Script Snippets Code

Owned by Jonathan Muse
Last updated: Mar 12, 2024
8 min read

There are two types of snippets code. Syntax snippets contain code that is used to create common code syntaxes like loops or conditional statements. Functional snippets consist of code that is used to perform a function or operation such as creating a new Jira issue.

Please note that many script snippets contain notes or information that is commented out. These notes contain important information for the script user but can make the script look longer and more complicated then it actually is. If these comments are distracting to see they can be removed without impacting the script.

Comments are lines of code that start with “//” or “/*”.

Syntax Snippets

Syntax snippets are helpful for new or experienced script creators who are looking to quickly add functionality to a script without typing and without memorizing the specific syntax. They do not perform any action by themselves but can easily be combined with a functional snippet to create a custom script.

FOR loop objects - inserts the basic syntax for a loop that iterates through an object such as an array or array of structs. This is commonly used when importing data from CSV for JSON. See the documentation about FOR loops for more information.

for(string s in array_of_string) { // do something }

FOR loop with index - inserts the basic syntax for a loop that iterates a fixed number of times using an index. See the documentation about FOR loops for more information.

for(int i = 0; i < size(array); i++) { // do something }

IF - ELSE - The most common conditional logic statement will be used in almost any script. See the documentation about IF - ELSE statements for more information.

if(condition) { // do something } else { // do something else }

WHILE - A less popular type of loop then the FOR loop but no less important. This form evaluates the condition first and then executes the instructions in the body. See the documentation about WHILE loops for more information.

DO WHILE - A less popular type of loop than the FOR loop and even less popular than the WHILE loop. Similar to the WHILE loop except the condition is evaluated after the execution of the encapsulated block. So, even if the condition is false, the instructions will still be evaluated once. See the documentation about DO WHILE loops for more information.

Functional Snippets

Unlike the syntax based snippets, functional snippets actually perform an action or an operation to achieve a desired outcome.

General

General script snippets are scripts that don’t fit into a specific category. This does not mean they are any less useful only that they may not be triggered from a specific place.

When scripts are not triggered from an issue as part of a workflow or other automation trigger it can change how the script is written. Some scripts are written so that they update multiple issues in bulk. It is important to understand how issue context works. For more information about scripts using the issue context the Issue Context and Default Script Context documentation page.

Create an issue - Create a new issue in Jira using the createIssue() function. This function is popularly used in postfunctions for creating subtasks.

Bulk change issues - A very useful bit of code, this snippet uses standard Jira JQL to select issues using the selectIssues() function. Then, the issues are iterated over using a loop giving the script creator to perform some type of scripted change to each issue that was selected. This type of script is very useful for scheduled scripts such as escalation scripts, scripts that can be used in the SIL Runner gadget, or ad-hoc scripts run directly from the SIL Manager.

Select a row from a table - This script is a basic example of the code needed to select a single row of data from a database. Please note that a data source configuration is required for this script to function.

Select multiple rows from a table - This script is a basic example of the code needed to select multiple rows of data from a database. Please note that a data source configuration is required for this script to function.

Send email - A basic example of how to send an email from a SIL script. Please note that the mail configuration must be in place in order to send emails. A quick way to test sending emails is to set the mail configuration to Container Sender. See the mail configuration documentation for more information.

Current Issue

Script snippets under the current issue category are focused on reading/writing data to Jira issues. They can be executed in a variety of different methods including workflow triggers and listeners.

Change the issue - An example for changing or updating fields on an issue. For more information about accessing data for regular Jira fields or custom fields see the Variable Resolution documentation page.

Subtasks - An example for accessing and iterating through the subtasks for an issue. This is useful for keeping data and statuses in sync between subtasks and the parent issue.

Linked issues - An example for accessing and iterating through the linked issues for an issue. This is useful for keeping data and statuses in sync between linked issues and the main issue.

Attachments - An example for accessing and iterating through the attachments for an issue. This could be useful in condition or validator scripts that check to see if an attachment has been added to the issue.

Add a comment - Example code for adding a comment to an issue. This can be useful for informing users of changes or updates that were performed by script automation so they are aware of the changes.

Listeners

Listener scripts are very similar to workflow scripts with the difference being on how they are triggered. Listeners can be triggered for many other events then the workflow is capable of triggering, such as when a field is updated on an issue. For more information about configuring listeners see the SIL Listeners documentation page.

React to a field change only - This listener snippet contains code that will only be executed if a specific field was updated as part of the change event.

React to multiple field changes - This listener snippet contains code that will be executed if any change is detected on the issue. The code can be further refined to respond to specific change types as needed.

Workflows

Workflow snippets contain examples of scripts that would be triggered from a workflow. This includes condition scripts, validator scripts, and postfunction scripts. For more information about adding automation to workflows see the Workflow Automation documentation page.

Simple postfunction - This snippet gives example code for a simple postfunction. One of the most popular places for adding scripted automation postfunction scripts are good for setting custom field values automatically. For more information about accessing data for regular Jira fields or custom fields see the Variable Resolution documentation page.

Postfunction to increase priority - This snippet gives example code for setting the priority as part of a postfunction.