Link issues to the current issue

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Link issues to the current issue

A post-function that will link the current issue to all issues that satisfy a parameterized JQL query.

Link Issues to the Current Issue configuration screen
Figure 1 - Link issues to the current issue

To add 'Link issues to the current issue' post-function to a transition: 

  1. Click Edit for the workflow that has the transition you wish to add the post-function on.

  2. In the Workflow Designer, select the transition.

  3. Click Post Functions in the properties panel (or select the Post Functions tab).

  4. Click Add post function.

  5. Select Link issues to the current issue from the list of post-functions.

  6. Click Add. The Link issue fields to the current issue screen will open, where you can configure the post function as needed. See below for more details on specific configurations.

JMWE shows an error message on the issue view if any error occurs during the execution of the post-function. This message is displayed only if the current user is a Jira administrator. 

When you add this post-function to a transition and trigger it, the add-on links the current issue to the specified number of issues that satisfy the specified parameterized JQL query.

Issues to link

  • JQL Filter - Input a JQL expression that returns the issues to link to the current issue. You can insert issue, transition, currentUser and now variables in your JQL expression and test it using the JQL expression tester provided in this post-function.

    Examples:

    • project = TEST returns the issues of the project whose key is TEST

    • assignee is EMPTY returns all the unassigned issues.

    • project=TEST order by created desc returns the issues of the project whose key is TEST in descending order by Created time

To specify a condition on a user, you need to specify an accountId without the accountId: prefix. For example: assignee = 557058:472c64c9-2567-4213-839b-86bf21558300. You can access the prefix-less accountId of a user through the _accountId property.

Note: If the current issue satisfies the specified JQL query, an error is logged because you cannot link an issue with itself.

Examples:

project = {{ issue.fields.project.key }} and assignee = {{currentUser._accountId}}
{% if issue.fields.assignee %} assignee = {{issue.fields.assignee._accountId}} {% else %} issuekey=INVALID-1 {% endif %}

You can find more information about searching for Jira issues using JQL here: Advanced searching and Search Jira like a boss with JQL.

  • Max. Issues - Input the maximum number of issues that the JQL expression should return. The value cannot be more than 50.

  • Nunjucks condition - Select this option to filter the issues returned by the JQL search. Input a Nunjucks template in the Filter Expression that returns true if the issue returned by the JQL search should be linked to the current issue. The filter script is evaluated for each issue returned by the JQL search, in turn, and that issue is available through the targetIssue variable. This is especially useful when you want to filter linked issues that cannot be filtered using the JQL.

    For example, filtering issues refining a text search with an exact match that cannot be done with JQL. For example to check for issues with summary ~ "MacBook Pro" the JQL returns all issues with “MacBook” and “Pro” in the summary (say, “MacBook for Pro users”). In such a case, you should be using the “Filter Expression” to filter issues that have “MacBook Pro” in the summary with a Nunjucks template as follows:

{{ issue.fields.summary.includes("MacBook Pro") }}

Link type

  • Issue Link Type - Select the link type to be created between the current issue and the issues returned from the JQL expression.

Advanced options

Run As

This option enables you to configure as which Jira user the post-function will run.

  • Current user - The current user will be the author of the action.

  • Add-on user - The add-on user will be the author of the action. 

  • Selected user - The user in the Select user field will be the author of the action.

    • Select user - Only available when Selected user is set. Select a user from the pull-down menu. Enter a name to search for a specific user account.

  • User in selected field - The user value from the Select field field.

    • Select field - Only available when User in selected field is set. Select a User Picker field; if you select a User Picker (multiple users) field, only the first user will be used.

  • User from script - The user value returned from a Nunjucks script.

If you select any option other than Run as add-on user, so that the assignment appears to be done by the current user or a specific user, the selected user will need to have the Edit Issues permission for the issue being updated.

Conditional execution

Conditional Execution

It is possible to configure the post-function to execute (or not execute) only in specific circumstances. The Conditional execution option sets this behavior:

  • Run this post-function only if a condition is verified: Select this option to execute this post-function based on the result of a Nunjucks template. See Conditional execution for more information.

    • Condition: This option only displays when Run this post-function only if a condition is verified, above, is checked. Enter the Nunjucks template as needed.

 

Delayed execution

Post functions are provided with an option to delay execution for a set number of seconds using the Delayed execution option (Figure 1, right). To delay execution, select the number of seconds to wait until the post-function is run; any value between 1 second (the default) up to a maximum of 20 seconds can be selected.

Workflows that depend on post functions being executed in a specific order can fail due to the asynchronous nature of Connect post-functions in Jira Cloud. One workaround is to delay the execution of a post-function, thereby creating a more predictable execution order. For example, on the approval of a Story you want to create sub-tasks and immediately transition them; in this case, you will have to delay the execution of the Transition Linked Issues post-function, so that the sub-tasks are created before they are transitioned. See the sample use case, below.

Where possible, it is recommended to use the Sequence of post-functions post-function or Shared action post-function to execute a series of post-functions in a specific sequence instead of applying a delay.

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