In Assets, parent objects are set to zero when chidren has lots of them

[Juan Carlos Pin]

Hi Team!!

We're working in our inventory with Assets, and, while everything is very easy and comfortable to work with, we find this very disorienting:

Parent object is counting 0, when children counts hundreds of them, and it feels really counterintuitive, because one would expect for parent show the sum of the objects in children categories, right?

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski · Accepted solution]

Hello @Juan Carlos Pin 

That’s actually the expected behavior in Assets. The count you see in the sidebar only reflects objects assigned directly to that specific type and it doesn't roll up totals from its children.

Since your objects are categorized as 'Mac' or 'Windows' rather than 'Laptop,' seeing a zero for Laptops is normal. The tree is a type hierarchy, not a summary counter.

If 'Laptops' is just meant to be a container for your sub-types, you can set it as an 'abstract' object type to prevent anyone from creating objects there directly. For a total count across the whole branch, you'd need to use an AQL-based view or a dashboard gadget, as the sidebar isn't designed to sum up child types.

[Juan Carlos Pin]

Hi @Arkadiusz Wroblewski Thx for your answer! Indeed, I understand that the parent object has its own type attributes, but, as you mentioned, setting objects as abstract could make them mere containers, or "folders", or even categories, right? just an idea.

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

@Juan Carlos Pin 

https://support.atlassian.com/assets/docs/glossary-of-assets-in-jira-service-management/

Here you have pure definition Abstract object in Jira Assets.