New Custom Field Type based on the System Field "Description"

Russ1

Hello folks,

One of the things I've been looking to do is expose the custom field type 'Text Field, Unlimited' in a much nicer way within Issue Types.

When you create a new issue, Description is a nicely exposed text field, easy to view and display content within. When you use the Custom Field type Text (unlimited) it presents itself at the top of the issue as a small single line collapsable item.

Essentially, this field type is useless to me as it doesn't expose the data in a way that I feel is beneficial. I can think of a number of applications for this, but right now I'd simply like to find out the right direction for adding a new Custom Field Type (have reviewed developers documentation on this so understand the principle, but I'm not a developer) that will display within an issue the same way Description does.

Could somebody help me out with this please?

Thanks,

Russ

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-

Ok, the screenshot does make it more clear.

I don't see a lot of difference between Description and Custom text though. The main thing is that the title for custom fields lies alongside the box, whereas for Description, it's above. That's a function of the type of field - Description is rendered totally separately from the custom fields and that bit is handled by core code.

I don't think modifying the .vm for a "free text" field is going to do it - the .vm files for a field handle the data display, and the problem you've got is with the framework they live within. (That confused me as I typed it, so another way to say it - when Jira is displaying a screen, it has a list of fields. For each one, it pulls out the title, does some decoration, displays the field name, and then goes to the field "and how do I display your data?". The field answers with "here's my .vm")

The only thing I can think of doing is pulling the field out into it's own specific area, similar to Description. That does need some hacking, but I think it's .jsp files only, and I'd start at - https://developer.atlassian.com/display/JIRADEV/Adding+Custom+Field+to+Issue+Summary

... Of course, not for OnDemand...