Tracking field changes for reporting purposes?

[Paul Madison]

In JSM, we have managers that want to track changes to the Components field for reporting purposes.

Has anyone done anything like this?

[Mark Segall · Accepted solution]

Hi @Paul Madison - There are marketplace apps that can help with this, but if you want something native, you could do something with a custom field and automation.

1. Create a paragraph field to store the log of changes.  For this example, I'm calling mine Component Log and I've set the field configuration to use wiki renderer so I can make it look a little prettier.
2. Create an automation rule to populate the new field:
   • TRIGGER: Field Value Changed (Component)
   • IF CONDITION: Component Log is empty
     • ACTION: Edit Field (Component Log)

       • ||Date||Previous Component||New Component||Changed By||
         |{{now}}|{{fieldChange.fromString}}|{{fieldChange.toString}}|

   • ELSE
     • ACTION: Edit Field (Component Log)

       • {{issue.Component Log}}
         |{{now}}|{{fieldChange.fromString}}|{{fieldChange.toString}}|
         

3. Create a filter that will serve as the backend for a dashboard that can present this info:

   • "Component Log" IS NOT EMPTY

4. Use the Filter Results gadget with the key and Component Log fields displayed

[Christian Bellmore]

Hi @Mark Segall! Thank you so much for this. We started using these for our projects and they worked like a charm!

I was just curious though: is it possible for these logs to show data prior to when the automation was created? We only started using these a few days ago, so the data we have is only from then. Is there a way to change this so it can show data from, for example, 30 days before?

[Mark Segall]

Hi @Christian Bellmore - I think it's possible, but a bit out of my skillset.  You would need to hit the changelog through the API by using the Send Web Request action. Then you'd have to iterate through the response to recreate the log table mentioned above.

[Christian Bellmore]

@Mark Segall Okay, thank you so much for your help!