Fix Version vs. Affects Version

[Lathrop [PSU]]

Those of you using these fields can you please give me examples of how you are utiliizing them? I've found documentation describing how JIRA uses fix version for reporting, bamboo, categorization etc but I can't find anyting for affects version.

What I would like to do is use versioning for story process reports. I'm basically trying to build a Sprint Health Report for a project that is not using Scrum. I was thinking that I might be able to use Fix Versions and the Road Map gadget to accomplish this. I'm now interested in what role the affects version field might play in this.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Accepted solution]

There is a simple explanation for "Affects version". It really is *just* for saying "this is where we found this issue". It doesn't do anything else really.

I've seen loads of sites use it enthusiastically, requiring it, automating the entry when automated tests fail, using it to trap system versions, and all sorts of clever stuff like that. But I don't think I've ever seen it used for anything that isn't really a "this broke on that version of the system"

I don't think it feeds into sprint health at all. In the real world, you can look back on it and say "we found loads of problems with release x.y.z" and relate that back to a sprint, but it doesn't really feed into the sprint because you'll generally have gone a few sprints past it before it starts to tell you that there were a lot of problems!

[Lathrop [PSU]]

Thanks for the answer Nic. I didn't expect the affects version field to be so plain Jane.

Fix Versions doesn't factor into Sprint Health that is run by active sprints but I was trying to duplicate that reporting function outside of a Scrum project. For now I'm going to use the Agile Classic Project Progress gadget to do this. It allows me to show work progress by fix version in a list fashion.

Thanks again and happy holidays!

[MattS]

"Fix Versions" in an issue usually starts of as "version we plan to fix this issue in" then after getting closed it becomes "version we actually fixed this issue in"

[Carolyn Nelson]

We have been using Affects Version to indicate the version where an issue was found. Apparently, the teams had not been releasing versions in JIRA and we just started doing this. We are now finding that we cannot assign a released version in the Affects Version field, which is kind of the whole point for our customer-reported defects. Is this a configurable option?

[Adam Saint-Prix]

This is an old post, but for anyone that stumbles on this discussion there's a simple explanation of the difference on this page describing the various JIRA System fields:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/JIRA/What+is+an+Issue

image2015-6-2 15:53:25.png

What has been quoted above is 100% accurate, but if anyone wants specific documentation from Atlassian, the page above is probably the best source for an "official" definition.

[Rich Cloutier]

The updated link for Adam's answer is here:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/jira064/what-is-an-issue-720416138.html

[Francesco “BeardedRunner” Cavallo]

Is clear that :

- Affects version = where you found the problem (very useful also for knowing "how many bugs did this version contain") 
- Fix version = where you plan to fix it, or where it has been fixed (depending on your process

but:

if I need to implement a new feature in my SW?

Do I have use the Affects version ?

If yes and considering that this is not a problem, is the same specification of "fix version" in "affects version" correct ?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

It's up to your process.  I'd usually say a new feature often doesn't need an affects version, because it's something new, rather than something broken in a specific version.  But in some cases, it might be useful to refer to a specific version.