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Edit a WIT definition to add web content to a work item form

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TFS 2015 | TFS 2013

Important

This article applies to customization for the On-premises XML process model and the old work item form. For the Hosted XML process model and TFS 2017 and later versions that use the new work item form, see WebLayout and Control elements. For the Inheritance process model, see Customize a process.

For an overview of process models, see Customize your work tracking experience.

You can add web content or HTML content to a work item form by exporting the type definition XML file and adding a WebpageControl in the FORM section. After you modify and import the XML file, you can verify the display of the Web content in the updated work item type.

The Web content that you display can be specified in one of the following ways:

  • URL of a Web page
  • A URL path that is dynamically determined at run time based on one or more field values defined for the work item
  • HTML content

For information about the syntax structure of the elements used to add Web content to a work item type (WIT), see WebpageControlOptions and Link and Param.

Update the XML definition for a WIT

If you are new to WIT customization, note the following:

Export and open the WIT definition file

  1. Perform one of the following steps based on the scope of the customization that you want to perform:

    If you are modifying a work item type for a single project:

    1. Run witadmin exportwitd to export the XML file for the work item type that you want to modify. For more information, see Import, export, and manage work item types.

    2. In Visual Studio, choose File, Open, File.

    3. Under Look in, move to the location where you exported the file.

    If you are modifying a work item type to customize a process template:

    1. Find the location where you downloaded the process template.

    2. Select the work item type XML file that you want to update, and then choose Open. When you are prompted about line endings, click No.

Add Web content to the FORM section of the definition file

  1. Find the <TabGroup> section of the XML file. Notice that there are <Tab> elements for items such as Links and File Attachments in which each <Tab> element contains a <Control> element that renders the respective control.

    <Tab Label="Links">  
      <Control Type="LinksControl" />  
</Tab>  
<Tab Label="File Attachments">  
      <Control Type="AttachmentsControl" />  
</Tab>

  2. Add a new <Tab> element that will contain the Web or HTML content that you want to display in the work item form. Copy the following code into the <TabGroup> section of the file based on how you are defining the Web content.

    • To specify the URL of a Web page:

      <Tab Label="Tab Label">  
      <Group>  
      <Column PercentWidth="100">  
         <Control Type="WebpageControl" Name="Webpage" Label=" Name of Web Page" LabelPosition="Top" >  
               <WebpageControlOptions AllowScript="false">  
               <Link UrlRoot="URL of Web Page" />  
               </WebpageControlOptions>  
         </Control>  
      </Column>  
      </Group>  
</Tab>

      Replace Tab Label and URL of Web Page with the information that you want to appear on the work item form.

    • To specify a dynamic URL to be determined at run time:

      <Tab Label="Tab Label">  
      <Group>  
      <Column PercentWidth="100">  
         <Control Type="WebpageControl" Name="Webpage" Label=" Name of Web Page" LabelPosition="Top" >  
               <WebpageControlOptions AllowScript="false">  
               <Link UrlRoot="URL of Web Page" URLPath="URL path with parameters >  
      <Param Index="0" Value="Param Value 0"/>  
      <Param Index="1" Value="Param Value 1"/>  
      <Param Index="2" Value="Param Value 2"/>  
               </Link>  
               </WebpageControlOptions>  
         </Control>  
      </Column>  
      </Group>  
</Tab>

      Replace Tab Label, URL of Web Page, URL path with parameters, and Param Value 1, 2, and 3 with the information that you want to appear on the work item form.

    • To specify HTML content:

      <Tab Label="Tab Label">  
      <Group>  
      <Column PercentWidth="100">  
         <Control Type="WebpageControl">  
               <Content>  
               <![CDATA[HTML Content]]>  
               </Content>  
         </Control>  
      </Column>  
      </Group>  
</Tab>

      Replace Tab Label and HTML Content with the information that you want to appear on the work item form.

      Note

      For best results, every control or group should display in a column even if the column spans the full width of the form. In turn, every column should display in a group even if the group has no visible label or boundary.

  3. Save your changes to the XML file.

  4. Use witadmin importwitd to import the new work item type to a single project. To add the work item type to your process template, see Add type definitions for work items.

Verify the Web page or HTML content appears in the form

  1. In Team Explorer, open Work Items for the project that contains the WIT definition that you modified, and choose Refresh Refresh.

    The latest updates are downloaded from the server, including the changes that you just imported. Wait several seconds until the Work Items node is refreshed. Nodes that are still loading display the word working.

  2. Create a work item using the WIT that you modified.

    Verify that the Web page or HTML content appears on the form as expected.

  3. Choose Close to close the new work item.