What is an effective way to use TFS Test Case Work Items with Visual Studio Professional?

Question

I'm evaluating Team Foundation Server 2010 with Visual Studio 2010 Professional. VS Pro does not include Microsoft Test Manager, so Test Case and Shared Steps Work Items do not permit adding steps. Is there an effective way to use Test Cases with VS Pro? I've thought of the following methods:

• Attach Excel files listing test steps and ignore the Steps tab.
• Customize Steps tab to allow text entry (I think this is possible).
• Remove Test Cases and Shared Steps Work Items.

Are other teams using TFS with VS Pro? What has worked for you?

Answer 1

You can remove the work item types from the project if you wish, but if you decide to purchase a few standalone Test Manager copies later on you'd just have to add them back in again.

My recommendation would be to just ignore them.

If you want to store your tests & steps in TFS work items, you could modify the existing test case work item, adding a new tab and text area for manually entered test steps but I'd avoid that if I could just to avoid messing with the default work item type.

A better choice would be to create a new work item type, add the text area for your steps and define the relationship between requirements and test work items as "tested by/verfies" much as the existing test work items do.