Workflow, Links and Constraints

[Serhat Şevki Dinçer]

Hi,

On Jira v8.0, how do I accomplish the following workflow with constraints ?

Issue types: Task, Subtask, Bug

I want my project's users to be able to link issues such that:

- An issue can only be linked to other issues of different type. So for example, a Bug cannot be linked to another Bug, but it can be linked to one or more Subtasks and Tasks.

- A Subtask will always be linked to at least one Task. So at creation or update, it should stay linked to at least one Task.

Issue states: Open, InReview, Done

I have very typical state transitions:

Send: Open -> InReview

Accept: InReview -> Done

Reject: InReview -> Open

ReOpen: Done -> Open

I also have constraints for these transitions:

- All transitions can be made with an explanatory description or comment.

- An issue can be Accept'ed if all is satisfied:

a) it is made by someone other than original assignee

b) it is not a Subtask linked to a Bug which is not Done

c) it is not a Task linked to a Bug or Subtask which is not Done

So can you help me design this workflow?

Thanks a lot..

[Andy Heinzer]

Hi Serhat,

I understand you are looking to create a customized workflow for a project in Jira. 

First off I should note that sub-tasks in Jira already always have the requirement that they be in relation to a single existing parent issue at all times.  You can change which issue it is a sub-task of, or you could convert a sub-task into a task, but there is no way for a sub-task to become orphaned.  So that part doesn't actually require any sort of configuration in Jira Server to make work.  By default Jira has sub-tasks enabled, only if your Jira has disabled sub-tasks for some reason would this potentially not work.  More details how to make sure sub-tasks are enabled in Configuring sub-tasks.

The other steps will require some configuration to make possible.   Your first requirement that the issue cannot be linked to other issues of the same type, well this is not something that Jira Server can restrict natively.  This has been requested before, such as in JRASERVER-16745, but these have been closed as something that is unlikely to be implemented in Jira itself anytime soon.

The good news is that there are 3rd party add-ons for Jira that can probably help with this specific requirement.  I'd suggest checking out the add-on Extended Schemes for Jira.  While I have not used this one personally, the description appears to let you restrict linking in the manner I think you want here.  It is possible there are other 3rd party solutions in our Marketplace as well.

As for the workflow transitions requirements, Jira server does not natively have the ability to restrict issue transitions for your specific criteria listed here.  However Jira does have the framework created in Workflow Conditions to at least have some plugin to Jira be able to do this.  I would imagine there are several potential plugins to Jira that could help here that could be found in Marketplace.   Personally I'd suggest trying the Jira Misc Workflow Extensions.  It has a few different workflow conditions it can add to Jira such as the status condition, and linked issue status condition that I think can satisfy parts b) and c).  It also has a Condition known as Separation of Duties Condition.  This is very similar in nature to your a) requirement there, but it's not based off initial assignee, but rather if the current assignee has ever made a previous transition between states for this particular issue.  So perhaps that could help you to meet the requirements here.

Try this and let me know if this helps.

Cheers,

Andy