Linking Issues in Jira 4.4 (Options)

Question

I couldn't find any documentation on the Linking Issues Options available in JIRA 4.4.  I would like a description of each and how they can be used in relation to 2 issues in the same project.

Options Available:

is secondary to

must deploy with

duplicates

is duplicated by

is primary to

requires

is required for

is a sub-set of

is a super-set of

For example I don't see a difference between "is primary to" and "is a super-set of".  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Answer

There are two things here.

First, I think you're over-thinking links.  A link is a representation of a relationship between two issues.  Nothing more.  It doesn't do anything clever or special (with the minor exception of "clone" which is simply added by the cloning process but otherwise isn't any different from the other link types).

A link just says "issue A is connected to B".  But it does it in a directional way.  A simple non-directional link might be "A and B are linked by a link type called 'Block'" - that sentence tells you *nothing* about which issue is blocking the other.  When you add a relational direction, you get something a LOT more useful.  "A blocks B" and "B is blocked by A"

So, if you look at your list of link types, you should find that you can actually pair them off in their opposing directions.

Secondly, link types in Jira are defined by your admins.  Only one of the types on your list is "off the shelf" (duplicates/is duplicated by).  So, I'm afraid the "description of each" is actually something YOU define for your system.  My guess is a previous admin set them up and hasn't shared info on why.

Personally, I'd rename or even delete them if the list is not working for you...

Andre Tarafdar · Answer

Also I would like to know if you set an issue primary to another, how can you identify that when you export all of your cases to Excel.  Normally the "Link" column shows both in relation to one another.