What happens if a Feature (Jira Epic) is modified concurrently in 1) Jira or 2) Jira Align?

[Vinay Sharma]

What happens if a Feature (Jira Epic) or a Story is modified concurrently by two persons in

1) Jira, or

2) Jira Align

Pls. clarify.

I know there is a setting available (Administration>Jira Settings>Jira Setup>Settings->Allow Jira to overwrite Data->Yes/No), which allows if changes done in Jira Align or Jira would overwrite.

But what happens, if two persons are editing at the same time in 1) Jira, or 2) Jira Align.

[Matt Magee · Accepted solution]

Hi Vinay,

Within the Jira Align Administration area, under the Jira Setup tab, you will find the option "Allow Jira to Overwrite Data."

It offers 2 options Yes or No.

When set to "Yes" this has the net effect of making Jira the sole source of all information. Changes made in Jira will always overwrite the Jira Align data. Although, in my opinion it sort of defeats the purpose of using JA. 

When Set to "No", Jira Align will evaluate the date-timestamps (DTS) of all transactions against a given record in both Jira and Jira Align, and play them back in the order received.

I believe the scenario you are implying is the possibility of a record collision.

In this scenario... it is important to understand that DTS goes down to the millisecond.

The probability of both humans completing their respective transactions simultaneously, AND pressing the enter key at the exact same millisecond AND both systems having an identical system clock, make the probability of a collision nearly improbable, although hypothetically possible.

However, it should be noted JA is based upon a relational database. All RDMBS's have  record locking mechanisms and rules. If you are using an on-prem install, you will use the record locking mechanisms in SQL Server, and if JA is served up under AWS platform, you will use the native database there.  The point is that there are actually two mechanisms ( connector record sequencing and database record locking) in place to prevent record collisions. 

[Vinay Sharma]

Thanks @Matt Magee