I think a combination of single file and local to each job is OK. Especially, if Developers have write access to the job, but not to the main configuration.
I also agree with jborgi, that it must have the option to use the central files. How about allowing import statements in the drop down box? This way you can mix and match, which means you have a central common parse file plus some additional project specific parsing files. It would even be better, if you can import more than one file.
Another comment on top was, that it doesn't work with clients. My use case is building on windows and deploying on AIX into a WAS server. I don't want to store the files separately on the AIX boxes and then synchronize them every time. Therefore, the centrally stored config files need to be transferred from the master to the nodes when needed (the current version of the filter file when the job runs, not the version that was current when the job config was saved).
I'd agree with the above.
Whilst the ability to share configuration between projects is a nice-to-have, the ability to store an individual project's configuration as that project's configuration is essential.
i.e. One needs to have the option of having these parsing rules stored within the project configuration.
By all means have the optional facility to use an externally-controlled file, but the default option should be to have the parsing rules stored on a per-project basis, as part of the project configuration, much like the build rules themselves.