Unable to use Parent in Two Dimensional Gadget (new Gen JIRA project)

[Sapna Mogili]

Unable to select Parent in X / Y axis in New Gen JIRA Projects in Cloud version in Two Dimensional Gadget, something similar to EPIC Link in Classic Projects used in Two Dimensional Gadget data

[Stephen Wright _Elabor8_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @Sapna Mogili 

Best option I've found it to use a workaround - in this case, a custom field and an automation rule

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What I did was:

• Add a custom label field to the Epic - "Epic Reference"
• Populate the "Epic Reference" for each Epic with a short name (manually)
• Add the same field to each child issue type
• Populate "Epic Reference" on child issues using an automation rule

The custom label field can be used on the dashboard gadget. You could also use a drop-down field if you prefer not to have underscores or hyphens in the names, although an Admin would need to add options each time a new Epic is added.

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The automation rule is a little more complex than usual. I'd usually use "Issue Updated" as the trigger, but a parent change in Next-Gen isn't classed as an update. Neither can you check for a modification to the parent itself.

These are the two options I found.

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Option 1 - Second Field:

1. Go to Project Settings > Issue Types
2. Create a custom field on a child issue - I used a checkbox. Give it a name/option related to automation, such as Automation (name) Activate (option).
3. Place the custom field on all child issue types
4. Next, go to Project Settings > Apps > Project Automation
5. Press the "Create Rule" button in the top-right
6. For the Trigger, use Issue Updated
7. Add an Action, use Edit Issue - choose to set "Epic Reference" - and for the value, select "Copy from Epic"
8. Add a second Action, use Edit Issue - choose to set "Automation" (custom field from Step 2) - and for the value, leave it blank to clear it

^ The way this rule would work is:

• Change the parent for an issue
• When doing so, also "check" the custom field from Step 2
• The rule activates and copies the "Epic Reference" from the Epic to the child
• The second action removes the value from the custom field from Step 2 so it's blank again

I used a custom field rather than the trigger "Manual Trigger" as I could place the custom field at the top of the context section - whilst automation is a fixed section part-way down the page.

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Option 2 - Schedule:

1. Go to Project Settings > Apps > Project Automation
2. Press the "Create Rule" button in the top-right
3. For the Trigger, use Scheduled - schedule the rule within a timeframe (eg. every 1 days) - and check the "Run a JQL search..." box. Use the JQL: issuetype != Epic
4. Add an Action, use Edit Issue - choose to set "Epic Reference" - and for the value, select "Copy from Epic"

^ The way this rule would work is:

• Each time the rule is scheduled to run, it would locate all issues which are not Epics
• It would then copy the "Epic Reference" from the parent Epic to all children
• This rule will run a little slower as it'll be checking / actioning against a lot more issues. There might also be a delay between a parent change and "Epic Reference" update, depending on when you schedule the rule to run
• But, it is more automated than Option 1 - and it can be run manually from the automation settings screen if needed

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This isn't an ideal option - it relies on you creating a custom field, which you set manually at Epic-level and then uses one of two automation rule options, neither of which utilise direct triggers.

But it does allow you to use Next-Gen and receive the result in the Two Dimensional Filter Gadget you're looking for :)

Ste

[Sapna Mogili]

That's wonderful @Stephen Wright _Elabor8_ .. I would definitely try it.. Second option looks just enough for me. Good workaround to leverage Next Gen features along with the erst while reporting..  Thanks a ton! 

[Stephen Wright _Elabor8_]

Hi @Sapna Mogili 

Awesome - give it a go and let us know if it works!

Ste

[Sapna Mogili]

Thats did work @Stephen Wright _Elabor8_ . Option 2 has come really handy.. Cool! 

[Deleted user]

Hi, I am facing this issue. I have replicated the steps however the rule has the following errors

Found multiple fields with the same name and type: .
Epic Reference xxx
No fields or field values to edit for issues (could be due to some field values not existing in a given project):

I found on another thread that copy from parent or epic does not work in Next Gen project... 
Can any one shed some light here, for those who the automation rules is actually working? Thanks

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @[deleted] 

Would you please post images of the rule you are using and the audit log details of the rule execution?  That may provide some context for the community to offer suggestions.  Thanks!

Kind regards,
Bill

[Deleted user]

Hi Bill, I found the issue. I had created two separate 'Epic Reference' fields one for the Epic and one for the child issue type, what I had to do was to create the custom field only once and use the same on the child issue. Now the automation rule is working, however the custom field 'Epic Reference' is not coming up for selection on the Two Dimensional Filter Gadget on a next gen project :| . What am I missing? thanks.

[Bill Sheboy]

I believe the two-dimensional filter gadget can only operate on option/list fields, and your custom field may not be of that type.  Is it a text field?

[Deleted user]

It is a text field. I'll try to change it.. I hope Next Gen gets this feature soon, hard to mantain when you have many Epics

[Deleted user]

vote here for this feature to be implemented: https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRASERVER-67418?error=login_required&error_description=Login+required&state=3f38f110-691f-42e3-b261-340fcdf016ce

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Sapna Mogili 

How about this approach:

• Make a filter for the epic (s) you care about and save it
• Add the pie chart gadget to a dashboard, selecting the filter and use the Statistic Type of Status.
• You could create a separate pie chart for each epic, as needed

That should work for just one Next-Gen board. If you need to include multiple boards it will not work due to the change to make the status values different for different boards in Next-Gen (...I believe).

Best regards,

Bill

[Sapna Mogili]

Thanks Bill!!!

Yeah.. That's the option doable with one or two epics.. We are looking at 12 to 20 epics to be working on in one next-gen project /board.. and we need a single dashboard (at the moment) giving the status / progress across 20 epics. 

[John Funk]

Hi Sapna - Next-gen uses a different function for Parent (Epic) Links than Classic does. There are some issues around using that in Automation For Jira and I suspect you will not be able to use it for gadgets either right now. 

[Sapna Mogili]

Thanks John for the prompt response. Given the scenario, what is the best way as of now to report the progress of stories across EPICs on a dashboard .. eg (10 stories under an EPIC is "Done" , 5 stories in "To Do" , 2 in "In Progress" ) such data across 12 EPICS we have in the new Gen project, 

[John Funk]

Move to Classic Projects???  Not sure with Next-gen