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Calculated Fields

Owned by Nisha Shantilal
Last updated: Oct 30, 2023
6 min read

Calculated fields are fields built over standard Jira fields available in the Reports and Timesheet add-on. You can apply functions on the standard fields to modify/combine/bucket the values to get more meaningful data in the report.

Please look at the sample report examples & List of functions supported to get more information on how Calculated Fields can be useful. This article explains how to create, manage and use calculated fields.

At the end of the article is a link that explains all the supported functions that can be used while creating calculated fields.

  • Go to My Area → My Calculated Fields from the top navigation bar to see a list of all the calculated fields created by the logged in user, if any. This page allows the user to edit, copy and delete existing calculated fields.

    • The page shows other details like category (if one has been assigned), last modified date, description, the expression used to create the calculated field and if it’s valid

  • Click on ‘Create New Field' button to open the create calculated field page. This page also opens up for the Edit calculated field button

    • Fields and Functions list support drag and drop operation. Pick the required field/function and drop it over the ‘Drag and drop a field or function’ area

    • To enter a constant value instead of a field or function, click the link ‘Enter a constant value’ to open a text box for entering the value

    • Name and Description fields are mandatory

    • Category can be assigned for ease of searching and filtering

    • Validate button helps in ensuring that the final expression is correct and there is no error in the field

    • Clicking Save will save the calculated field

    • ‘Back to calculated fields list’ will take the user back to the initial screen

       

  • To start building a calculated field, most of the time, it is recommended to start by adding a function to the drag and drop area

    • dragging and dropping a function will automatically load the placeholders for parameters

    • function parameter placeholders can be used to add another function or a field or a constant value

    • For example, in the image below, the ‘ADD’ function is placed at the initial drag and drop area which automatically loads ‘value1’ and ‘value2’ parameter placeholders

      • ‘value1’ contains a field and ‘value2' contains a constant (using the 'Enter a constant value’)

      • For functions with variable length parameters, another parameter placeholder can be added by using the ‘Add parameter’ link at the bottom (value3 in image below has been added using that link)

      • For parameter placeholders added using the ‘Add parameter’ link, a ‘Delete’ button is provided on the right in case the parameter is not required anymore

         

    • For any non-empty place holder or constant value a ‘Clear’ link is provided using which the user can delete / remove the field / function / constant value. If the ‘Clear’ link is used, the parameter becomes an empty placeholder again

  • Color coding used for Fields and Functions. There are 5 type of values you will see in the Fields or Functions list

    • For fields, the color represents the field type

    • For functions, the color represents the return type

    • For parameter placeholders, same color coding is used

    • ANY type of parameter, indicates, it can take all types (Numeric, String, Date or Boolean) of fields or functions

      • Numeric - RED

      • String - GREEN

      • Date - BLUE

      • Boolean - ORANGE

      • ANY - GREY

  • Validation and Save: Once you build your calculated field expression, it can be validated using the ‘Validate’ button

    • Any errors will be highlighted with exclamation mark icon against the item

    • Mouse over on the icon will show the cause of error

    • Save will also trigger validation

    • For example: ADD function requires all parameters should be of type Numeric. In the below screen shot, value2 parameter has an error as it has a String field, value3 parameter has an error as it has String constant and value4 parameter has an error as it is empty

       

Using Calculated Fields in a Report

Once a calculated field is created, it is available under Calculated section under Fields pane in the report designer interface. You can add the calculated field just like any other field and apply available field settings (Label, Sort order, Format, Filters, etc). Please have a look at the screenshot below 

Note: If you have not created any calculated fields, then Calculated section will not appear in the Fields pane

Sample Reports

Below are few sample reports created using calculated fields to enhance or classify the existing data

  • Classifying the data based on Issue Status: Calculated field is created to group Issues with status ‘In Progress', ‘Open’ & ‘To Do’ as ‘Incomplete’. While remaining Issues will be grouped under 'Completed’.

    • Calculated Field definition

       

    • Sample report - Pie chart report is created to show percentage of issues Completed vs Incomplete

       

  • Classifying the data based on Days to Resolve: Calculated field is created to classify the issues based on number of days taken to mark the issues as Resolved (Done). If Days to Resolve value is <= 1, then issue is labeled as ‘Customer Delighted’, if 1 < Days to Resolve <= 3, then issue is labeled as ‘Within SLA’. Otherwise, the issue is labeled as ‘Outside SLA’

    • Calculated Field definition

       

    • Sample report - Bar chart report is created to show the number of issues resolved as per resolution time SLA

       

  • Classifying the data based on the Resolved date: Calculated field is created to classify the issues based on the resolved date. The expression is used to filter the issues resolved in the last quarter of 2022 from 01-Oct-2022 to 31-12-2022.

    • Calculated field definition: To enter a constant date value for the last quarter, click Pick a date manually.

    • Select the constant date from the date picker.

    • Sample report - The list report shows the issue priority and the issues resolved in the last quarter of 2022, when the calculated expression is filtered for TRUE values.

For a list of all the supported functions and how they work, please click ‘List of Supported Functions’.

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