Formulas
Formulas are constructed by stringing together operators, values and functions in a way that a single value results from them. Different elements in the formula give different numbers of values:
Literal values, fields, and mathematical functions all result in one value
Relation functions can result in multiple values, depending on the number of issues that are involved
Operators or aggregating functions reduce multiple values into one
A formula must result in a single value, so subtasks('Quantity') is invalid, but sum(subtasks('Quantity')) is valid.
Read more about Functions.
Literal Values
You can use constant values in your formulas. Their type is determined by their format.
Number
To use a number constant, just use the number itself, for example 12000 or 42.86.
Text
You will need this for certain functions. Texts cannot be used to calculate something. To make a text value, use single quotes ‘, for example ‘this is a text’ or 'causes’.
Fields
You can use any custom field of type number, or text fields that contain a number. JSU converts texts that only consist of a number to a number type.
To use a custom field, type its name, for example Budget or Quantity. If your field’s name contains spaces, you must surround it with double quotes, for example “Story Points”. Quotes are optional for values without spaces, e. g. "Quantity".
Operators
Operators combine two values. The following operators are supported:
Operator | Description | Example |
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| Addition |
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| Subtraction |
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| Multiplication |
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| Division |
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| Potentiation: Raises the first value to the power of the second, e. g. 28 |
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| Percentage: As on a calculator, you can add or subtract a percentage to/from a value. |
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Parentheses
Parentheses can be used to group operations to override operator precedence. 2 * 3 + 3 equals 9, but 2 * (3 + 3) equals 12.
Functions
Functions are versatile, we provide three types of them.
One type consists of mathematical functions, to enable more calculations you can do
The second are aggregating functions, where you combine multiple values into one, which is necessary to reduce the results of some functions of the third type
Relation functions, which fetch values from other related issues, so you can get values from subtasks for example
Mathematical Function | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Rounds the passed value to the specified number of significant decimal digits. |
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| Rounds the passed value to the nearest lower integer. |
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| Rounds the passed value to the nearest higher integer. |
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| Gives the absolute value, i. e. the positive value. |
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| Normalises negative values to -1, zero to 0, and positive values to 1. |
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| Calculates the remainder of the dividend when divided by the divisor. |
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Aggregating Function | Description | Example |
| Sum of the passed values |
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| Average of the passed values |
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| Smallest of the passed values |
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| Largest of the passed values |
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Relation Function | Description | Example |
| Retrieves the values of the passed field from all subtasks. Must be aggregated before using outside of a function. |
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| Retrieves the values of the passed field from the parent of a subtask. |
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| Retrieves the values of the passed field from all issues in an epic. Must be aggregated before using outside of a function. |
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| Retrieves the values of the passed field from the epic of an issue. |
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| Retrieves the values of the passed field from all linked issues. Must be aggregated before using outside of a function. |
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Advanced
More complex use cases
Setting a Boundary on Values
You need to ensure the value of the Calculated Field “Price” stays above 0, but is at most 20. A minimum bound can be set by using max and a maximum using min. The price is calculated using the “Net Price” field and the “VAT” field.
We first need to calculate the price, which can be done using
"Net Price” + VAT%Then, we want to set the upper bound of 20, so we get
min(”Net Price” + VAT%, 20)At last, we need the lower bound, so we get
max(min(”Net Price”) + VAT%, 20), 1)
Ensuring Entered Numbers Are Integers
You have a field requesting the “Number of Participants” on a transition screen. Your subsequent calculations require this number to be a whole number. To ensure this, you use a Calculated Field Post Function on the same transition.
The post function will write to the “Number of Participants” field
We want to operate on the same field, so we start with the formula
“Number of Participants”Then, we want to make sure that it is a whole number. We do this by rounding, we round up in this case:
ceiling(”Number of Participants”)
If the entered number is already a whole number, it is unchanged. However, if it is not, and someone enters 15.3 for example, it is rounded up to the next whole number, and we get 16.
Because we write the result to the same field during the transition, i. e. “Number of Participants”, the same field is adjusted, and we have successfully sanitised the input.
Multiple Values
The mathematical functions can also operate on the multiple values that are returned by the relation functions. That way you can for example round all the values returned by a subtask.
avg(round(subtasks('Number of Affected Systems'), 0))
The functions accept the lists in the following ways:
round(number_list, decimals)floor(number_list)ceiling(number_list)abs(number_list)signum(number_list)mod(dividend_list, divisor)
The function then is applied separately to each element in the list, and a list with the new values is returned. The mathematical functions do not reduce the list in size, the only way to do that is to use an aggregating function.