Using object attribute to calculate new value in other date attribute

[Albert Hauksson]

TLDR; I want to use an object attribute (X months) to calculate a new date and update another attribute with that date (as part of an automation).

Scenario
I have a list of systems/tools that need to go through user access audits periodically. Each system is registered as an object in Assets and in Jira I have a space where I track the status of these audits. Each issue is linked to a system via a object custom field. 

Current setup
In my current setup I have an attribute for "Last audit date" which is updated via automation when the corresponding Jira issue is closed. To do this I use the Edit Assets field attributes action and update the Last audit date attribute with {{Today()}} smart value. This works like a charm. 

What I'm trying to achieve
I want to add a second object attribute for Next audit date which should also be updated when the issue is closed, but filled with a date in the future. To achieve this I have a third attribute for "Audit frequency" and I want to use that to calculate the Next audit date.

My problem is that I can't get the Next audit date calculation to work. I've tried so many variations of date smart values, attribute placeholder and so on. 

Has anyone done anything like this? Is there a common pit-fall that I'm missing?

[Marc -Devoteam- · Accepted solution]

Hi @Albert Hauksson 

Welcome to the community.

I have tried this by setting this in a variable, but you can't use variables a smart clause on setting a asset attribute value.

What you can do is using date smart values.

So as example you could set an attribute of a found object with: {{now.plusMonths(12)}}

The value between () can be specified using a variable, I tried this, but then it doesn't work.

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Albert Hauksson -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

FYI the today() function is undocumented, and appears to return the date only (presumably in UTC).  Even though the { } smart value "helper" shows that function in a few places, I hypothesize that is a mistake from a person typing in the text.  Rather than using undocumented features, I recommend using the now function, as described by @Marc -Devoteam- 

Hi @Marc -Devoteam- 

To use a variable (or text value) as a parameter to the inline date / time functions which take an integer, it must be converted using asNumber first.  I believe this only works if the text value is an integer and does not contain a decimal point, scientific notation, commas, etc.

The alternative is to use the long / section format of the date / time functions and the text will automagically convert to a number.

Kind regards,
Bill

[Albert Hauksson]

Thank you guys,

It explains a lot that the Today() function is undocumented! I stopped using that. 

I ended up implementing this differently. I could accomplish my goal by simply performing four AQL branch checks, and based on the result the date of next audit was updated by X months using {{now.plusMonths()}}.

One thing I learned was that in order for now() function to work with date attributes in Assets you must use .jiraDate at the end of the function. In this case: {{now.plusMonths().jiraDate}}.

[Marc -Devoteam-]

Hi @Albert Hauksson 

Please accept my answer as a solution, if my answer helped to solve or provide a workaround to your request.

This will help other community member trying to solve the same or provide them with a work around

P.S. If the answer is very valuable to you, please share some kudos.