How can I set a Jira Dropdown field value so it can only be assigned to one ticket at any given time

Question

Hi all,

This might be a bit of a niche question but I am trying to set up a dropdown field with values 1-15. It would be project-specific but I want the values to be able to be assigned to only one ticket at a time - ie, there should only be one ticket with each one of those numbers - as this will be a ranking system.

Is there a way to do this? Can Jira validate whether the value is already 'in use' and reject the input?

Thanks in advance for any responses guys :)

Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Accepted Answer

Hi,

There is no way to do this, not without complex and clumsy automations or scripts.  You would need to write something that can pick up "number field entered/changed", run a search to see if it has been used already, and then delete the value from the issue, or block the current transistion.  Both of those options are terrible UX for the user - they see their data being removed, or they can't transition an issue until they've worked out what might be a valid value.

The other option would be to find or write a field type that can do the same search and check, and then only offer options that have not been used already.

This is also a terrible way to do a ranking system.  What happens when you want to rank something at the top of the list?  You have to edit 15 issues, one to set #1, then 14 to push them all the rest down the ranking.

There are good reasons Atlassian dumped numeric ranking like this in the first major release of (what is now called) Jira Software.

I have to question the need and the thoughts behind this.  Is this really a proper rank system?  Why are you not using the backlog in Jira software?