[#TFS2012] HowTo: Manage #Bugs with #Kanban boards in the #CMMI template

Hello!

After more than one year of working with Team Foundation Service, I now realize that I had forgotten what it is to work with TFS on Premise. If I also add the years where I use the CMMI template, I’m kind of confused. So when Edu ask the next question to me, I kind freak out:

Would can I do to manage my BUGS with a Kanban Board while I’m using the CMMI template in Team Foundation Server 2012?

I’ll try to get more insights for the scenario:

Team Foundation Server 2012 on premise
Process template CMMI Process Template for Visual Studio ALM
Looking forward to use Kanban to manage Bugs

I didn’t know that in the CMMI template, in the board’s work requirements can only see (the workitem type requeriment). The following image shows an example of the board with a template CMMI, where we can see that the only type of element that we can create is a REQUIREMENT .

Note: This makes sense if you think a little about this. (teke care the thierarchy of elements in CMMI). But after working with boards, it is difficult to stop using them.

So the challenge was on the table: Bruno, can you do it?! And it is not that there is much information on the Web about this. The closest thing is this entry of the MSDN, in the section “Types of work items that are considered backlog items“.

It describes the steps to keep in mind to add new types of Work Items that are treated as Backlog Items .Translated into CMMI, this would be treated as requirements. Well, as the help does not say all steps, these are the ones we have followed and (for now) work.

1 We export the list of categories from TFS with the command

witadmin importcategories /collection:CollectionURL /p:ProjectName /f:”DirectoryPath\categories.xml”

Hands of lizard: Before you modify the file remember to backup !

2 Edit the same and add the work item type BUG as a requirement

< CATEGORY refname = “Microsoft.RequirementCategory” name = “Requirement Category” >
< DEFAULTWORKITEMTYPE name = “Requirement” / >
< WORKITEMTYPE name = “Bug” / >
< /CATEGORY >

3 Update the configuration of Team Project with this change, with the command

witadmin exportcategories /collection:CollectionURL /p:ProjectName /f:”DirectoryPath\Categories.xml”

4. This point is very important: Here you have broke your TFS, the WEB tab will show you a few errors. Although the MSDN Guide recommends at this point also define the mapping between the columns of the Kanban board and the defect States, there is one detail which does not comment on you.

The Work Item Type REQUERIMENT has a SIZE field that is used for the calculation in some graphics of WebAccess and also the default view uses this column. You can change all of these settings and define that value will be used for a BUG or… add the field Size to Work Item Type Bug.

5. To add this field, using the Team Foundation Server 2012 Power Tools edit the definition of the Bug. Menu “Tools / / Process/Publisher / Work Item Types / / Open WIT from Server”