estimating.
Fields calculated by Office Project
The following table lists fields that are calculated if you create a project plan in Microsoft Project and then synchronize that plan with tasks that are stored in TFS. These fields do not appear on the work item form, but they are calculated for those backlog items and tasks that are linked to backlog items. You can view their read-only values in results from a query or from Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project. For more information, see Create your backlog and tasks using Project.
Field name |
Description |
Reference name |
Data type |
Default value of the reportable type attribute |
Default value of the index attribute |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Finish Date |
The date and time when the schedule indicates that the task will be completed. |
Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.FinishDate |
DateTime |
Dimension |
False |
Start Date |
The date and time when the schedule indicates that the task will start. |
Microsoft.VSTS.Scheduling.StartDate |
DateTime |
Dimension |
False |