Due/start date change based on cycle selection from dropdown

[Krzysztof Knot]

We have cycles (2 per quarter) for epics to schedule in. However, to display tickets on the timeline, dates are required. To avoid people looking up calendars to set the date, I wanted to automate that. So If cycle "1.2 24" is selected from the dropdown, then the start should be set to 19/02/24 and end to 3/03/24 for example.
Is there a way to define those values and automate them that way? Each cycle will have a specific start and due date. 
Thanks.

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Krzysztof Knot 

Welcome to the Atlassian community.

How do you determine the dates if all you have is the cycle name? Is there a calculation you can apply to the cycle name to get the dates? Or are they just manually documented somewhere?

If they are just "manually documented", then in an Automation Rule you could create  Lookup Tables to associate the cycle names to Start Date and End Dates that you specify in the tables manually. Each time you add a new cycle you would need to update the tables in the rule.

https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/jira-automation-actions/#Create-lookup-table

The Automation could be triggered on a change to the cycle field, then (after confirming that the field wasn't cleared) lookup the value in the tables to get the associated dates.

Since those values from the tables are considered simple text, you would need to use date formatting functions to properly format the values as you use them in Edit Issue actions to update the date fields.

https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/jira-smart-values-date-and-time/

In which issue(s) are you setting the cycle value? And in which issues do you need the dates updated?

[Krzysztof Knot]

Thanks. Yes, no rule as such to determine so kind of lookup table should work and yes, I am aware that we need to update it when new cycle added. I will play with it.

In terms of the last question, it will be the same issue with cycle and date.

[Krzysztof Knot]

What 'value' I have to store in the 'look up table' as date in format like '01/01/2024' is not permitted. Can fix dates be stored there?

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Krzysztof Knot 

The Value column of the Lookup Table does allow entries like 01/01/2024.

What indication are you getting that such values are not allowed?

Here is an example of a Create Lookup Table action that I made that includes such a value.

[Krzysztof Knot]

Hi. Sorry, I found that actually the variable name has to be alphanumeric but it was confusing error. All sorted out eventually and works as intended.