How to search for issues that currently have a blocker comment

[Gabriel Deal]

I am trying to create a filter that shows all issues that have a blocker comment. When I search for `"Blocker Comment[Paragraph]" is not empty` I get issues that have a blocker comment (good), but I also get issues that used to have a blocker comment (bad). So if I add a blocker comment to an issue, then clear the blocker comment out, the filter will still surface that issue.

How do I create a filter that only returns issues that currently have a blocker comment?

[Yuliia_Borivets__SaaSJet_]

Hi @Gabriel Deal 

If you are searching for issues with a blocker comment, you can try to create such a filter in  Dynamic Filters: JQL Replacer addon. It is developed by my SaaSJet team to simplify database queries. All you need is to choose the required data with the help of a visual manager:

As a result, you get comments that show issues only with the content you need.

Hope you find this helpful.

Regards

[Daniel Ebers]

Hi @Gabriel Deal

is there any chance the field was not actually cleared out completely but rather there is some kind of space in it?

You could try to export them from Issue Navigator and look in the export's file (common is a CSV file) if there are any suspicious characters or anything else that is not obvious right now.

Regards,
Daniel

[Gabriel Deal]

I have given up on being able to search by this field and I am at peace with that. So I am not very motivated to follow up on this. But thanks a lot for all your suggestions!

That said, I do not think it is caused by leftover white space.

I just ran this filter:

 "Blocker Comment[Paragraph]" is not EMPTY

Then I clicked on one item from the results.

Here is a screenshot of how Jira displays the field in the issue:

I don't see CSV as an export option, but this is the relevant snippet from the XML export:

<customfield id="customfield_10031" key="com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.customfieldtypes:textarea">
  <customfieldname>Blocker Comment</customfieldname>
  <customfieldvalues>
    <customfieldvalue/>
  </customfieldvalues>
</customfield>

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Gabriel Deal 

There have been many more posts recently about EMPTY tests not working for custom fields (or field shadowing perhaps due to use of team-managed/next-gen projects).  Here is the in-progress defect for that one: https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-76482

The work-around is to use the custom field ID in the query rather than the name.  Maybe give that a try.

Best regards,

Bill

[Thorsten Letschert _Decadis AG_]

Hey @Gabriel Deal ,

once you clear your field (completely), it shouldn't be returned by that search you've mentioned anymore.

Could you please provide additional information regarding the custom field type? Is this a classic or a next-gen project? 

Cheers
Thorsten

[Gabriel Deal]

It is a classic project. Our "blocker comment" custom field is a text field (multi-line) that uses the "Free Text Searcher" search template. (I am new to Jira, so I did not know any of that until your question prompted me to figure it out.)

[Thorsten Letschert _Decadis AG_]

Hey @Gabriel Deal ,

I'm with @Daniel Ebers here - most likely the field is actually not empty? Is the field still visible on an affected issue? If a custom field is empty, it's no longer shown in the issue view.

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Gabriel Deal  -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

If you do not want to purchase an add-on to solve this, you could do the following:

• Ask your site admin to add a custom field for LastComment
• Add an automation rule to your project which saves the LastComment
• Now you may write a JQL search against that new field, LastComment

If you are interested in trying this, here are some sources to get you started.  And if you have follow-up questions, the community can help answer them.

https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/automation-template-library#/label/all/1453

https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Automation-articles/Jira-Automation-all-the-resources-you-need-in-one-page/ba-p/1388465

Best regards,

Bill