How to duplicate issue rank when cloned

[PJB]

I have a number of issues which are cloned as part of "Project automation" rule when a new Sprint is started.  I have then correctly ranked in my Backlog however when the cloned issues are added to the new Sprint they are not correctly ranked.

Any recommendations on the most appropriate way to achieve this (other than through manual intervention of course)?

Thanks in advance!

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

There's a technical sticking point on this - by definition, you cannot clone a rank.  The rank is an indicator that says I am above this one and below that one, but it is a singleton - two issues cannot have the same rank. 

So, when you clone an issue, you need to have some rules about what happens to the ranking.  My personal instinct would be to rank it between the cloned-from issue and the issue currently just below the cloned-from issue, but that might not be right for you, and I do not know what Atlassian have implemented.

Could you tell us what you would expect it to do, and what you are seeing it do with the cloned rank?

[PJB]

Hello Nic, thanks for responding.

Fair point re: cloning the rank, I should have articulated my problem more clearly. I understand the rank value cannot be cloned.

While sitting in the backlog I've placed the issues in a specific order. When I start a new sprint and the project automation rules to clone the backlog issues triggers I want the new, cloned, issues to represent in the sprint board with the same rank/order.

So, when you clone an issue, you need to have some rules about what happens to the ranking.  My personal instinct would be to rank it between the cloned-from issue and the issue currently just below the cloned-from issue, but that might not be right for you, and I do not know what Atlassian have implemented.

I think I understand what you mean, if I have 3 x ranked issues (. ISSUE-1, ISSUE-2 and ISSUE-3) and when I clone them I set the rank for the cloned issue as rankafterissue or something?

Could you tell us what you would expect it to do, and what you are seeing it do with the cloned rank?

I haven't really tried to clone the rank value. I initially wondered whether I could manually set it with the set entity properties action (e.g. with a smart value coupled with an arithmetic increment increase) but apart from my initial attempts not working I feel it is fundamentally the wrong way to go about it. So I have abandoned that approach.

[PJB]

Bugger, I thought I may have worked it out today. Waiting till this evening to try it but no luck. I thought if I ensure the issues are correctly ranked in the backlog and add an "order by rank" into the relevant JQL I might solve it.  Unfortunately, although marginally better, it still doesn't work.

The Project automation rule kicks off with a "When: Sprint started" trigger. Then to select the issues i want to clone, it hits a "For JQL" Branch rule/Related issues where I update the JQL as mentioned above. When I "validate query" and then click the link noting how many issues were found it correctly renders issues in order according to rank via the Issue Navigator page. Nested within the Branch rule/Related issues step I run a "Then: Clone issue into" action and it does the cloning.  All issues are cloned as expected when expected and some are ordered according to the rank but not all. It's not clear why some would and others wouldn't be...

Any other thoughts?

[Antonio Valle (G2)]

@PJB did you ever find a solution to this problem? I'm facing it today...

[PJB]

Sorry to say I didn't. It's been a while since I was trying to solve this problem but I am pretty sure I just accepted it as not working how I wanted it to and moved on.

Hopefully you have some success!

[Antonio Valle (G2)]

Not for now... the only viable solution (by the moment... we have not surrended!) is to trigger a "sort everything affter cloning" automation rule. I would like Atlassian to take better care of these small details that make for excellence in the relationship with users...