"same name" custom field makes me confused when trying to add "same name" field to screen

[fabby]

my jira version is JIRA 4.4.1

i add two custom fileds with the same name "FixedVersion",but used for different projects.

one is for project A,the other is for project B

when i want to add the field for project A to one screen ,then i find two field with the name "FixedVersion"

i don't know i shall choose which,two same name field confused me .

so i wonder if i shouldn't create the same name fields?

[Jobin Kuruvilla [Adaptavist] · Accepted solution]

Create different contexts for the same field instead of creating 2 different fields. That will solve your issue.

[fabby]

no,Create different contexts for the same field doesn't help

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Could you explain why contexts won't help you?

[JamieA]

It doesn't help if you need the contexts to have different types, eg short text and long text. In that case you have to go the "punctuation trick" route, with two fields.

[Justin Corcoran]

what do you mean by "different contexts" for the same field? are those different field configurations?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

I know that, I was fishing for why fabby chen didn't get it to work...

[fabby]

Create different contexts for the same field helps,but not if we want the field have different types

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

You should avoid using fields with the same name. You've just documented the main reason for it - there's no way for humans to tell them apart.

However, there are other problems. Most of Atlassian's code works fine for duplicate names (possibly all of it), but I have run into bugs in the past where Jira tripped over on duplicate names. I don't remember seeing anything since about 3.10 though. More importantly - I've run into a number of plugins that simply can't handle duplicate names. For that reason alone, I'd avoid doing duplicate names.

I do cheat a bit though - vary the language slightly, use punctuation and capitalisation - all the problems I've run into with duplicate names have been fixed by naming fields like "Root cause" and "Root Cause" - the capital makes them distinct enough to avoid the problems.

[Yogesh Ranade]

Hi Nic, I ran into same issue with Rank field being duplicated with same name. And there is no way for me to remove data used by wrong Rank field without risking removing data for correct Rank field. Why JIRA allows duplicate field names which are same? To me it looks like a bug. I am on 7.1 server

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

It did not use to allow it, but I think someone messed up and let it through, and now it's a mess for those of us who end up having to deal with it.

Pick one of the fields and rename it.  Something very similar (e.g. keep "Rank", and rename "Rank" to "Rank.".  The renaming does no harm, it's just a label, and you'll be able to see where it's used and how when you do that.

[Yogesh Ranade]

Thanks Nic!! I asked support about it but they are not guaranteeing any data loss or potentially boards breaking down since almost all boards extensively use Rank. But i will give it a try.  

[Isaac Abramowitz]

Your words:
1. We should avoid using fields with the same name because they can't be told apart by humans.

2. A number of plugins can't handle duplicate names.

So why does Jira allow it at all?

I know this is an old thread, but has there been any changes to this specific "bug" (subjectively a bug).

I'm running into similar issues with this right now.

I'm using Jira Server 7.13.0

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

It did not always do it, but one of the upgrades removed the check for some unknown reason.  My guess would be some people who want to make life hell for their users were bypassing the check to make apparent duplicates like "Fred", " Fred", "Fred " and " Fred ", so Atlassian dropped it.

I still argue that allowing it is a bug as it allows people to mess up their data.

[Divya TV]

It gets worse with camel case 

[Radek Kantor]

The same CF names are correct, to differentiate them check IDs. I thonk, that there is no way, how to make this "feature" disabled.