Using defects to cover multiple release streams

Question

My team is in the process of migration to JIRA for bug tracking from another product.  At a previous company I worked for, we had a system for dealing with fixes in multiple product versions where we would create a single Issue (Bug) and each bug would have one or more Fix Requests which corresponded to a specific version.  Each fix request had it's own lifecycle - open, fixed, verified, closed, etc.  We used this to make sure we merged forward any fixes to older supported releases.  Once all fix requests were closed, the bug itself was automatically closed.

I'm trying to find a way to implement this in my new group but so far haven't seen anything obvious.  It's possible that this was a completely home-grown customization.  Can anyone provide any pointers on implementing such a scheme (or any other best practices in this area)?

Danyal Iqbal · Answer

You can clone an issue through the "More" button on the issue screen.

You can also clone an issue with a clone issue postfunction on a transition.

Jim Tonra · Answer

This might be what I'm looking for.  Is it possible to create (clone) the Fix issue type using workflow?  In otherwords, can I create a button on the Bug called "Create Fix" and have it do the clone for me?

Danyal Iqbal · Answer

You could create subtasks for each version or you could use only 1 issueTypes. Clone the initial Bug ticket for each fix version and assign the correct fixversion.

You can also use multiple issue types e.g use issueType=Bug to report the issue. Clone the ticket with issueType=Fix for each fix version and link to the parent ticket.

This is a process optimization decision, which will take years to perfect depending on your development methods and philosophy.