Remove a context's field could remove the field value?

[Rafael Costa]

I had various contexts for a field (list), then I need remove them and set as a single context (Global). The expected was the issues that haven't the value available in the new context keep the current value with a flag not available when editing. I already did it sometimes.

But this time, the values simply disappeared, even when the field was marked as required.

There is an way of recover the field values or the deleted context?

[Dave Mathijs]

Hi @Rafael Costa ,

If you already removed the context, then no, the values cannot be recovered.

Proper order is to create the new context, then bulk move the field values (via ScriptRunner f.e.) and finally remove the old context. The old values won't be retained if the context is removed or if the value no longer exists in the new context for that project/issue type.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Field context is a complex thing, but there are easier ways to think of it than Atlassian (and others) describe it.  I'm going to "borrow" (meaning completely steal) what Donal told me about field contexts many years ago, as it was my "oh, actually, I think I 'get' Jira now" moment.

Donal taught me that a field context is where you keep field data.  If a field is global, every project and issue type has a filing cabinet with a draw for each field, and the draw contains a piece of paper with the field content in it.  If a field does not have context for a project and issue type, it's not an empty draw, the filing cabinet is not there.

Converting a field from a limited context to a global one is not going to change any data, all it does is make the field available more widely.

But deleting a context destroys the data in the context you are removing.  You're telling Jira to remove the place data could be stored, so the data has to go with it.

The only way to recover what you have destroyed is to revert to a backup.