Changing JIRA Source code

Question

Hi,

We are using JIRA 6.0 and got 500 users commercial license. We have some needs to customize JIRA according to company requirements. I would want to know that having the comercial license, do we also have complete build-able code with us? or we just have limited access to JIRA souce code?

Some of the main customization requirements are below:

* We want JIRA to provide multi-level components hierarchical approach. Right now JIRA only provides one level components while we want sub-components for the components and sub-components for the sub-components.
* Similar to multi-level components we want multi-level version facility and these sub-versions should be inter-linked with sub-components such that each multi-level component can have its own sub-version.
* We want custom GUI changes in different interfaces including issue screens for example we want to display all the fields in the issue home screen according to our layout. (not possible using configuration).

We are also ready to build an in-house development team and competency. But we don't know how to start. We need some guidance and training in this area. Please provide help on achieving these goals.

Regards,

Zeeshan

Jira PLCP Team · Answer

Thanks Alexej. Your answer is really helpful.

Alexej Geldt · Answer

all these requirements can be achieved with own plugins. I don't see the need for customizing jira core sources.

* >1 : make a multi-level components plugin. it might cointain a new custom field type i.e. Mulit-Level Components Field. Then just disable the default components field, and use your own instead.
* >2: same approach with versions. Implement new multi-level versions field. There might also be something like that available on atlassian market.
* >3: introduce a GUI plugin which modifies the way the issue screens look like. In example if you want to display the fields in another fashion, you could disable the default details panel, and instead introduce your own panel designed by yourself the way you like. You can have your own css styles and js libraries in your GUI plugin and you can overwrite explicitely the style classes used by jira. You can even replace entire Issues Screen by your own WebWork Module and design it the way you like.

Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Answer

You can build anything you want with the source code.  You are required not to publish or share the code though.

However, some general advice is always to avoid changing the core code.  It makes upgrading very painful as you have to consider both new and changed APIs and if your code can upgrade safely.  I always recommend trying to do as much as possible in plugins to avoid the mess that core hacking can make.

I'd say your requirements are actually quite complex in points 1 and 2, and I'd recommend looking at other ways to achieve them - the structure plugin is well worth a look.  For the third one, those changes are likely to be less of a pain as they look like just moving things around