Copy field value from parent issue (Deprecated)

Owned by Daniel Barrow
Last updated: Oct 12, 2023
4 min read

This post-function is obsolete. While you may continue using this post function, which will not be removed from JMWE, we recommend you use the more powerful Copy issue fields instead for new automations.

A workflow post-function that sets the value(s) of a selected field with value(s) from the same/different field of an issue's parent issue.

To add the 'Copy field value from parent 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 on Post Functions in the properties panel.

  4. Click on Add post function.

  5. Select Copy field value from parent issue from the list of post-functions.

  6. Click on Add to add the post-function on the transition.

  7. Select the field from the Field drop-down.

  8. Select the destination field from the Destination field drop-down. See below for information on this option.

  9. Click on Add to add the post-function to the transition.

  10. After adding, move the post-function to the appropriate position according to Placing post-functions in a transition document.

See here for a case for this post-function

Known issues common to all post-functions:

Troubleshooting this post-function configuration: In case the post-function does not work as expected these are the things to look out for

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 the transition, the add-on sets the value(s) of the selected field to the value(s) from the same/different field of the issue's parent issue.

Options

  • Destination field: Allows copying to a different field than the source field. For example, automatically add the Reporter of the parent Epic to the Watchers of a User Story. Note that if the source field is read-only, you cannot select Same as source field in this option.

  • Copy only if not set: Copies the value of the selected field, only when the field is empty on the current issue.

  • Create missing value(s): Allows creating any missing Component/s or Version/s while setting or copying a field that expects Versions or Components. Note this is applicable for version and component fields.

  • Ignore empty value: Will not set (clear) the selected field of the current issue, if the value from the parent issue is empty or null.

  • Add parent value(s) to the current issue: Appends the selected field of the current issue with value(s) from the same/different field of its parent issue. This is applicable only to multi-valued fields.

  • Send notifications: JIRA sends notifications for the change in the selected field value on the current issue. You can control the default value of the "Send notifications" option in the Configuration page under JMWE administration. Click here for more information.

Conditional execution

To execute this post-function based on the result of a Nunjucks template see Conditional execution.

Run As

  • Run as current user: The current user will be the author of the field change.

  • Run as add-on user: The add-on user will be the author of the field change. 

  • Run as this user: Any user selected in this field will be the author of the field change.

Running this post-function as any user other than the "Add-on user" is discouraged

If you select any option other than "Run as add-on user", so that the change appears to be done by the current user or a specific user, the following must be true:

  • The destination field must be present on the Edit screen applicable to the issue being modified

  • The selected user must have the Edit issues permission on the issue being modified

Delayed execution

Use case

A typical use case for this post-function is to set the value(s) of a selected field with value(s) from the same/different field of an issue's parent issue. Consider a use case where you want to copy the Fix Versions of the subtask from the parent. To configure this:

  • Add the Copy field value from parent issue post-function to the Create transition of the sub-task workflow.

  • Select Fix Version/sin Source Field.

  • Select Same as source field in the Destination field.

Refer here for more use cases