Collections

A collection is a set of artifacts that you create for a specific purpose.

After you create a collection, you can link the collection to and from other artifacts, embed the collection in a text-based artifact, create reviews from the collection, and perform other actions.

Tip: You can create links between artifacts in a collection by dragging an artifact and dropping it on the link icon of another artifact, as shown here:

Collections do not display artifacts in any particular order or hierarchy, nor do they contain context-specific links, attributes, or comments. If you need these features, you must create a module. For more information, see comparison of collections and modules.

Reasons for creating collections

You might want to create a collection for the following reasons:

Identify a group of related artifacts to work with
Add terms to the collection to use as a glossary
Group artifacts that are now mature and ready to be reviewed
Capture a set of requirements that are ready for review or that are reviewed and approved
Identify artifacts that are related to a common goal
Link collections to release plans and test plans
Link requirements in the collection to development work items and test cases
Export the artifacts in a collection to a CSV file

Other information about collections

You cannot add a collection to a collection; however, you can add a module to a collection.
When you save a view from within the collection editor, the view appears in the current collection and in all other collections in the project. The view does not appear in any other context within the project.
To compare capabilities and potential uses for collections and modules, see Differences between collections and modules.