Locate "Time Category" details logged within database

Question

I am looking for a way to retrieve logged "Time Category" information, which is available when logging time against an issue.  There is no field for it in the [worklog] table that contains this information.  A colleague managed to retrieve this information from the summary field in [jiraissue], using a script he created long ago, but it does not work on issues for I wish to retrieve the same, as it simply pulls in the original summary of when the issue was logged, and not the detail of when hours get logged.  Please assist.

Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Answer

Hi @pkruger , Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

You should stop looking at the database.  It was not a great design in Jira 2 and it has gone downhill as the software has evolved.  It's fine as a data store, but it is the last place you want to look for reporting.

The "Time Category" field you are looking for is buried in an "active objects" table somewhere.  It is not worth trying to find - it could have changed more than once, and might not be there now.

Start with a look at what app is providing the field, they may have documented how you read/write the field with the REST API.

pkruger · Answer

I figured out what my colleague did (and why I could not replicate it): he created Jira issues with descriptions that correspond to some of the fields in "Time Category" and they logged time against that.  Which means that I am still looking for the logged "Time Category" data, since my colleague's script is simply bluff as it pertains to finding the correct data.