How can I use the date picker in a user macro?

[m_haberstock]

I want to use the date picker macro in a user macro. The date picker should be a user macro paramter.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can achieve this?

[Tomislav Tobijas]

Hi @m_haberstock ,

You could try this (but just ⚠️ note that I haven't tested this myself; I found it in docs)

Steps to Enable Date Picker as a User Macro Parameter

1. Allow Date Handling in User Macros
   • By default, not all Java methods for date handling are available in user macros due to security restrictions.
   • You need to update your Confluence JVM options to allow the necessary Velocity context keys and date methods. This is done by editing the `setenv.sh` file in your Confluence installation:

     CATALINA_OPTS="-Dmacro.required.velocity.context.keys=action,page,<additional-keys-if-needed>,userAccessor,content \
     -Datlassian.velocity.method.allowlist.extra=\"java.util.Calendar#set(int,int,int),java.sql.Timestamp#compareTo(java.util.Date),java.util.Date#compareTo(java.util.Date)\" ${CATALINA_OPTS}"

   • Replace `<additional-keys-if-needed>` with any other keys you require.
     
     
2. Restart Confluence
   • After updating the JVM options, restart your Confluence instance to apply the changes.
     
     
3. Create the User Macro
   • Go to General Configuration > User Macros.
   • Create a new macro and add a parameter for the date (e.g., `dateParam`).
   • In your macro body, you can use Velocity code to handle and display the date parameter. Here’s a basic example:

     ## Macro parameter: $paramdateParam (type: date)
     #set ($calendar = $action.getDateFormatter().getCalendar().getInstance())
     #set ($userDate = $paramdateParam)
     Date selected: $action.dateFormatter.formatGivenString("yyyy-MM-dd", $userDate)

   • When you insert this macro on a page, Confluence will provide a date picker UI for the date parameter.
     
     

Few Notes

• Always use `$action.dateFormatter` and supported methods for date formatting and comparison.
• If you encounter issues, double-check your JVM options and ensure the correct methods are allowed.

As this probably requires some tweaking (as you can see), maybe a better place for this question would be Developer community (folk there know infrastructure and backend much better than I 😅)

Cheers,
Tobi

[m_haberstock]

Hi Tobi,

Thank you for your prompt reply.
I believe I lack the necessary knowledge to make such extensive changes to the Confluence configuration :-(
I am still hoping to find a solution that I can implement myself using user macro code.

Cheers,
Markus