Epics missing from issue source pull

[Jayme_Burkhalter]

I have set up a Plan in Portfolio and selected all applicable issue sources, yet there is an Epic that refuses to show up, and another Feature Epic that despite having all the right parent-linking, wont show up in it's hierarchy

In a previous version of this plan, this Epic showed up and was pulling in just fine.  Now, it's missing and i cant figure out why!

I have checked and rechecked the issue sources, expanded the DONE shows for the last 365 days, combed through all the Portfolio Epics to make sure it was on the list  (it isn't), and selected all Releases to ensure i wasn't accidentally missing the release it was attached to.  Its not attached to a release even though it was release in the spring.

No dice.  Can anyone offer any additional suggestions as to why data wouldn't be pulling into a PLAN?

[Earl McCutcheon · Accepted solution]

Hi Jayme,

Thanks for reaching out and when it comes to an issue not showing up on the plan you have already done your due diligence and checked a lot of the points but there are quite a few levels to look at with various caveats, lets review what has been checked vs what is left to look at:

1. Release assignments
   1. You already noted checking the release on the issue sources for the plan relating to the epic, and flagging all releases to double check if this was related.
   2. however if the Epic was added to a release that is excluded from the plan this could still be at play and may not show up in the issue sources as expected.
   3. things to look for is if the epic is in an excluded release, If an issue is assigned to a fixVersion that is excluded from the plan, then also the issue is not loaded (unless it also has another fixVersion assigned with is included). Things show up if they have either no version assigned, or they have at least 1 version assigned that is included. 
   4. Also You can check the DB for excluded fix versions in the plan using the following snippit:

      1. SELECT * FROM “AO_D9132D_EXCLUDED_VERSIONS” WHERE "PLAN_ID" = insert_plan_ID_here;

2. Filter & issue permissions for the Issue source:
   1. Are you linking the issues to the plan using a Board, a Filter, or the Project?
   2. Also are you using multiple sources or a single source If the filter or project being used is coming from multiple sources the epic migt be hidden on a share permission (exe is the epic part of a secondary project or filter where you don't have permissions to see the filter or the issue)
   3. If using either board or direct filter the filter you are using via this source needs to be shared with you to see the issue in the plan
   4. not related as you can see the epic outside the plan but you also need the browse project permission on the source project if the epic is from a secondary project 
3. Issue Explicitly excluded before
   1. Agin you noted scouring the issue sources so unlikely as you could flag the issue while resetting the source if this was the case
   2. But an explanation on what to look at as a verification point is that is an issue has been explicitly excluded from the plan before? In this case, go to the plan configuration > Issue Sources > Edit sources, and check if the issue shows up as you go through the setup wizard again. if it was excluded, it will show up as unchecked in the table during the source import
   3. But just to double check you can look int he DB with the following query to see issues excluded from the plan as a sanity check:

      1. select * from jiraissue where id in (select entity_id form entity_property WHERE ENTITY_NAME='IssueProperty' AND PROPERTY_KEY='jpo-exclude-from-plan');

4. Unintended Filters in the Plan directly
   1. Are you using a Live Plan view or the Improved interface view?  The difference highlighted here 
   2. When you noted you "expanded the DONE shows for the last 365 days" are you looking at the More menu option for "Completion Date" on a Live plan for this comment?
      1. as checking the completed date range here is what it sounds like and would be what you want to check, and this value lines up with the value in the resolution date field of the issue, if the epic is complete outside this range it will not show up
   3. if any other filter is set, like for example the schedule range filter. If something doesn't get scheduled it would not show up even though it exists. 
   4. Next If your on the Improved Interface look at the filter drop down for anything that could be excluding the issue
5. Hierarchy levels / mapping: Anything odd with which issue types are mapping to the hierarchy? 
   1. You noted the epic has a parent link to the "Feature Epic" initiative level, but is there possibly another hierarchy level between "Epic" and "Feature Epic" as the hierarchy is a direct link to the next level up and cannot skip a level,  this can come into play if you add another hierarchy level after the mapping took place to the previous parent, if there is a gap between Epic and the Feature epic parent then this would cause the epic to not show up correctly, and you want to make sure the parent is set tho the next hierarchy above the Epic level
6. Custom field configurations:
   1. Any changes to fields, like for example having removed the fixVersion or AffectsVersion fields at all from the missing Epic issuetype field configurations scheme?
      1. this comes into play again with multiple issue sources if the epic in question is sourced for an alternate project, as seeing other Epics from the same source rules this out immediately
   2. Portfolio checks these field when loading issues to see if its in an included or excluded assignment, if the whole field is not there, it will not show up.
7. What is/are the filter(s) in use?
   1. There could be some sort of logic error in the filter directly
   2. Sounds like you already did this from your explanation but Verifying the filter shows the epic if you pull it up in the issue navigator under "Issues" >> "search for issue" >> Advanced Search

I know this is a lot of points to look over but please let me know what you find and add in any clarification you can for the items listed.

Regards,
Earl

[Earl McCutcheon]

Hello again,

One more thing to add to the list of things to check I missed in my initial comment, Check the Epic Status field. It may have been inadvertently set to Done, which would hide the Epic as well.

Regards,
Earl

[Jayme_Burkhalter]

Thank you, Earl.  I so appreciate your detailed response.

This is certainly a quandary I cant seem to solve.  The biggest question stemming from the fact that this Epic has shown up in previous scenarios, but is no longer pulling into the list even as a discarded item with an option to check the box and add in.  It simply doesn't pull it in from the issue sources even though I know it lives there.  Perhaps this is because it was possibly not in a DONE state when working in those previous scenarios and now it is?

Something instinctual is telling me it has something to do with the fact that it was completed but is not assigned to a fix version and was never physically "released" within JIRA.  Since portfolio is pulling from projects, boards, and filters, and makes mention of including only items that are part of selected releases, I am feeling like this might be the reason it is still excluded as an option.  Thoughts?

Could this issue be resolved simply by creating a release for this Epic?

[Jayme_Burkhalter]

Update:

I DID IT! :)  Three Cheers!! It was as I expected.  The Epic had been IN PROGRESS when it had pulled in to previous scenarios before.  As it was now marked DONE but not assigned to a "Release" it was not pulling in as an option.

As an experiment, I changed the status to "IN PROGRESS" and refreshed and voila, there is was on the list as a discarded item.  I checked the box and went back to the PLAN and it was there!  Once it pulled, I could then change the status back to DONE and it reflected as such in the roadmap.

[Earl McCutcheon]

Hi Jayme,

Awesome to hear, and thanks for the confirmation.

As for those three cheers:

1. Hip, hip, Hooray!
2. Hip, hip, Hooray!
3. Hip, hip, Hooray!

Regards,
Earl

[Jayme_Burkhalter]

:) thank you for your help, Earl! and for the cheers