Queries
Queries are similar to the quick search, but have several features that make them
more powerful. A quick search is a great way to find something once, but a Query
is saved in your TeamLook explorer tree. You can return to a query again and again.
If a new work item is published that fits your query, refreshing the query will
add that new work item to your results. You can refresh a query either with the
refresh button in the TeamLook ribbon,
or by right-clicking on the query and selecting refresh.
So a query is not just a search technique, but a powerful way to organize your work
items.
My Queries vs. Team Queries
There are two different locations for queries in a given project. If you open a
project node in the TeamLook explorer tree, you will see that it contains "[My Queries]"
and "[Team Queries]." My Queries is the home for local, individual queries: they
are saved on your machine and accessible only to you. Team Queries are global: they
are stored on the server, and visible to everyone with project access.
Default Queries
Chances are there will be a few default queries that come along with a new project.
They will likely be in the Team Queries section. What queries come as defaults vary
from project to project. A common one would be "My Work Items." Clicking on it opens
a list of all work items assigned to you on the left side of your Microsoft Office
Outlook 2010 workspace and a detail view of specific work items on the right. To
view this right-hand, detail view, highlight the desired work item. To open a work
item either double-click on it or right-click and select "Open Work Item."
Organizing Queries
Queries are a great way to organize your work items, but as you accrue more and
more queries your TeamLook explorer tree can become clumsy and cluttered. The best
way to bring order is to file similar queries in folders. To create a new folder,
right-click on either [My Queries] or [Team Queries] (depending on which category
you are organizing) and select "New Folder." Give the new folder a descriptive name
in the prompt that appears and click OK. To move queries into your new folder, simply
drag-and-drop them onto the folder. You can also nest folders in other folders by
dragging-and-dropping.
Additional Topics
Send questions or comments about this topic to TeamSolutions