Automation branching variable scope

Fede B.

Hi all,

 

I'm using advanced branching in Cloud Automation, to setup a variable which I use later on, outside of the branch.

But apparently the variable exists only within the scope of the branch, and is null when the code exits the branch.

 

Example:

- In my Automation, I create an advanced branching by splitting the issue summary with separator ","

- If I find the text "example" inside the branch, I create variable "found", with value "true"

- Outside of the branch, I put a conditional statement: if {{found}} = true

- apparently, this statement is always false, and the variable {{found}} is unset

 

EDIT: forgot to mention that right now the only workaround I found for this problem, is to add a special label to the issue when I find "example", and re-fetch its data. So, outside of the branch, I just look for that label instead.

 

Could anyone confirm that this is the expected behaviour?

Thanks

 

Bill Sheboy

Hi @Fede B. 

Yes, that is the expected behavior.

Branches which could be on more than one thing / issue are run in parallel and asynchronously, and so any variable created inside the branch is gone by the end.  And...there is no guarantee when such branches will complete, up until the last step of the rule.  Thus you could not check such results after the branch (in the rule logic) as the branch is likely still executing.

A workaround for the scenario you describe is to use the text function match(): https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/jira-smart-values-text-fields/#match--

For example, test the result of this:

{{issue.summary.match("(example)")}}

Please see the details of regular expressions to adjust for your needs.

Kind regards,
Bill