Looking to create a "return to previous step" transition.

[Doug Noel]

I have created a "Need More Info" state for tickets in Jira. I want to be able to move a ticket from anywhere in the process to that state and reassign it to the person who needs to answer the question. I then want the only action from that point to be "return this back to where it was", along with re-assigning it to the previous owner. Is this possible?

[Jeff Scarsbrook · Accepted solution]

It's not the optimal answer, but there is a Global Transition that you can put on your workflow. One of the options for a global transition is to "Return to Step". Essentially, it allows a user to click a "Return to Step" button and that global transition can be tied to a view. So, when the user clicks the button, you can create a Need More Info screen where you just include the fields that would be important (probably one or more "description" type fields, as well as a More Info Person field described below). Then, when it is saved, the issue is in the same state that it started at.

The main problem would be that the person who is working that issue that needs more info is obviously not the person that would be providing the info. So, the person that needs to provide the info would need to be contacted so they would know to go update the issue. You could add a More Info Person field that you could enter with the name of the person that you need more info from and set up the notification scheme to send an email to that user. Then, when the person with the info goes into the issue and clicks the "Return to Step" button described above, they could enter the appropriate additional info, as well as clear out the More Info Person field, so they no longer get those emails (unless more info is required again from the same person later in the issue).

I know it's not the most intuitive solution, and hopefully somebody will come up with the "perfect" solution for you. If not, at least this option should provide you with similar functionality. Obviously, I would imagine that you would rename the Return to Step button to be something more like Enter Additional Info or whatever makes the most sense for you, but that's easy to do on the Global Transition edit screen. I hope this helps.

[Doug Noel]

I was aware of the Global Transition, but hadn't thought of using it that way. That is a good alternative. I will mull it over, thanks. I'm basically trying to build in advanced logic, and I realize that. I'm just not sure it's possible. I'm not even sure how much setup time I would need to modify the code. That's osmething I'm capable of, but I'm in a time crunch. I need this function to be working when I go live with the system next week. Thanks for your thoughts.

[Jeff Scarsbrook]

Doug, I understand where you're coming from. I suppose you could implement something like my workaround very quickly to have in place at go-live time, and roll out your longer-term solution using customized code once you get that in place shortly after go-live. Unfortunately, I've been using the OnDemand version, so I don't have a quick answer for you as far as the specific custom code to use and where to put it. However, we are planning on migrating to the installed version in the next month or two, so I would love to see any custom-code solution that you are able to find, since I could see us implementing something like that. Right now, we only use the Need More Info at the beginning of the process (ie after an issue is created, we either Approve it, Reject it, or Require Additional Info if there's not enough details listed), so we don't have the problem of hitting the Need More Info screen from multiple places. However, that does sound like an interesting concept.

Good luck!

[Doug Noel]

If I come up with something I'll post it here. For now I decided to create a 'Need More Info' transition from 'Open', 'In Progress', 'Ready for QA' and 'QA'. In the first two, the developers made need additional information, either before they start or after they get into the process. I then have a 'Answer Developer Question' button to send it back. I created a common 'Need More Info' transition screen that allows assignment, a comment and the option to log time. Then from 'Ready for QA' you can send it back to the developer for questions regarding moving the fix into the environment for our Release Management group, and then once in QA the tester can send it back to whoever logged the issue or the developer if they cannot figure out how to test it.

As I write this I'm wondering if having three separate Statuses of 'Need More Info' might solve my problem. That way the transition options would be limited.

[Doug Noel]

I accepted your answer, as this is the best solution I have gotten.

[Sam Newman]

As far as I can tell there is no "Return to Step" option in global transitions. Where do I find this?