TFS 2012 RC - TF237165: Team Foundation could not update the work item because of a validation error on the server. This may happen because the

Question

So, we are using TFS 2012 RC and have modified the work flow a bit for a regular task item by adding a few custom transition states.

When updating tasks though Visual Studio 2012 RC, everything works fine. I can move through all the states without any problems. However, when updating the task through TFS Portal, either by dragging the item on the board or opening the form and changing the state using the pulldown, I get the following error: "TF237165: Team Foundation could not update the work item because of a validation error on the server. This may happen because the work item type has been modified or destroyed, or you do not have permission to update the work item."

This ONLY happens, however, when moving to the Done state and nothing else. All other states work fine.

So, I'm not sure what that means since it works fine in Visual Studio. What would be helpful if I could see the exception or more information somewhere, but I don't know where these validation errors are stored.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

The issue was with the work flow. The transition was setting a field that was conflicting with the state also changing the same field.

Answer 2

In my case there was another issue. The problem was that the field had a trailing \r\n in the data being sent down by the server. I believe the client javascript OM was removing this which makes the field dirty even though it’s read only. Workaround was to make the field read-write instead of read-only. Then I set back it to read-only - and now it works. Micrsoft promised they may fix it in next release.

Answer 3

In my case, on TFS 2013 U5 I had changed my TFS Profile DisplayName so that it did not match my ActiveDirectory DisplayName. I could not edit or create anything until I changed the DisplayName back.