Help needed: Field type mismatches (Html → String) causing validation warnings/failures

[K-Hamdy]

Hi everyone,

I’m running a migration using Azure DevOps Migration Tools v16.3 from a cloud source project to an on-prem target project.

Overall the migration runs, but I’m seeing validation warnings related to field type mismatches that I cannot resolve locally:

Validating source field 'Custom.AchievedActions' (AchievedActions).
[WRN] Source field 'Custom.AchievedActions' and target field 'Custom.AchievedActions' have different types: source = 'Html', target = 'String'.

Validating source field 'Microsoft.VSTS.CMMI.CorrectiveActionPlan' (Corrective Action Plan).
[INF] Source field 'Microsoft.VSTS.CMMI.CorrectiveActionPlan' is mapped to 'Custom.CorrectiveActionPlan'.
[WRN] Source field 'Microsoft.VSTS.CMMI.CorrectiveActionPlan' and target field 'Custom.CorrectiveActionPlan' have different types: source = 'Html', target = 'String'.

Validating source field 'Custom.Handling' and target field 'Custom.Handling' have different types: source = 'Html', target = 'String'.

{
"ApplyTo": ["Opportunity"],
"FieldMapType": "FieldToFieldMap",
"sourceField": "Custom.AchievedActions",
"targetField": "Custom.AchievedActions"
},
{
"ApplyTo": ["Opportunity"],
"FieldMapType": "FieldToFieldMap",
"sourceField": "Microsoft.VSTS.CMMI.CorrectiveActionPlan",
"targetField": "Custom.CorrectiveActionPlan"
},
{
"ApplyTo": ["Tailoring"],
"FieldMapType": "FieldToFieldMap",
"sourceField": "Custom.Handling",
"targetField": "Custom.Handling"
}

However, because the source fields are Html and the target fields are String, these mappings trigger warnings, and in some runs lead to save/validation failures.

What I’ve tried

• Trying to exclude them via ExcludeSourceFields (avoids the warnings, but I lose the field data entirely)
• Using IgnoreFieldMap alongside excludes (causes conflicts/unexpected behavior)
• Replacing with FieldMergeMap to merge into System.Description, but not sure how best to implement this consistently

What I am asking

• What is the recommended approach for migrating Html fields into a target that only has String fields?
• Should these be migrated at all, or is the supported pattern to map them into a different field (e.g., System.Description)?
• If mapping into a different type, what’s the best practice config (e.g., FieldMergeMap / ValueMap / other) to avoid validation errors?
• Are there examples of working configs handling Html → String or Html → Html migration across different process templates?

My goal is to:

• avoid save/validation failures
• retain as much source data as possible
• avoid blanket excludes unless necessary

Thanks in advance!

[nkdagility-actions-bot[bot]]

Hi there,

ACTION REQUIRED

In order for us to help you will need to provide both the log, and the configration file that you are using.

Generate and Attach Log

Steps:

1. In the Config file, change LogLevel to Debug.
2. Identify a work item ID that exhibits this issue and create a query that only selects this work item.
3. Delete any existing copy of that work item from the target.
4. Run the migration.
5. Comment here with the full Log attached as well as the full (redacted) configration file that you are using.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Azure DevOps Migration Tools team

[K-Hamdy]

never mind, i figured it out. thanks