Transition linked issues

Owned by Radhika Vijji. (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Aug 01, 2023 by Daniel Barrow

Documentation for JMWE 6.2.0 is available here.

A workflow post-function that triggers a transition on all issues linked to the current issue through a selected link type.

This post-function does not work with remote links (links to Jira issues residing on another Jira instance/server).

To add the 'Transition linked issues' post-function to a transition:

  1. Click Edit for the workflow that has the transition you wish to configure the post-function on.
  2. In the Workflow Designer, select the transition.
  3. Click on Post Functions in the properties panel.
  4. Click on Addpost function.
  5. Select Transition linked issues from the list of post-functions.
  6. Click on Add to add the post-function on the transition.
  7. Specify transition(s) either in the table or as a result of the calculated transitions Groovy script. See below for more information.
  8. Click on Add to add the post-function to the transition.
  9. Select the link from the Issue Link drop-down.
  10. Click on Add to add the post-function to the transition.

Related links :

For information on where the post-function needs to be placed on a transition, see Placing post-functions on a transition.

Refer to the Use cases for post-functions page for use cases for this post-function.

When you add this post-function to a transition and trigger it, the add-on will trigger the first transition encountered, applicable to the linked issue(s) and specified workflow, if any.

You might want to specify multiple transitions if the linked issues can be in different statuses and/or use different workflows.

Transition(s)

Trigger one of the following transitions

Input the transition name(s) or id(s) and optionally the workflow name manually or using the Transition picker. If you do not specify the workflow name (manually) the app will not check for a specific workflow. The app triggers the first transition specified in the table that is applicable to the issue in context.

To pick a transition using the Transition picker:

  • Click on Transition picker
  • Choose a workflow from Workflow name
  • Select a transition from the list of transitions displayed
  • Finally, click on either
    • Use Transition Name - recommended if you want the post-function to search for the transition to trigger by name, which is useful when targeting multiple workflows.
    • Use Transition ID - if you want to differentiate between transitions that bear the same name.
  • Click on Add.

To remove a transition: Click on the Remove link for the specific transition

To reorder transitions: Select and move the transition in the table to reorder the list


Trigger a calculated transition

Input a Groovy script that returns transition name(s) or id(s) and optionally the workflow name. To specify the workflow name, write a Groovy script that returns the transition name or ID along with the workflow name separated by @@. Eg: "Done@@HR workflow". To specify multiple transitions, write a Groovy script that returns a collection of transition names or IDs. Eg: ["Done","44@@Employee workflow"]

Options

  • Skip workflow conditions

Ignores the workflow conditions on the triggered transition, if any.

  • Skip workflow validators

Ignores the workflow validators on the triggered transition, if any.

  • Skip permission check

Skips the check whether the current or the "run as" user (explained below) has the appropriate permissions to trigger the transition.

Note that you can use this function to transition,

  • The parent issue of a sub-task by using the built-in is Parent of link type and vice versa using the is subtask of link type
  • The Epic of an issue by using the built-in is Epic of link type and vice-versa using the has Epic of link type.

"Relates to" link type

Beware of the default "relates to" link type, which can cause confusion. The problem stems from the fact that "relates to" is both the inward direction and the outward direction of the "Relates" link type. We recommend that you rename one of the directions to "is related to" to avoid confusion. This can be done on the Issue Linking Jira admin page.

Transition screen

If the triggered transition on the linked issue(s) uses a transition screen you might want/need to provide a value for fields(such as Resolution) present on the screen. Look below to know how to add/set/remove fields.

  • To add a field: Select a field from the list of fields and click on Add.
  • To Remove an added field: Click on Remove to remove a field.
  • To Set a field value: 
    • Copy value from current issue: Copies the field value(s) from the current issue.
    • Set field value to constant or Groovy template: You can set the field to a constant value that can optionally include the result of a Groovy template. For example: 
      • To set the Fix Version/s to 2.0, you can specify 2.0 in the value box. 
      • To set the Description of the issue, you can specify This bug has been raised by <%=issue.get("reporter").getName()%> with <%=issue.get("priority").getName()%> priority. Act accordingly. in the value box.
    • Set field value from Groovy Expression: You can set the field to the result of a Groovy expression. For example: To set the Assignee to the Reporter of the issue, you can specify issue.get("reporter") in the value box.

See the Expected Value tab of the Groovy help editor or refer to the documentation to know more about the expected value of the selected field.

Note that you can also set fields that do not appear on the transition screen.

Likewise, you might also want to provide a comment during that transition:

  • Comment type: The text of the comment can either be a

    • Text or Groovy template: A fixed text that can include a Groovy template markup that can be used as the comment body. For example, The issue will be resolved on or before <%= issue.duedate%> by <%issue.assignee%>.

    • Groovy Expression: A Groovy expression whose return value (of type String) will be used as the comment body. For example, issue.get("description") will add the description of the issue to the issue as a comment.

  • Comment text: Text that will be used as the comment body, which can either be a fixed text or the result of a Groovy expression or the result of a Groovy template.

  • Comment visibility

    • Restrict to Group: Restricts the visibility of the comment to a specified group. When you select a valid group name in the Restrict to Group field, the comment will be visible only to the members of the specified group. For no restriction, leave the field blank.
    • Restrict to Project Role: Restricts the visibility of the comment to a selected project role. When you select a project role from the drop-down Restrict to Project Role field, the comment will be visible only to the members of the selected project role. For no restriction, leave the field blank.

Run as

  • Run as user

Any user specified in this field will be the author of the transition triggered by the post-function. Leave it blank for the current user to be the author. This option is useful if the current user doesn't have the permission to transition the linked issue(s).

Conditional execution

To execute this post-function based on the result of a groovy expression see Conditional execution using Groovy expression.

Error Handling

By default, all errors (Java Exceptions) raised by this post-function, including those raised by custom Groovy scripts, will be logged in the JIRA log file but will not be reported to the user and will not prevent the transition from completing. 

However, when designing new workflows or troubleshooting them, it is more convenient to be notified immediately of any such error during the execution of the transition. On development and staging Jira instances, you can activate error reporting for all JMWE post-functions on the JMWE configuration page, and it is recommended to do so. But on production Jira instances, you might want to show errors only for the post-function(s) being worked on, in order to avoid disrupting other workflows. To make errors raised by the current post-function prevent the transition from completing and show the error in the browser, select Make transition fail when an error occurs in this post-function.