Professional Team Foundation Server

11.4. Work Item Tracking Object Model

Chapter 9 introduced the Team Foundation Server Object Model, and briefly touched on the WorkItemStore service type. This WorkItemStore service type allows you access to the Work Item Tracking Object Model, which is the public interface to the work item tracking Web service on the Team Foundation Server. You use this object model to programmatically interact with the work item tracking system.

Each Team Foundation Server defines one and only one work item store. This store contains all the work item information for all the different team projects located on that Team Foundation Server.

Using this work item store, you can access work item information by using the work item ID, or by writing a query in the Work Item Query Language (see the next section). Once you have retrieved a work item, you can examine its contents or make changes and save them back to the Team Foundation Server. The Visual Studio Software Development Kit has some extensive documentation on the work item tracking object model; we would refer you to there for more information.

You have already seen, with the Process Template Editor, one great example of what can be built off the Team Foundation Object Model and the work item tracking object model. Another great example is from a company called Devbiz Business Solutions (devbiz.com). They have developed an application called TeamPlain (teamplain.com), which gives you a Web-based front-end to the work item tracking system. ...