Change workflow on plugin update

Question

Hi All,

I have a plugin with two different workflows described in .XML files.

Now I've added some changes to the .XML files, added some post functions in the workflow in order to update the resolution field, and on fresh installation of the plugin everything works fine.

However, if the plugin is already installed and there are some issues that are using the workflow nothing changes on the plugin installation.

Hope someone has an idea  since I am lost with this :)

Dragan Lukac · Answer

Hi Nic,

Thanks for the reply.

I understand now why it's risky to make changes, but I am not exactly sure how should i safely do the migration from old workflows to the new ones without breaking anything on the working environment.

Should I remove association between existing projects and workflow scheme and between workflows and issue types, create new workflows add the new ones to the scheme and re-associate new workflows with issue types?

Or there is some other, more reasonable way to do this?

Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Answer

This is what I would expect to happen, and it's a correct behaviour to be frank, as it's protecting you from potentially trashing your system.

When you load the add-on, it creates workflows, which you then use in workflow schemes.  That's fine, but workflows are not a simple thing you can just change when you feel like it.

Changing an active workflow could break the system, so when you do it, Jira either limits you to changes that do not have that risk, or requires a migration process where it asks you how to change the issue data so that it does not break.

If you want to update the workflows via an add-on like this, your add-on is going to have to do the checks and migration.