How can I rank several custom issue types in my structure?

[Emil Langeland Larsen]

Hi, 

I am trying to rank my structure which contains 3 different custom issue types; Installations, Assemblies and Parts.

My goal is to create a tree-like structure that can visualize nested problems like shown below:

- Installations
  - Assemblies
    - Parts

I've been trying with sorting with rank but I get "Cannot remove issues from JQL query result" fault. 

Is this even possible to to? And if so, what does it take to do so?

Thank you in advance, 

/E

[David Niro]

Hello @Emil Langeland Larsen ,

David from ALM Works here.

To create the tree-like structure you mention, we are going to need to start with Generators.  Specifically we will need an Insert Generator that tells the structure which issues to add first and then Extend and/or Group Generators to define what should be above or below the first set of issues.

To do this, there will need to be some relationship between your custom issues, such as issue linking.

Could you share a little more about how your structure is currently built and what relationships may exist between the issue types you are using? 

Looking forward to your feedback!

Best,
David

[Emil Langeland Larsen]

Hi David, 

Insert:
I am using the insert generator to insert issues that belong to my project AND which are either of the three issue types described above.

Extend:
Then I extend to include sub tasks as well as linked issues with parent-child relations.

Sort:
Sort all levels by rank 

Problem:
If I manually assign parent-child links between my issue types, then it does create the tree structure, however I will get duplicates in my structure which I am not interested in having. 

What I was really trying to achieve was being able drag my issues around in the structure and having their links being updated automatically between them - all without duplicates in the structure :-) 

Thanks, 

/E  

[David Niro]

Hi @Emil Langeland Larsen ,

Thank you for the additional detail!

To avoid the duplicates we would need to refine the Insert Generator.  We will need to add the issues you always want to see at the top of your hierarchy (Installations) and issues that you would only want to see at the top of the hierarchy if they do not have a child link (Assemblies & Parts).  

It's similar to the solution I posted here but will be done in the Insert Generator.

It would look something like this in your case:

issuetype = "Installations" OR ((issuetype = "Assemblies" OR issuetype = "Parts") AND (issueLinkType != your_parent_to_child_link_direction AND issueLinkType != EMPTY))

In this way you will be able to build the rest of your hierarchy as you describe above while avoiding the duplicates. 

There may be some additional fine tuning depending on the link types you are using and if they are the same between Parts to Assemblies as they are from Assemblies to Installations.

Let me know if this helps!

Best,
David

[Emil Langeland Larsen]

Hi David,

Thank you for the reply, 

While your "Insert generator solution" worked somewhat okay with some adjustments, I ran into some other problems which in the end made me revert to an older strategy which uses Epics to seed my "Top level" issues.

After having spoken more with my colleagues, we believe that there might be a bug related to this issue and so a ticket will be created to investigate this further.  

Thanks again for the help, 

/E

[David Niro]

Hello @Emil Langeland Larsen ,

Please mention me in the ticket.  I am interested to hear more about the challenge you encountered.

Best,
David