Implementation and change request tab in requirement work item - tfs

Question

In TFS 2010 a requirement work item had also an implementation and a change request tab.
In TFS 2012 the requirement work item also had an implementation and change request tab as written in the documentation, but the picture of a newly created requirement doesn't show anymore these tabs.
Now, in TFS 2015 those two tabse aren't mentioned any more, though the CMMI process shows the work item hierachy as
Epic > Feature > Requirement > Task
I am missing the implementation and change request tab in the standard configuration the CMMI project, because they are very useful in tracking the whole work from defining the features down to the requirements and their implementation with testing as well as subsequent change requests.
Are there any ways to get back these tabs in the standard configuration? I don't like to change the predefined work item types, because you never now what happens with next upgrades of TFS.

Answer 1

I had to go back all the way to 2010 to find the tab definitions you're missing. You can't "configure" TFS to show additional tabs without changing the process definition. To add them back in you have two options.
Create a custom template.
Patch the Requirement form definition after project creation.
The latter option should work well in combination with the way exiting process templates are "upgraded" using the Feature Activation Wizard, though with the new Work Item Form's and the new way Process template customization is done on Visual Studio Team Services, it would not surprise me when the next version of TFS will require manual intervention after upgrade.
1. Create a custom template
Download the CMMI process template from TFS using Visual Studio, update the process template definition (ProcessTemplate.xml) file and give it a new name and GUID:
Then go to the WorkItem Tracking\TypeDefinitions folder and edit the Requirement.xml. Add the two old tabs and link controls back in:
<Tab Label="Implementation">
<Control Type="LinksControl" Name="HierarchyForm" LabelPosition="Top">
<LinksControlOptions>
<WorkItemLinkFilters FilterType="include">
<Filter LinkType="System.LinkTypes.Hierarchy" />
</WorkItemLinkFilters>
<WorkItemTypeFilters FilterType="include">
<Filter WorkItemType="Requirement" />
<Filter WorkItemType="Task" />
</WorkItemTypeFilters>
<ExternalLinkFilters FilterType="excludeAll" />
<LinkColumns>
<LinkColumn RefName="System.ID" />
<LinkColumn RefName="System.WorkItemType" />
<LinkColumn RefName="System.Title" />
<LinkColumn RefName="System.AssignedTo" />
<LinkColumn RefName="System.State" />
<LinkColumn LinkAttribute="System.Links.Comment" />
</LinkColumns>
</LinksControlOptions>
</Control>
</Tab>
<Tab Label="Change Requests">
<Control Type="LinksControl" Name="ChangeRequestsForm" LabelPosition="Top">
<LinksControlOptions>
<WorkItemLinkFilters FilterType="include">
<Filter LinkType="Microsoft.VSTS.Common.Affects" FilterOn="reversename" />
</WorkItemLinkFilters>
<WorkItemTypeFilters FilterType="include">
<Filter WorkItemType="Change Request" />
</WorkItemTypeFilters>
<ExternalLinkFilters FilterType="excludeAll" />
<LinkColumns>
<LinkColumn RefName="System.ID" />
<LinkColumn RefName="System.WorkItemType" />
<LinkColumn RefName="System.Title" />
<LinkColumn RefName="System.AssignedTo" />
<LinkColumn RefName="System.State" />
<LinkColumn LinkAttribute="System.Links.Comment" />
</LinkColumns>
</LinksControlOptions>
</Control>
</Tab>
Upload the custom process template using Visual Studio and create your new Team Projects using that template.
2. Update existing Projects
Use witadmin to export the definition for the requirement work item type from an existing project:
witadmin exportwitd /collection https://server/tfs/DefaultCollection /p MyProject
/n Requirement /f Requirement.xml
Edit the XML file using your favorite text editor (I use Visual Studio Code) and add the above mentioned XML snippet back in. Now that you have a definition for Requirement with the right layout, you can push it to existing projects. First, validate your changes:
witadmin importwitd /collection https://server/tfs/DefaultCollection /v
/f Requirement.xml
If no errors are found, import the definition:
witadmin importwitd /collection https://server/tfs/DefaultCollection /p MyProject
/f Requirement.xml