Understanding the Team Foundation Build Explorer
The Build Explorer provides a list of builds that have completed or are in the build queue. The information for queued builds is listed according to the name of the queued build definition. For completed builds, it is listed according to the name of the completed build. See the following tables for summary information for queued and completed builds. Before the Build Explorer can list the build definition, you must create the build definition and use it to queue a build. For more information, see How to: Create a Build Definition and Running Builds in Team Foundation Build.
To open the Build Explorer, select the Builds folder of your team project in Team Explorer and click View Builds on the Build menu. To open the Build Explorer directly from Team Explorer, right-click the Builds folder and click View Builds on the drop-down menu. To view completed builds, click the Completed tab on the lower left side of Build Explorer. To view queued builds, click the Queued tab on the lower left side of Build Explorer. To view build progress for queued builds, or detailed build reports for completed builds, double-click a queued build, or a completed build. For more information, see How to: View a Build Report.
You can set the build quality state for a build in the Build Explorer. For more information, see How to: Set Build Quality and How to: Create or Remove Build Qualities.
For completed builds, the Build Explorer includes filters for Build definition, Quality filter, and Date filter. The filters are located in the toolbar.
For queued builds the included filters are Build Definition, Status filter, and Agent filter.
Note
The status information is generated in a table format. You can sort the columns to facilitate a search through the data.
Note
To view Build Explorer for a specific build definition, select the build definition in Team Explorer, and then click View Builds on the Build menu.
Note
The Build Explorer performs automatic updates. However, the Build Explorer lets you use the Refresh button on the toolbar for updates.
Note
For queued builds, you can postpone or cancel the build by clicking the Postpone or Stop icons on the toolbar. For running builds, you can stop the build by clicking the Stop icon on the toolbar.
The following table describes summary report items that are included for all completed builds.
Build Explorer Summary Report Item |
Description |
|---|---|
Name |
Displays the build number with an icon that indicates success or failed status. Double-clicking anywhere on the row opens the detailed build report for this build. |
Build Definition |
Displays the name of the build definition used for this build. |
Build Quality |
Indicates the current build quality state. Build quality can be edited. For more information, see How to: Set Build Quality and How to: Create or Remove Build Qualities. |
Date Completed |
Displays either as blank if the build is in progress or the date and time the build completed. By default, the report is sorted on this item. |
Requested By |
Displays the name of the person who requested the build in domain\user or workgroup\user format. It displays only the username if the domain of the current user is the same as the domain of the user who requested the build. |
The following table describes summary report items that are included for all queued builds.
Build Explorer Summary Report Item |
Description |
|---|---|
Build Definition |
Displays the name of the build definition used for this build number with an icon that displays in progress, active, success or failed status. Double-clicking anywhere on the row opens the detailed build report for this build. |
Priority |
Indicates the current build priority. The priority is set when the build is queued and can be High, Above Normal. Normal, Below Normal, or Low. |
Date Queued |
Displays the date and time on which the build was queued. By default, the report is sorted on this item. |
Requested By |
Displays the name of the person who requested the build in domain\user or workgroup\user format. It displays only the username if the domain of the current user is the same as the domain of the user who requested the build. |
Double-click the build names listed in the build summary to launch individual detailed build reports. For queued builds the detailed build report displays build steps as the build progresses. For more information, see How to: View a Build Report.
In This Section
How to: View Build Summary Status
Describes the steps that are required to view a build summary that contains a list of builds.How to: Set Build Quality
Explains how to change the settings for the build quality associated with a build report.How to: Create or Remove Build Qualities
Describes the steps used to create build quality states that can then be associated with build reports.Working with Team Foundation Build Reports
Lists topics that describe how to view, interpret and modify reports generated by a build definition in Team Foundation Build.
Reference
Team Foundation Build Reference
Related Sections
Working with Build Definitions in Team Foundation Build
This section contains topics that describe how to create, modify, and delete build definitions in Team Foundation Build.Running Builds in Team Foundation Build
This section contains topics that describe how to run builds in Team Foundation Build including standard, local, and scheduled builds.Team Foundation Build Walkthroughs
This section includes walkthroughs that demonstrate how to create and modify build definitions and how to interpret a report that contains results of a build.Administering Team Foundation Build
Contains topics for administrators of Team Foundation Build.
See Also
Concepts
Team Foundation Build Overview