Text Field (read only)

[Antoine]

I don't understand how this field works, i can't set any value ..

Is someone know ?

Untitled.png ‏10 KB

[Nic Brough [Adaptavist] · Accepted solution]

It's a bit buried in the docs, but it is there - the field "can only be set by code or when importing".  There is no code for setting it in the core of JIRA (apart from the import option), you have to find or write an add-on to do it.

What are you trying to use the field for?  I ask because there may be a better option - a lot of people try to set this field when they want to put text on screen - this would unnecessarily fill up your database with lots of static duplicated data, and won't come out on the "edit" type screens anyway.  There's a different answer to that.

[Antoine]

Thank you for your answer Nic, what I want to do is display on the issue creation screen, a read-only field including a link to a documentation page.
So I thought to do so via this type of field

[Antoine]

Untitled.png

Like this

[Nic Brough [Adaptavist]]

Ok, a read-only text field won't work - they only show up on issue-view and searches. 

Is that going to be the same url every time, or is it going to vary by issue/project?

[Antoine]

For now it should be the same link, but if the need arises there will be the possibility to create a new field

[Nic Brough [Adaptavist]]

Ok, there's a long-standing answer to this one (since JIRA 2). 

• Install the (well supported and free) JIRA Toolkit add-on. 
• Add a new custom field of type "message field for edit"
• Place it on the "create issue" screen (and others if needed)
• Set the default value to your text
• You probably need to mess with the formatting of the string a little bit, injecting simple html to get the layout right

It will appear on create (and whereever else you've added it), and you can change it later if you need to.  And you can add more of them if you want.  The field doesn't add data to issues, it's just some code that says "display the default value as a string" rather than a real field.

[Antoine]

And can i do it for a simple string ? Not URL etc .. ?

[Antoine]

Thanks for your answer, i'm going to try ! 

[Nic Brough [Adaptavist]]

Any string you want.  In fact, I'd just get a simple "hello world" in there first to see where it lands, and then start adding formatting and real data later.

[Antoine]

It's Perfect !  

[roniz]

after installing the Toolkit add-on im trying to add a new custom field but cant find the type of ""message field for edit"

[Krzysztof Hotiuk]

Hi,

in jira software, works fine.. Any idea how to reach this in customer portal in jira SD?

custom field both types (view and edit) are as empty and editable field when shown on portal :(

regards,

Krzysztof

[Joanne Dinh]

@Krzysztof Hotiuk - not sure if this is what you are after:

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JSDSERVER-570

This refer to 'Help and instructions' field for an issue type. I use it to display text and get people to confirm read.