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# Use requests in Visual Studio

This section explains how to use requests in the Visual Studio IDE so that you can plan, track, authorize, and control all work on development projects.

In this topic:

## Overview

The fundamental concept of managing work with requests is the association of requests to files that you are working on. A request may capture a defect, enhancement, or other work that needs to be completed on items that belong to your projects.

Guidelines:

- If your organization requires request associations for all work and requires explicit file checkout before you can update files, you cannot start any work that is not related to a request.

  If your organization works optimistically and does not require explicit file checkout, you can start work on a file without checking it out and associating it with a request. You may be unable to deliver your changes to the Dimensions CM repository without associating your files with requests.

- When you associate file revisions with a request, this adds information about affected files to the requests, and maintains a record of all changes made in response to the request.

- Before starting work, identify the requests to work on, and add them to favorites. For details, see Add requests to favorites.

- You can use requests created by others, or create your own requests. To check out or check in files, or deliver local changes to the repository, use requests from your inbox in the Visual Studio IDE.

- Along with native Dimensions CM requests, the Visual Studio integration supports external requests from other providers, such as Atlassian Jira, OpenText ALM Octane, or OpenText SBM. For details, see Configure request providers.

  For details on how to view and manage requests from multiple providers, see Manage requests in Visual Studio IDE.

- Requests store a record of all affected files, which enables you to view the detailed tracking history. You can also use requests for other purposes such as creating baselines of revisions that were created in response to them.

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## Dimensions CM requests

Dimensions CM for Visual Studio simplifies the process of administering requests.

In Visual Studio, you can perform the most frequent tasks, such as actioning a request through its lifecycle or delegating the request to a developer.

Normal Dimensions CM rules allow only valid lifecycle transitions. After the next state is selected, you can choose to delegate the request to a particular role. Dimensions CM requests that you action are placed in the inbox of the relevant users.

Where a role has multiple potential users, you can identify the specific users to receive the request. This enables team leaders to monitor and reassign work as needed to maintain and improve team productivity.

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See also:

- Change management
- Use external requests

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