Glossary

Boolean

In computer science, the Boolean data type is a data type that has one of two possible values (usually denoted true and false) which is intended to represent the two truth values of logic and Boolean algebra.

The Boolean data type is primarily associated with conditional statements, which allow different actions by changing the control flow depending on whether a Boolean condition evaluates to true or false.

Learn more: Data types

Calendar

You can define custom calendars (or schedules) in JWT. Custom calendars let you specify certain time frames, such as:

MON-FRI{08:00-15:00, 16:00-20:00;}

Calendars are used throughout JWT in multiple functions and calculations.

Learn more: JWT calendars

Casting

Casting (or transforming) data types is very important throughout all functions provided by JWT.

To be able to set, transform or calculate values it might be necessary to turn a text value to a number, a number or a timestamp to a text, and even individual text or number values to a list.

Learn more: Data types

Comparison operator

Comparison operators for the JWT expression parser can be used in functions like filterByValue() for types Number, Text, Number list, Text list and Issue list.

They can also serve as operators in logical expressions.

Available operators are:

1. =

2. !=

3. <

4. >

5. <=

Conditional execution

The conditional execution is the name of a parameter, which can be configured for all workflow post functions.

The result of the logical expression must return a boolean value of either:

1. true → the post function will be executed

2. false → the post function will not be executed

Conditional operator

The conditional operator 

? followed by :

is a powerful operator to construct conditional expressions.

It basically allows you to construct the following expression: 

IF logicalExpression true THEN  doThis  ELSE doThat.

Example:

%{issue.somefield} = "Red" ? "Color" : "No color"

Learn more: Operators

Field code

You can access, validate, calculate, and manipulate values in work item fields using field codes.

A field code is a unique identifier (key) that can be used in any parser expression. At the same time a field code is a safety feature that makes your expressions immune to custom field renaming.

Learn more: Field codes

JMESPath

JMESPath is a query language for JSON. Examples and a JMESPath tutorial can be found at the JMESPath site. It is used by the field code Action response details and the JWT parser function getFromJSON(). 

We describe how to get data from JSON objects which are returned as response from an action in after sending a REST request defined by the Atlassian Jira REST API.

Language

When dealing with times and time zones sometimes you need to convert them to text. The text returned depends on the selected language.

Currently JWT offers the following language parameters:

SERVER_LANG

Returns the default language configured for the server running Jira.

USER_LANG

Returns the language of the current user.

RUN_AS_LANG

Returns the language of the selected Run as user.

Parsing mode

A parsing mode determines how the JWT expression parser interprets an expression. 

The available parsing modes depend on the context you are using the expression in. 

Learn more: Parsing modes

Precedence

The order of operations (or operator precedence) is a collection of rules that reflect conventions about which procedures to perform first in order to evaluate a given expression.

For example, in mathematics and most computer languages, multiplication is granted a higher precedence than addition.

Thus, the expression 2 + 3 × 4 is interpreted to have the value 2 + (3 × 4) = 14, and not (2 + 3) × 4 = 20.

Radix

Radix (synonym for base) is a term used to describe the number of digits utilized in a positional number system before "rolling over" to the next digit's place.

For example, in the base 10 number system, there is a total of 10 digits used (zero through nine), therefore, its radix is 10.

In the base 2 number system, or binary system, there are two numbers used (zero and one), so its radix is two.

Regular expression

A regular expression is a sequence of symbols and characters expressing a string or pattern to be searched for within a longer piece of text.

Read more about regular expressions or test your regular expression online.

Seed

JWT for Jira Cloud is capable of processing values from multiple sources (e.g. work items, custom fields etc.). These sources are called seeds.

Depending on the type of input, those are referred to as 

1. Seed issues - for elements of issue lists

2. Seed texts - for elements of text lists (e.g. custom field options, components etc.)

3. Seed numbers - number

If values from a seed source are needed to perform actions, the field codes need to be preceded by the word "seed".

%{seed.issue.summary}

^%{issue.summary}

Learn more: Field codes

Seeds

Sibling

Sibling work items are work items that have the same parent.

Sibling issues can be:

1. sub-tasks under the same parent

2. issues under the same Epic

Substring

In computer science a substring is a contiguous sequence of characters within a string (text).

For instance, "the best of" is a substring of "It was the best of times".

Temporary field

JWT offers a way to temporarily store and reuse values within the same workflow transition.

These values are stored in temporary text or temporary number fields.

The fields will be cleared once the transition has been executed.

Time constant

Time constants are aliases for fixed values like HOUR, DAY etc..

In addition, date and time values can be written as literals: 09:15 or  2020-03-22 and  2020-03-22 23:30

Time macro

Time macros are aliases for fixed values like {HOUR}, {DAY} etc..

Learn more: Dates, times and time zones

Time zone

Fields of type date and date-time contain a numeric value with the milliseconds elapsed since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT.

The number that will be returned by any function using a date or date-time timestamp depends on a time zone (e.g. GMT, SET, etc.).

Find a list of all available time zones here. Time zones are being handled as a separate data type, which means you do not have to enclose them in brackets.

Apart from the static time zones, the following time zone constants are currently available in JWT to retrieve a time zone dynamically:

LOCAL (or SERVER_LOCAL)

Returns the time zone configured for the server running Jira.

USER_LOCAL

Returns the time zone of the current user.

RUN_AS_LOCAL

Returns the time zone of the selected Run as user.

Example using the a static time zone:

dateTimeToString({issue.created}, GMT, USER_LANG)

Example using the constant LOCAL to tetrieve the time zone dynamically:

dateTimeToString({issue.created}, LOCAL, USER_LANG)

Timestamp

A timestamp is basically a number representing the milliseconds elapsed since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT.

Various functions and macros are available to work with timestamps in JWT for Jira Cloud.

Check out https://www.unixtimestamp.com/ to get more information.

Virtual field

JWT is able to retrieve values from so called virtual fields.

Virtual fields, unlike standard Jira fields, such as assignee or summary, are a main feature of JWT and let you access the data you really need.

Most of the virtual fields are read-only, since JWT actually calculates their values in the background.

Learn more: Field codes