How to parse a description and add checks to a checklist without unchecking already selected items.

Drew Bradford

I am using the email ingestion feature to pull data from an email to create a new epic. In that email there is a list of items we need to provide. This list is variable. Sometimes we need Item A, B, & C, other times we need Items B, C, D, & E. The output (items) are standardized so there's no issue with manual entry.

I have an automation that looks at the description field, finds the items that need to be delivered with the epic an I want to use those items to check boxes on a checkbox field. So I am using a series of If's to update the field. If Description contains "Item A" update "Deliverable" with "Item A". So on with Items B - Z.

The problem I have is that only the last item is checked when this logic finishes. So it seems like this process is setting the entire list to only "Item A" then clearing the list and setting it to only "Item B". It's not additive. 

The "Deliverable" custom field is setup as a Checkboxes field type.

 

Example from my automation: 

It searches the description for the term "Cost / Quote ($)" and if it finds it then is set's the field Required Bid Assets to "Cost / Quote"

These all work individually but not if more than one of these is found.

Bill Sheboy

Hi @Drew Bradford 

Without seeing your entire rule (in one continuous image), the audit log details, and knowing which checkbox addon you are using, some guesses to help are...

 

#1) You describe using a "checkbox field", but what you show seems to be a custom label field.  What is the type of your "Required Bid Assets" field?  If it is a custom label field, you probably can extract all of the possible additions and the update the field with a single edit action.  Seeing the specifics of your rule would help confirm that.

Or...is this a checkbox field for a Team-managed Project (TMP) which can look like a labels field?

 

#2) When a rule uses the Edit Work Item action, it does not automagically reload the data from the cloud.  (This is intentional in cases where the old values need to be seen later in the rule.)  When you want the rule to refresh the data after an edit for the later steps, add the re-fetch work item action:

• ...
• action: edit work item
• action: re-fetch work item data
• some step which needs the updated data...

Please note each re-fetch will slow the rule slightly, perhaps by a less than a second or more.

 

#3) You describe a series of IF conditions.  Depending upon how your rule is structured, it may be skipping some of them.  Thus, please review the rule structure to ensure it can continue processing as conditions are met, or not.

 

Kind regards,
Bill