How do i automate updating the due date of a final subtask to update all previous subtask due dates

[Cooper]

Hi there,

I am looking to use Jira automation to update ticket dates for me

I have a sequence of tickets, with a set start date relationship to the due date of a launch. i am wondering, because every ticket has a duration and a start date relative to the final task due date, can i use Jira Automation to allow me to edit the due date of the final task (or any if possible) and Automation does the maths to calculate each previous tasks duration, and start date relative to the updated ticket to accurately update all tickets. this would save me from updating each ticket manually as its very time consuming

Does anyone know what that would look like in Automation?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Cooper -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Short answer: If all of the subtasks have the same "duration" and you know the relative amount to shift the dates, that can be done with an automation rule branch. Otherwise, solving this is quite difficult, and perhaps impossible with built-in Jira features.

When automation rules branch over work items, they process in parallel and asynchronously.  Currently, there is no sequential branching for a single rule.  What this means for your scenario is a rule cannot "walk the chain" to update the subtasks, one-by-one in order.

Thus, if they all have the exact same duration and you know the amount to shift the dates, the order of processing does not matter and can be done with a rule branch over the subtasks.

There is an edge case where the work items can be processed in order sequentially: when there are fewer than 10 work items in the entire chain, two rules may be used and the second rule recursively processes each until done.  This approach is a bit risky due to possible rule errors, timing problems, and any Atlassian automation outages "breaking" the chain of processing.

Kind regards,
Bill

[John Funk]

Hi Cooper - Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Are you saying the tasks will be of various lengths and not consistent for each time created? In other orders Task A starts 20 business days before Launch Date and is Due 18 business days before Launch Date. Task B starts 18 business days before Launch Date and is Due 15 business days before Launch Date, etc. 

[Cooper]

Hey John, thanks for the response! 

There are various tasks in a process, that will always be the same length, with the process being repeated several times. 

The only thing that will change is the due dates. 

Say i have 5 launches, that all are the same process. The process has 9 steps, and lasts 1 week all up. I will be duplicating a Launch as the steps are the same. My goal is to change the due date of the launch, and automation will know the duration of each step, and its start date relative to the due date. i am hoping it can make those changes for me. 

Thank you