Recently we received a query on how to quickly select a test plan in Microsoft Test Manager (MTM) when there are a large number of test plans in a team project. Below is the screen I am talking about. You can notice that there are several hundred test plans here (look at the scroll bar).
Also since we made Test Plans work items in TFS, we do not filter inactive test plans in this dialog. This can result in a very long list over time.
Thankfully MTM has some very useful column based filtering capabilities. In order to add more columns to the grid, just right click on the column header. You will see a pop-up that lets you select columns.
Once a column is selected, hover over the right end of each column header to notice if the grid can be filtered based on values in those columns. Typically a column that supports finite discrete values is filterable. If a down arrow appears on hover, it means you can filter on this column.
Click on this down arrow and you will get the values that you can filter on. Select the values and you are good to go.
Another way to quickly select a test plan is by typing the first few characters in this dialog (Just type by selecting the grid). The selection will be taken directly to the first test plan whose first few characters match (exactly) to the characters that you typed. This is based on a simple string comparison and nothing fancy here.
All the grids in MTM have column selection and filtering capabilities (but not the search). Below is an example from the “Plan” center group.
