Defining work item types and attributes

The set of work item types defined for a project area depends on the process template that the project area uses. You can define additional work item types for your project.
About this task
Types are grouped into type categories. For example, in the Scrum process, the Defect work item type belongs to the com.ibm.team.workitem.workItemType category. All types of a type category share the same custom attributes and follow the same workflow.
  1. In the Team Artifacts view of the Work Items perspective, right-click the project area and select Open.
  2. Click the Process Configuration tab. Expand Project Configuration, then Configuration Data, and then Work Items. Select the type category that the new work item type belongs to, or click Add Category to create a category. In the Work Item Types section, click Add. Enter a name for the new type. By default, the ID field is populated with the same value that you enter into the Name field, but it is in lowercase. You can edit the ID field value. The process templates include a set of icons that you can use. Select one of the existing icons, or click Add Icons and navigate to a graphics file to use as the icon for the new work item type.

    Each type can have a set of aliases, which you can add and remove in the Alias table. An alias is another name for the work item type, which you can use to create a text link in the Summary, Description, and Discussion fields of a work item. For example, you can refer to defect 123 as bug 123 when bug is an alias for defect.

  3. To add an attribute to the type category, click Add in the Custom Attributes section. In the Add Custom Attribute dialog, enter a name for the attribute and select a type. To re-use an attribute that is defined for another type category, click Reuse Existing Attribute and select the attribute from the Attribute list.

    In addition to common data types such as string, enumeration, integer, and boolean, you can use the following types that are references to items:

    • Category (for attributes similar to Filed Against)
    • Contributor (for attributes similar to Owner)
    • Iteration (for attributes similar to Planned For)
    • Project Area and Project Area lists
    • Release (for attributes similar to Found In)
    • Tags
    • Team Area and Team Area lists
    • User lists
    • Work Item and Work Item lists
  4. Click Save to save your changes.
What to do next
After you add a type category, you must bind that type category to a workflow. After you add a type, you must bind that type to an editor presentation.

Feedback

Did this help? You can provide feedback at Jazz.net (registration required): Comment in the forums or submit a bug