How Jira Align Process Step to Jira Status mapping works with Jira Align State Field

[Lisa Allen]

Have a few questions

1. If we enable the Jira Align process step to Jira status mapping and have the value stream set up to map to state, will updates made to the process step through integration update the Jira Align state based on the value stream mapping?  
2. Assume Process step to Jira status mapping should be 1-1 in both directions?
3. When we have process step mapping enabled, is the state field in Jira Align on the work item read-only so that users are forced to select the process step?

[Colin Weaver]

@Lisa Allen  For your questions:

1) Configuration Path 5, in the article mentioned by Tom, handles making sure that within Jira Align the Process Step and State remain aligned with each other. (The path  is bidirectional so a change of either State or Process Step can change the other value.)

2) Process Step to Jira Status is handled by Path 4 and itself is only in that direction, but Path 3 handles Jira Status to Process step (so in effect it is bidirectional as long as both paths are configured). 1-1 settings are recommended, but we can handle less statuses in Jira than Process Steps in Jira Align and vice versa

3) The Jira Align State is not read-only when Process Steps are enabled (which kind of relates to the answer to Q1)

[Tom O'Connor]

@Lisa Allen did you review this article to see if this answers your questions?  https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-Align-articles/Mapping-States-Steps-and-Statuses-between-Jira-Align-and-Jira/ba-p/1354724

[Lisa Allen]

Yes, I did start there and had the posted questions.

[GregPearson]

First off, this article and the visual are a huge help. Thanks. If I understand, If I enable paths 3, 4, and 5, and Jira statuses and Jira Align process steps are 1:1, when I update the status of a particular issue in Jira, Jira Align will update the process step to match it, which will then trigger the Jira Align state to possibly change depending on how the process steps are mapped to the Jira Align states. So, a few questions:

1) Is that correct?

2) If it is, what happens if someone changes the Jira Align state or another change is made to an issue in Jira Align (e.g., the description is updated) that kicks off sync between the tools? How would the status in Jira be impacted? I can give an example, but for summary, I have 8 feature statuses in Jira and would create 8 process steps in Align, so some process steps would have to map to the same Align state (basically what's creating the issue for us now as we have Jira status mapped to Jira Align state, not process step).

[Colin Weaver]

Hi @GregPearson 

1) Usually when using Process Steps,  Paths 1, 3, 4 & 5 are configured. Then when you change status in Jira both the state and process step changes in Jira Align (via Paths 1 and 3) 

2) If someone changes the State in Jira Align, Path 5 ensures that the Process Step changes in Jira Align. If multiple process steps map to the same state then the first process step in the process flow that is mapped to the state is used. (which is one reason why the order of Process Steps can be adjusted). Sync will then change the Status in Jira to whatever status matches that Process Step (from the  Path 4 configuration). There are two ways to get the Jira Align Process Step in to the second choice for a single State  - change the Process Step in Jira Align, or change the Status in Jira..

NOTE: We do recommend that if you implement Process Steps, then Jira Align users should be trained to only ever change the Process step and let Path 5 change the State, as there is a user error condition relating to accidentally changing the state in Jira Align, then realizing the mistake and changing it back, which could result in the wrong Process Step being set (by Path 5 choosing the first process step that applies) and then the wrong Jira Status being set (by Path 4). 

[Lisa Allen]

is there anything on the roadmap to make the state field read-only when process step mapping is in place to avoid issues?

[Colin Weaver]

@Lisa Allen A quick internal search didn't show anything but I may not have visibility of all future plans

I am thinking a better option might be to have a toggle in the Details Panel Settings for Features so that the State field is hidden. however I couldn't  find anything for that either.

You can log an enhancement request for this by going to:
  https://ideas.jiraalign.com