If custom field is empty after moving to Blocked, what is method to force the field to be entered

[Scott Hassell]

Currently have a status validator that when a user tries to move a story to blocked it checks to see if a custom field Blocked Note is empty and doesn't allow.

Would like to see if can do this afterwards. I.e. the user drags the story to blocked, a  check is made to see if the blocked note is empty and if it is empty, it forces user to fill in the field.

[John Funk]

Hey Scott,

No, you can't do what you are wanting to do. You must do what you said in your first statement - put the validator on the transition to blocked. Why is that not working for you? 

[Scott Hassell]

@John Funk  This was working fine for me but my users had a complain that when dragging a story to blocked in the scrum board, my message popped up and then had to go back in an add a blocked note.  I'm just exploring if there is an alternative that is best of both worlds. If not, I will go with that I have in place.

[John Funk]

You can put a transition screen with the Blocked note field on the transition to Blocked and then add a validator to the same transition that the Blocked note field is required. 

[John Funk]

Hey @Scott Hassell  - Does the Blocked Note field have a Context that might be preventing it from being used for some projects or issue types? 

[Michael Andolfatto]

Hi @Scott Hassell , after a transition has successfully fired, there's no way to enforce that a user completes a certain action. The scenario you described in the first part of your question is the correct method to apply this sort of validation. The three primary configurations for transitions are:

• Conditions: Prevents the user from seeing an available transition if the condition is not met
• Validators: Allows the user to see the transition but not to execute it until the condition is met
• Post-Functions: Additional functionality which can occur after the transition has completed

In this case, you would want to include the Blocked Note field on a Screen, and place that screen on the transition. When a user attempts to move the issue into the Blocked status, they will instead be presented with a required field they need to fill out.

[Scott Hassell]

@Michael Andolfatto Thanks. That is a good idea.   

 So I added a  Blocked Note to a screen and then in our workflow added it to the Blocked transition.  The  blocked note screen now pops us but sometimes one  cannot added any text to the Blocked Note field.  A blocked note can still be added if you edit the story itself.   

Also when that screen pops up,  Blocked Note field is not required. I want to have it as required to enter something in that field when an item is blocked.  My other method with the validators works but the team doesn't like dragging a story to blocked and then a popup comes up and they have to edit to add the blocked note.

Also on my Blocked Note screen, I don’t have comment selected. Is there a way to restrict this screen to only show blocked note?

[Michael Andolfatto]

Hey @Scott Hassell ,

> The  blocked note screen now pops us but sometimes one  cannot added any text to the Blocked Note field.

Can you explain this further? If a user transitions this issue to Blocked, they will see the Blocked Note field but will not be able to type in it? Are you able to do this when trying it yourself?

> Also when that screen pops up,  Blocked Note field is not required.

You can configure this on the Blocked transition in the workflow by using the Field Required validator and pointing to the Blocked Note field.

> Also on my Blocked Note screen, I don’t have comment selected. Is there a way to restrict this screen to only show blocked note?

The comment field will always be available on a transition screen. Some people opt to have information like "why is this being blocked" captured as a comment instead of in a designated field. Comments can be marked as required by the same validator as above.

[Scott Hassell]

So I created a test story and have moved to blocked.   The blocked note screen always shows up. Sometime I can enter in a value but most times it is grayed out where I cannot enter a blocked note.  See attached pic