How can I set Target Start to present day?

[Julia]

I AM ON JIRA SERVER

I want to set the value of Target Start to be the present day, but this JSON is returning an error saying the value has to be a string. Anyone can help? 

[Darryl Lee · Accepted solution]

So... this may just not be possible:

As @John Funk wrote back in Nov 2020:

This is the second time in a couple of weeks where people are having trouble in Automation with the Target Date. It "seems" to be a typical date field type, but it doesn't behave as one when using Automation. 

And @Bill Sheboy found:

According to this Code Barrel ticket, the Portfolio and Advanced Roadmap fields are not supported yet:

https://codebarrel.atlassian.net/browse/AUT-1370

Alas, that Improvement request still appears to be open. :-{

[Darryl Lee]

Same ticket in Atlassian's system: https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JIRAAUTOSERVER-159

[Pablo de Dios]

Hello the attr for the field "Target date" is "customfield_11001" you can export to XML any Epic or Task and check this...

[Julia]

Also, it is a locked custom field. This custom field is created and required by Portfolio for Jira.

[Darryl Lee]

Looks like "Target Start" is just a date (without a timestamp)? Maybe try:

{{now.jiraDate}}

Some other functions you might try are here: https://confluence.atlassian.com/automation/date-and-time-functions-993924864.html 

[Julia]

I just tried that and got the same error.

Here is the error I am receiving: 

"(Operation value must be a string (customfield_14202))"

[Darryl Lee]

It would be helpful to do some debugging to see what an existing value looks like (to Automation).

So I would create a new rule with a Manual Trigger that doesn't do anything but do a Log action with a message of:

Target Start: {{issue.customfield_14202.value}}

And then manually trigger the rule from an issue that already has Target Start set, then look at the Audit log for this new rule to see what a "valid" value looks like.

I suppose you might also try:

{{now.toString}}

[Julia]

@Darryl Lee 

I tried that, and the Target Start is set on the ticket, but the audit log shows up empty. Photos attached. 

[Darryl Lee]

I guess I would also try seeing if you get anything for these Smart Values:

{{issue.Target Start}}

{{issue.Target Start.value}}

{{issue."Target Start"}}

{{issue."Target Start".value}}

[Darryl Lee]

Oh and also: {{issue.customfield_14202}}

[Julia]

@Darryl Lee 

{{issue.customfield_14202}} worked and returned this value

2021-11-02

How do I take this information and move forward with configuring the automation