HOW TO: Link directly to TSWA (2008 or 2010 Beta1) work items or queries

To link directly to work items or to run queries in TSWA (Team System Web Access, a component of Team Foundation Server), the following links may provide quick shortcuts. This information is relevant to TSWA 2008 and TFS/TSWA 2010 Beta 1. As 2010 is in beta, I cannot guarantee that the parameters or syntax will stay the same once it is released product (I am not on product team so cannot speak to that).

 

Work Items:

For the direct URL, specify {TSWA_URL}/wi.aspx?id={0} where {0} represents a single work item ID to edit. In TFS 2010 Beta 1, additional parameters such as pcname (project collection name), pname (project name), and tfs (tfs connection) may be specified to ensure work item selected from proper repository.

 

Queries:

To query for a bug by ID, use WIQL to search for ID and specify output columns. The URL will appear as: {TSWA_URL}/q.aspx?wiql=SELECT%20ID,Title,State%20FROM%20WorkItems%20WHERE%20ID%20IN({0}) where {0} represents a comma delimited list of work item IDs to view. In TFS 2010 Beta 1, additional parameters mentioned above may be specified as well.

 

Location of {TSWA_URL}:

Using TSWA 2008, the base url is typically the same as the connection to the TFS connection, except you specify port 8090 instead of 8080 (assuming default installations). In TFS 2010 Beta 1, TSWA is tied closer to TFS, and the base url is the same port under a virtual directory called “web”. It is important to remember that TFS 2010 supports multiple collections of projects, whereas TFS 2008 does not have the concept of collections, so all projects are in one hierarchy.

 

To illustrate the differences, the table below assumes you wish to edit work item 123, or query for work items 123 and 456. Querystring parameters are in orange highlighting to help understand the available parameters.

 

TFS connection

Edit work items individually

Query for work items using WIQL

View work items in read only mode.

TFS / TSWA 2008

https://TfsServername:8080

 

 

https://TfsServername:8090/wi.aspx?id=123

https://TfsServername:8090/q.aspx?wiql=SELECT%20ID,Title,State%20FROM%20WorkItems%20WHERE%20ID%20IN(123,456)

https://TfsServername:8080/WorkItemTracking/WorkItem.aspx?artifactMoniker=123

TFS / TSWA 2010 Beta 1

https://TfsServername:8080/tfs

 

https://TfsServername:8080/tfs/web/wi.aspx?id=123&pcname=DefaultCollection&pname=My%20Project&tfs=https://TfsServername:8080/tfs

 

https://TfsServername:8080/tfs/web/q.aspx?wiql=SELECT%20ID,Title,State%20FROM%20WorkItems%20WHERE%20ID%20IN(123,456)&pcname=DefaultCollection&pname=My%20Project&tfs=https://TfsServername:8080/tfs

https://TfsServername:8080/tfs/DefaultCollection/WorkItemTracking/WorkItem.aspx?artifactMoniker=123

 

 

 

I haven’t yet found official documentation on parameters available for direct links in TSWA 2008 or 2010, yet the links below may be handy. Some of them may be outdated yet useful regardless.

 

TSWA tip: How to use the new TSWA template URL feature (initial value URL)

https://blogs.msdn.com/buckh/comments/8506227.aspx

 

Using Team System Web Access

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb822087.aspx

 

Updates to Team System Web Access

https://blogs.msdn.com/bharry/archive/2008/04/15/updates-to-team-system-web-access.aspx

 

How to: Add New Work Items (Team System Web Access)

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb822136.aspx

 

Team System Web Access 2008 Power Tool is now available

https://blogs.msdn.com/buckh/archive/2007/11/29/team-system-web-access-2008-power-tool-is-now-available.aspx