Jira field mirroring

[Sam Newman]

Hello is it possible to have a custom field in a subtask mirror the value of a field in the parent task?  Such that when the parent field is updated, the subtask field is also updated?  

I am trying to set up project codes in tasks and sub tasks.  I can set a subtask field to inherit from the parent, but if the parent field changes, the subtask field is now out of date.   I could hack the subtask workflow transitions to update the field whet the subtask changes states, but I'm wondering if there is a supported way to mirror fields like this. 

I am using JIRA OnDemand, or Cloud or whatever.

Thanks!

-SN

[cgauterio · Accepted solution]

Hi Sam,

I'm afraid there's no other way to do that in Cloud, it would have to be through a post function in JIRA workflow transitions.

Cheers,

Clarissa.

[Sam Newman]

Thanks for the info.  In my case I added the "Set field to Parent" post transition function in all the transitions in the subtask workflow.  So it will update the field eventually, but there will be some edge cases where the subtask will lag behind a changed Parent.  In my case we are using a custom filed to track a Project Code that determines where time is billed.  So it is possible for a subtask to have an incorrect Project Code value when time is logged against it.  As long as a transition happens before that time is billed against the project, it should be ok.  I think this will be a rare occurrence. 

[Bill Latham]

Hey, Sam – one klunky option is a workflow transition called "Return for Reset" where you don't really change anything (other than going back to your initial workflow state), then you launch your initial workflow step again (which can rewrite the values set in post functions when it was first created).  It's labor intensive but if you have more than one field that needs resetting, it might make sense to consider.

Regards,

Bill