Automation - Extract number from multiple alphanumeric strings

[Simon Galiazzo]

Hi all,

I'm pulling my hair out.

Situation:
I have multiple (6) custom dropdown fields, and the options for each of these fields is slightly different alphanumeric text - but they all start with "3.", "2." or "1."

Goal:
I am trying to create an automation rule, that:

• Uses multiple variable actions to extract the first characters/digits from each field option
• Runs another variable action, to add these values together
• Then an IF/ELSE statement to set another dropdown field (based on the total value)

Problem:
I can't seem to make this automation work. I keep getting this error:

"Unable to render smart values when executing this rule:
Missing parameter(s) for operator +u: + + + + +" 

I've tried various different smart value functions: .split, .char(0) etc. But none has worked correctly. The only time I don't get this error, is when I add a "0" to the total variable action.. But this just lets the automation run successfully, while not totaling the number values correctly.

Please help gurus!

[Simon Galiazzo · Accepted solution]

I ended up being able to solve this, using the below formatting for the first batch of variable actions:

{{#=}}IF({{Issue.customfield.value.startsWith("3")}},3,IF({{Issue.customfield.value.startsWith("2")}},2,IF({{Issue.customfield.value.startsWith("1")}},1,0))){{/}}

And for the total automation:

{{#=}}{{variable1}} + {{variable2}} + {{variable3}} + {{variable4}} + {{variable5}} + {{variable6}} +0 {{/}}

[Rik de Valk _Brainboss_]

Hi @Simon Galiazzo , 

You should be able to use a combination of smart values to get to where you want. 

The first step is to create a variable for the value of a field. The reason for this is that select list values do not behave as Text values. Therefore you can't directly use 'left' or 'split'. So step one: 

Action "Create variable" and set the variable to

{{issue.Your field name}}

If the number is always the first (single) character, you can use the 'left' smart value to get the first character.

{{yourVariable.left(1)}}

Now you can use it as a number and do math expressions. 

{{#=}}{{yourVariable.left(1)}} * {{yourVariable.left(1)}} {{/}}

Hope that helps. 

Have a nice day! 

Rik  

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Simon Galiazzo 

For a multiple-select option field where the leftmost character of each value is a numeric digit, this would return the total:

{{#=}}{{issue.customfield_12345.value.left(1).join(" + ")}}{{/}}

How that works is:

• using inline list iteration 
• for each value in the field
• get the leftmost character
• joining any values found with a plus sign
• and wrapping that in a math expression to sum the results

I recommend considering what you want to do when there are no options selected.

Kind regards,
Bill