Custom Field [Label] where is EMPTY is Returning All Issues

[Arlan LaVoie]

We are using JIRA next-gen and have added a custom field (called Affected version) for defects.  The problem is, when I query for records without a value, it returns ALL the issues!

The query is simple: project = "CC" AND Type = Defect AND "Affected Version[Labels]" is EMPTY ORDER BY created DESC

I've done this many times in JIRA Server, so I'm very confused.  Why is it doing this?

[Bill Sheboy · Accepted solution]

Hi @Arlan LaVoie  -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

You note adding a custom field called Affected Version.  What is the field type for that one?

There is already a built-in field called affectedVersion.  What is the need for a new field?

If your new field is a text type, there is definitely an existing/open defect for IS EMPTY not working if the field has *ever* had a value before.  (Atlassian is working on fixing that one...)  If that fits your use case, you could try this:

project = "CC"
 AND Type = Defect
 AND "Affected Version[Labels]" = ""
 ORDER BY created DESC

Best regards,

Bill

[Arlan LaVoie]

Thanks for the response.  The field type is "Labels".  I added it because I could not find an existing field for affectedVersion.  This is on JIRA Next-Gen and I just checked again to be sure, but it's not there for me.

[Bill Sheboy]

Yup, I just found the suggestion to add that field for Next-Gen (now called Team-Managed Projects).  You may watch/vote for it here:

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JSWCLOUD-18747

Did that query help?

[Arlan LaVoie]

Unfortunately it did not.  That query return 0 issues (I have one that is empty so it should have found it.  I'm not sure how to deal with this - I have no way to identify when people forget to set that value.

[Bill Sheboy]

After some backlog checking, I wonder if you are facing this issue related to project-level custom fields: https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-76482

If so, the work-around is to use the custom field number rather than the name in the query.  Please let me know if that helps you.  Thanks!

[Arlan LaVoie]

I'd love to try that - do you know where to find the cf ID in Next-Gen?  I'm looking in Issue Types area where you set them up - but it doesn't appear anywhere.

[Arlan LaVoie]

Well rats.  I found the cf ID via the API  and tried it, but it also returned all the issues (even those with a value in the field.

[Bill Sheboy]

You could ask your site admin for it, or quickly call the REST API.  Here's how to do that:

• Find an issue in your Next-Gen project that has a value in the field
• Make this REST API call in a browser tab to grab the JSON, substituting in your company and issue key:

myCompanyJira.atlassian.net/rest/api/2/issue/myTestIssueKey?expand=names

• Search the results for your custom field name.  There should be a custom field number near it.
• Using that custom field number, search again to confirm you see the value you expected
• With that confirmed, you can now use the custom field number in query to test for IS EMPTY

[Bill Sheboy]

Well, that is unfortunate.  At this point I am unclear what else to try.  If you are on a paid-instance of Jira (Standard or Premier, not Free), I recommend asking your site admin to submit an incident to Atlassian here: https://support.atlassian.com/contact/#/

You have enough diagnosis steps and have tried their work-arounds, so perhaps they can see something in your instance that we are missing. 

Once you hear back from them, please consider posting back here so the community can learn too.  Thanks!

[Arlan LaVoie]

Thanks much for your help - Arlan