Automation rule to copy date field across projects

Question

Hi all,

I have a need to implement the following via an automation rule.

1. Parent ticket in project 1

2. Child ticket in project 2 with "depends on" relationship/link to parent ticket in project 1

3. Whenever the due date field on the child ticket in project 2 is updated I would like to copy the due date to the due date field on the parent ticket in project 1.

I have tried various rules but think there may be a fundamental limitation preventing me from doing this. On the Rule Details page for an automation rule there is a "Projects" field to set which projects/tickets the automation rule can act on. I have tried creating automation rules in both the parent and child projects but I can never edit the "Projects" setting on the automation rule details, I cannot figure out how to set it so the rule monitor for ticket changes in project 2 but then act on tickets in project 1.

Can anyone let me know the following:

1. What is necessary to add multiple projects to the Automation Rule details? Is this a permissions issue where I likely do not have correct permissions/entitlements?

2. If I am not able to add the second project to the automation rule details is there any work around the single project limitation for automation rules? It just seems so limiting that a rule can only apply to tickets in a single project.

Thanks!

Earl McCutcheon · Answer

Hi @Gregory McShea ,

Thanks for the update and Got ya, thanks for the clarification, you want to look at the Rule Details section for the rule and make sure the scope is set to a Global, Multi Project setting.

There are two different level of automation rules, a Project level rule that you are most likely looking at, accessed under each project individually:  "Project Settings > Automation",  and the project level automations affect only the individual project.

Also a Note on this make sure you are aware of the Automation "service limits" that are in place on global rules to prevent automations from overloading and crashing the system or running out of executions.

And this directly applies to the second rule type as there are also Global Rules, that can be accessed by going to  "Admin > System > AUTOMATION > Automation Rules" OR by switching to Global Rule from the Project rule screen Here:

The Global rules are any rule created that affects more than one project, and you must create the global rule to set the project restrictions, and this is done under the "Rule details" screen under the "Scope" Section.  If you select the Rule details on a project level rule you will see a note that "Scope can only be modified in the global administration." like this:

From the Global Rule page you can select to see Global Rules only or All Rules to see the Project level rules and Global level rules as a mixed list.  From All you can select a Project rule you have already created from this location, and it will give you the option to change the scope from a Single project to multiple projects in the rule details like this:

OR you can create a new global Rule and it will default to All Projects but allow you to switch to the multiple projects during creation on the rule details screen like this:

Regards,
Earl

Gregory McShea · Answer

Hi Earl, thanks for the reply. The issue for me is with this step you are recommending "Restrict the rule to the Source and destination projects". As mentioned in the original post I cannot see any way to have my rules apply to more than one project. I have seen in other documentation that there is suppose to be a way to pick > 1 project for a rule but I do not see this control. In Rule Details under projects I only ever see the current project and no way to add a second project.

Earl McCutcheon · Answer

Hello @Gregory McShea ,

Thanks for reaching out and you should be able to set this up via the same process outlined in this blog noting how to do this from parent to subtask but making the following modifications:

* When Value Changes for Due Date
* Branch rule / related issues: FOR Linked issues* selecting the Depends on Link type
* Restrict the rule to the Source and destination projects

* Then: Edit Issue Fields* Select Due Date
* Set Copy DueDate From Trigger issue

Editing due date will require that the user executing the rule has the Edit Issue permission in both projects as well as the "Schedule Issue" permission in the source project where the date is being edited, but the user completing the action will only need the schedule issue permission in the source project that triggers the rule, but the due date will be modified on the destination project as the edit is performed by the app and bypasses the schedule permission in this set up and relies on Edit.

If you have the rule configured like this and it's not working, I recomend checking the rules Audit Log to see if there are any exceptions listed.  if it were a permissions issue you might see something like the following where the users did not have edit permission on the ZZXCV project:

Where the following is a success with the permissions set correctly:

Let me know what you find.

Regards,
Earl