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custom field solution with 2 levels of multiple parent child relationship

rupendra vengurlekar_61umer

A user is looking for a solution where he wants a custom field of type "multiple choice - select list" to be created in such a way that it should have 5 drop down values/options .

Once the user selects the multiple drop down options then he should be presented with more drop down options for each of them to record some numeric values.

for example custom_field = Obesrvations

{
"process issue": 4,
"method of work": 2,
"documentation": 3,
"tool": 1,
"other": 5
}

the total no of observations and the values of each observation can vary from case to case basis.

Currently the user has to manually record 2 things for each ticket.

1. what observations were observed like for ex was it a process issue or documentation issue or tool issue.

2. how many such issues observed for each type of issues.

the cascading fields is not suitable since it does not work for the 2nd level drop down options since it expects a fixed defined value and it also does not work for multiple choice.

the cascading works like

Parent value (Level 1)
Child value (Level 2)

Example:
Parent: Hardware 
Child: Laptop
It stores exactly ONE parent + ONE child per issue.
What the user wants
In a single ticket, the user wants:
*this is just an example, the values can differ for each ticket/issue

“Parent = Observation Type, Child = Count”

Process issue = 4 Method of work = 2 Documentation = 3 Tool = 1 Other = 5 
```
Process issue = 4
Method of work = 2
Documentation = 3
Tool = 1
Other = 5
```
This means:
- 5 categories
- Each with its own number
- All on the same issue

Comments

rupendra vengurlekar_61umer

As a quick dirty solution we can create 5 custom fields of type Numeric which would solve the users issue.

like for ex :
1. Observation - Process
2. Observation - Documentation

3. Observation - Tool

4. Observation - Method

But since we are cleaning up Jira unused configurations and moving towards standard configurations we do not want to keep creating multiple custom configurations which are going to be difficult to manage and it would also hamper jira instance performance.

Cengiz Akyildiz

Other than the quick dirty suggested, you cannot achieve a proper multi-level cascaded field with out of box features. It is better to take a look at the marketplace app where you might easily find a solution. Or you can develop a forge app.

Alex Ortiz

The cascading field is going to be your best bet. You may need to make multiple cascading fields to achieve what you need there.

I wouldn't be too worried making something difficult to manage or hampering Jira's performance, mainly because what you want isn't built into Jira and the request is complex, so you'll need to add complexity to your Jira to solve this complex problem.

Luke Gackle

Could this not be achieved with JIRA Assets fields? I've recently done a implementation which leveraged the Jira Assets field for each of the request categories .i.e Software, Hardware, then another assets field that populates options based on the request category selected .i.e. request new software, or LAN/WAN issue .etc

Screenshot 2026-01-30 084059.png

In this solution you would only need to custom fields for the two datapoints you are trying to collect per issue, then you would generate a schema in Jira Assets that has all of the possible options you are looking for, you will need some custom JQL to define the filters for those two custom fields, I've also based in the capacity to filter our assets I've labelled as hidden on customer portal.
Screenshot 2026-01-30 083755.png

Screenshot 2026-01-30 083539.png

The one thing to keep in mind with this approach, is if you care about retaining the datapoints and want to make changes to the options in the future, Don't delete the existing assets as that will also remove any linked tickets from that deleted asset, instead implement a hide solution as I have done.

Does the customer obsolutely need a numerical mapping for each selection though, or could that be handled by a report instead that summarises all the issues? RichFilters is an excellent report tool btw

Alex Ortiz

@Luke Gackle this is a really good solution, but that does assume that the user has JSM premium as Assets is currently only available for that most expensive version right now.

Luke Gackle

That is an excellent point worth highlighting and apologies I forgot to mention that, I thought it was worth sharing though even if it doesn't help this user, it may help someone else

rupendra vengurlekar_61umer

Thank you @Luke Gackle for providing the solution. unfortunately last year we discontinued with JSM.
Also thanks to @Alex Ortiz for pointing out about JSM

Becker_ Rene

@rupendra vengurlekar : How about the Jira "Forms" feature? I do not know how many levels you can go, but it seems like this should cover your needs.

If you create a form and drag a field in there, you can select, that it show another field, if it matches a cerrain value. If I remember correctly, you can cascade that further.