How do I set up an automation to update Parent field?

[Radu Ichim]

Hi there,

One of my clients reported that during a CSV import where he tried to update the values of the Business Value custom field, some of the tickets 'lost' their connection to the Parent ticket. It was there before, but after the import it is gone.

I tried reproducing this but everything seemed to work correctly. 

As I would like to propose an alternative solution to the client, I was thinking about an automation, however I am not sure how exactly to set this up.

Since the CSV import happens, and the Business Value field gets updated, I was thinking to set it as:

Trigger - Issue Updated
IF Business Value is not empty (since this will get updated)

This is where I kind of got stuck. I was thinking about adding another condition - IF Parent is empty, but I cannot select it under Field conditions. As an alternative I do IF Issue matches JQL (Parent is EMPTY)...but then I'm not sure where and how I would fetch the Parent.

Can anybody help with some suggestions? I hope I managed to explain this good enough.

Thanks!

[Bill Sheboy · Accepted solution]

Hi @Radu Ichim -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Before you invest time in creating an automation rule, I recommend pausing to learn why an import would clear the parent field. 

Otherwise using the rule is, at best, mitigating the problem and not solving it.

Kind regards,
Bill

[Radu Ichim]

Hi @Bill Sheboy

Thanks for the tip.

Indeed, on a more attentive look, it seems like this issue was only happening in a team-managed project, and the issue is known in Atlassian. 

Should anybody come across this problem in the future, the 'secret' lies in the csv file:

CSV import Parent-child mapping | Jira | Atlassian Documentation

Kind regards,
Radu

[Nicolas Grossi]

@Radu Ichim Welcome, You might take a look at this link: https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-questions/How-to-update-issue-parent-in-jira-automation-in-nextgen/qaq-p/1655685

Nicolas