Working with search results

Searching for issues

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Once you have run a search, your search results will be displayed in the issue navigator. You may want to triage the entire list of issues or may be looking for just one. This page will show you what you can do with your search results, from changing what you see in the issue navigator to modifying the issues.

On this page:

The following screenshot provides an overview of the key features of the issue navigator.

Screenshot: Issue navigator (Detail view)

Changing your view of the search results

List view or Detail view

Click the dropdown to switch between List view and Detail view for your search results.

  • List view: Shows your search results as a list of issues. This view is easiest to scan and is best when you only need to know a few details about each issue.
  • Detail view: Shows your search results as a list of issues, with the right panel showing the details of the currently selected issue. This view is best when you need more information about the individual issues, or you want to quickly edit issues as you go (via inline edit for certain fields).
Change the sort order

Click the column name. If you click the same column name more than once, the sort order will switch between ascending and descending. Note:

  • You cannot sort by the 'Images' column nor the sub-task aggregate columns (i.e. all columns beginning with '∑').
  • If you sort the search results for an advanced search, an 'ORDER BY' clause will be added/updated for your JQL query to reflect the order of issues in your search results.
Columns — show/hide and move

You can create different column configurations for yourself and for specific filters. To switch between different column configurations, click Columns and select one of the following tabs:

  • My Defaults: This is your default column configuration for search results.
  • Filter: This is enabled if you are viewing the search results for a filter. It will override your default column configuration.
  • System (shows if you are a JIRA administrator): This is the column configuration that applies to all users. It will be overridden by a user's default column configuration and filter-specific column configurations.

You can also modify any of these configurations. Make sure you have switched the desired configuration, then do the following:

  • Show/hide columns: Click Columns, choose the desired columns, then click Done.
  • Move a column: Click the column name and drag it to the desired position.
Why can't I add a column to my column configuration?

If you cannot find a column, please make sure that you haven't run in to any of the following restrictions:

  • You can only see columns for issue fields that have not been hidden and that you have permissions to see.
  • It is possible to add any of the existing custom fields to the column list, as long as the fields are visible, and you have the right permissions.
  • Some custom fields, even if selected, do not appear in the Issue Navigator for all issues. For example, project-specific custom fields will be shown only if the filter has been restricted to that project only. Issue type custom fields will only appear if the filter has been restricted to that issue type.

Working with individual issues

You can action individual issues in your search results, directly from the issue navigator. Note that the list of issues will remain constant even if you change an issue, so that it doesn't meet the original search criteria. The advantage of this is that you have a constant set of search results that you can work from when triaging issues.

View an issue

Click the key or summary of the issue.

  • If you are in List view, you will redirected to the issue (leaving the search results page).
  • If you are in Detail view, the issue details will display in the right panel.
Action an issue

To action an issue (e.g. edit it, transition it, log work on it, etc):

  • If you are in List view, click the cog icon and select from the options.
  • If you are in Detail view, select the issue and action it the issue via the details panel.

You can also select an issue and action it via keyboard shortcuts in either views.
Tip: use the 'j' and 'k' keys to select the previous/next issue in the issue navigator.

Sharing your search results

Click Share in the issue navigator to email a link to a search result or shared filter.

  • Recipients will receive an email with a link to the search result and the content of the Note field (if specified). The subject of the email will state that you (using your username) shared the issue.
  • If you share the results of a filter, rather than an ad-hoc search, recipients will receive a link to the filter. Note, if the recipient does not have permission to view the filter, they will receive a link to the search results instead.

Displaying your search results in Confluence

If your JIRA applications are connected to Confluence, you can display your search results on a Confluence page using the JIRA issues macro. For instructions, see JIRA issues macro.

Displaying your search results as a chart

Click Export > Charts. Choose the desired chart from the dialog that is displayed, then click Save to Dashboard.

The chart will be added to your dashboard. For more information on what each chart shows, see Reporting.

Exporting your search results

Excel

Click Export > Excel (All fields) or Export > Excel (Current fields).

  • Excel (All fields): this will create a spreadsheet column for every issue field (excluding comments).
    Note: This will only show the custom fields that are available for all of the issues in the search results. For example, a field that is only available for one project when your search results has issues from multiple projects.
  • Excel (Current fields): this will create a spreadsheet column for the issue fields that are currently displayed.

Note, large exports (e.g. many hundreds of issues) are not recommended. You can change the number of issues that are exported, by changing the value of the tempMax parameter in the URL.

Word

Click Export > Word.

The export will include the Description, Comments, and all other issue data, not just the issue fields that are currently configured in your Issue Navigator. Note, large exports (e.g. hundreds of issues) are not recommended.

XML

Click Export > XML.

You can use the URL of the XML view in a Confluence JIRA issues macro. However, you can also use the JQL or the URL of the issue search, which are easier to get.

To restrict which issue fields are returned in the XML export, specify the field parameter in your URL. For example, to include only the Issue key and Summary, add &field=key&field=summary to the URL. If the field parameter is not specified, the XML output will include all the issue fields. Otherwise, if one or more field parameters are specified, the XML output will contain only the Issue key plus your chosen field(s). See the "List of fields for field parameter" below.

List of fields for field parameter (XML exports):

Show me...

Value

Sample XML output

Notes

title

<title>[TEST-4] This is a test</title>

 

link

<link>https://extranet.atlassian.com:443/jira/browse/TEST-4</link>

This is a 'permalink' to the issue. For links between issues, see * issuelinks * (below).

project (or pid)

<project id="10330" key="TST">Test</project>

 

description

<description>This is a detailed description of the issue.<description>

 

environment

<environment>Sydney network<environment>

 

key

<key id="22574">TEST-4</key>

 

summary

<summary>This is a test<summary>

 

type (or issuetype)

<type id="3" iconUrl="https://extranet.atlassian.com:443/jira/images/icons/task.gif">Task</type>

 

parent

<parent id="22620">TEST-5</parent>

Only relevant if the issue is a sub-task.

priority

<priority id="4" iconUrl="https://extranet.atlassian.com:443/jira/images/icons/priority_minor.gif">Minor<priority>

 

status

<status id="5" iconUrl="https://extranet.atlassian.com:443/jira/images/icons/status_resolved.gif">Resolved</status>

 

resolution

<resolution id="1">Fixed</resolution>

 

labels

<labels>
<label>focus</label>
<labels>

 

assignee

<assignee username="jsmith">John Smith</assignee>

 

reporter

<assignee username="jsmith">John Smith</assignee>

 

security

<security id="10021">Private</security>

Only relevant if a security level has been applied to the issue.

created

<created>Mon, 1 Sep 2008 17:30:03 -0500 (CDT)>/created>

 

updated

<updated>Mon, 1 Sep 2008 17:30:03 -0500 (CDT)>/updated>

 

resolved (or resolutiondate)

<resolved>Mon, 1 Sep 2008 17:30:03 -0500 (CDT)>/resolved>

 

due (or duedate)

<due>Mon, 1 Sep 2008 17:30:03 -0500 (CDT)>/due>

 

version (or versions)

<version>2.4.7</version>

 

fixfor (or fixVersions)

<fixVersion>2.6</fixVersion>

 

component (or components)

<component>Documentation</component>

 

votes

<votes>1</votes>

 

comments (or comment)

<comments>
    <comment id="39270" author="jsmith" created="Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:45:02 -0600 (CST)">this looks familiar</comment>
    <comment id="39273" author="jbrown" created="Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:48:16 -0600 (CST)">to me too</comment>
</comments>

 

attachments (or attachment)

<attachments>
   <attachment id="30318" name="Issue Navigator - Atlassian JIRA-2.png" size="16161" author="yoz" created="Mon, 9 Feb 2009 13:32:58 -0600 (CST)"/>
   <attachment id="30323" name="Windows XP (with Firefox 3.0).jpg" size="5802" author="vbharara" created="Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:30:11 -0600 (CST)"/>
</attachments>

Only available if your administrator has enabled attachments.

timeoriginalestimate

<timeoriginalestimate seconds="600">10 minutes</timeoriginalestimate>

Only available if your administrator has time tracking enabled.

timeestimate

<timeestimate seconds="300">5 minutes</timeestimate>

Only available if your administrator has time tracking enabled.

timespent

<timespent seconds="300">5 minutes</timespent>

Only available if your administrator has time tracking enabled.

aggregatetimeoriginalestimate

<aggregatetimeoriginalestimate seconds="36000">10 hours</aggregatetimeoriginalestimate>

Aggregate time for the issue plus all of its sub-tasks. Only available if your administrator has time tracking enabled.

aggregatetimeestimate

<aggregatetimeremainingestimate seconds="18000">5 hours</aggregatetimeremainingestimate>

Aggregate time for the issue plus all of its sub-tasks. Only available if your administrator has time tracking enabled.

aggregatetimespent

<aggregatetimespent seconds="18000">5 hours</aggregatetimespent>

Aggregate time for the issue plus all of its sub-tasks. Only available if your administrator has time tracking enabled.

timetracking

<timeoriginalestimate seconds="600">10 minutes</timeoriginalestimate>
<timeestimate seconds="300">5 minutes</timeestimate>
<timespent seconds="300">5 minutes</timespent>
<aggregatetimeoriginalestimate seconds="36000">10 hours</aggregatetimeoriginalestimate>
<aggregatetimeremainingestimate seconds="18000">5 hours</aggregatetimeremainingestimate>
<aggregatetimespent seconds="18000">5 hours</aggregatetimespent>

This is a convenient shorthand way of specifying all of the above six time tracking fields. Only available if your administrator has time tracking enabled.

issuelinks

<issuelinks>
    <issuelinktype id="10020">
        <name>Duplicate</name>
        <inwardlinks description="is duplicated by">
            <issuelink>
                <issuekey id="22477">INTSYS-1009</issuekey>
            </issuelink>
        </inwardlinks>
    </issuelinktype>
</issuelinks>

 

subtasks (or subtask)

<subtasks>
    <subtask id="22623">TEST-8</subtask>
</subtasks>

 

customfield_xxxxx

<customfields>
    <customfield id="customfield_10112" key="com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.customfieldtypes:select">
        <customfieldname>Department</customfieldname>
        <customfieldvalues>
            <customfieldvalue>Adminstration</customfieldvalue>
        </customfieldvalues>
    </customfield>
</customfields>

"xxxxx" is the id of a given custom field e.g. this output is the result of specifying &field=customfield_10112

allcustom

<customfields>
    <customfield id="customfield_10112" key="com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.customfieldtypes:select">
        <customfieldname>Department</customfieldname>
        <customfieldvalues>
            <customfieldvalue>Adminstration</customfieldvalue>
        </customfieldvalues>
    </customfield>
    <customfield id="customfield_10111" key="com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.customfieldtypes:select">
        <customfieldname>Expenditure Type</customfieldname>
        <customfieldvalues>
            <customfieldvalue>Operating</customfieldvalue>
        </customfieldvalues>
    </customfield>
</customfields>

Subscribing to your search results

A subscription provides you with a periodic notification for all issues returned by the search. If you want to be notified when a particular issue changes, you should watch the issue instead.

Email

Your search must be saved as a filter, if you want to create an email subscription for it. You can create a subscription of any frequency for yourself and/or other users. Note, only the first 200 results of a filter are sent.

  1. Run the filter that you want to subscribe to, then click Details (next to filter name).
  2. Fill in the 'Filter Subscription form' and click Subscribe.

More information:

  • If you choose 'Advanced' for your Schedule, see this page for help on constructing Cron expressions.
  • If you want to specify a group as a recipient:
    • You must have the 'Manage Group Filter Subscriptions' global permission.
    • Be aware that the emailed filter results will be specific to each recipient. For example, if the filter uses the currentUser()  function, the search results will be evaluated with the recipient as the current user. This does not apply to distribution lists (group email aliases).
    • Be careful about sharing a subscription with a group with many members, as it can take a long time to generate the emails to be sent, since the search needs to be executed for each user (as per the previous point).
RSS

Click Export > RSS (Issues) or Export > RSS (Comments). The URL of the page that shows can be used in your feed reader.

Tips:

  • You can change the number of issues that are returned, by changing the value of the tempMax parameter in the URL.
  • If you only want to receive current comments in an RSS feed, use the Date Updated field when doing a search. For example, to only receive comments created in the last week, add the Date Update field and set it to updated within the last 1 week.
  • You may need to log into your JIRA applications to view restricted data in your feed. If so, you can add os_authType=basic to the feed URL
    (e.g. http://mycompany.com/anypage?os_authType=basic) to show a login dialog when viewing the feed.

Bulk modifying issues in your search results

Bulk operations let you action multiple issues at once. These actions include transitioning issues, deleting issues, moving issues, and watching/unwatching issues.

Click Tools > Bulk Change: all <N> issue(s) and follow the 'Bulk Operation' wizard.

For more information, see Editing multiple issues at the same time.

Next steps

Read the following related topics:

Last modified on Mar 8, 2016

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