Aha! Roadmaps | Reference Aha! Roadmaps fields in custom worksheet equations (Enterprise+)

A custom worksheet is a type of custom field that helps you gain powerful insights in the form of a two-column spreadsheet that appears on your Aha! Roadmaps records. You can create as many rows as you need and configure them to automatically calculate data based on custom equations.

You can add worksheet fields to your equations by selecting the field in the equation builder. But you may want your calculations to reference data that exists elsewhere in Aha! Roadmaps — like a feature’s due date or original estimate, a release’s total capacity, or even a custom table in your account. In this support article, we will walk you through how to reference Aha! Roadmaps data in worksheet equations to help you answer questions like:

• What is the total cost of this initiative based on the cost to develop its features?

• How much of the workload in this release contributed to new features?

• Using a variety of measurements like idea votes and Aha! Roadmaps score, what is the actual value of this feature?

Note: For a walkthrough of custom worksheet equations with examples, you may enjoy an introduction to advanced equations.

Click any of the following links to skip ahead:

• Syntax for referencing Aha! Roadmaps fields in worksheet equations

• Equation examples

  • Calculate feature value from votes and score

  • Roll up feature costs to your initiatives

• More equation examples

Syntax

To reference Aha! Roadmaps fields in worksheet equations, you use a custom syntax that represents the field you want to reference.

In this example, the worksheet is comparing a feature's due date with the release's release date and returning a status that will automatically update as those dates change.

To accomplish this in a worksheet equation, a custom syntax is used to refer to the feature’s Due on field and the release’s Release date field. For the example above, the equation looks like this (see Value column).

The equations use custom syntax to give the worksheet directions to the field(s) that you want to access. Those directions are always relative to the location of the worksheet. Let's break down the equation.

Row 1’s equation is self.due_date.

• Every field reference starts with "self." This is simply a declaration that means, “Starting from this record.”

• Since the worksheet is on a feature, we now add the identifier for the field we want to reference.

• The identifier for a feature’s due date is due_date.

• self.due_date can also be read as “Starting from this record (feature), reference the Due date field on the record.”

Row 2’s equation is self.release.release_date.

• This worksheet is located on a feature, but now we want to reference a field on the feature’s release.

• The identifier for a release’s release date field is release_date. The syntax self.release_date wouldn’t work here because release_date is not a feature field.

• To look at the feature's release, we will include release before release_date to indicate what field we’re referencing relative to the record we’re on.

• self.release.release_date can also be read as “Starting from this feature, go to the feature’s release, then reference the Release date field.”

Here are additional rules to be aware of when referencing fields:

• Every field value starts with "self."

• If you are referencing a field on the record, you must add the identifier for the field name after self. Use the a complete list of fields for each record type to find your field.

  • For example: self.score

• Field references are case sensitive.

• To reference a field on a linked record, add the linked record type along with the field.

  • For example: self.release.release_date

• You can only reference fields that are on the record or linked to the record where the worksheet resides.

• If you are referencing a field which includes more than one value (an array), then your field name will need to be followed by open and closed brackets. If you’re unsure about whether or not brackets are required, please review the field identifier list. Without a function, arrays will return in a comma-separated list. Arrays can be combined with functions to calculate the value on the arrays.

  • For example:

    • self.requirements[].name this returns requirement names for all requirements on the feature

    • count(self.requirements[]) returns the total count of requirements on the feature.

• If you want results in an array to only include specific values, you can filter results based on certain criteria. You can read more about how to filter results.

  • For example: count(self.requirements[self.status == “Shipped”]) returns the total number of requirements that are in the “Shipped” status.

• If you are referencing a custom field, you must include a reference to the API Key that is defined on the Settings ⚙️ Account Custom field page.

  • For example: self.custom.API-KEY

• To reference a specific scorecard metric or a custom worksheet value, include the name of the metric at the end of the syntax surrounded by curly brackets.

  • For example:

    • self.score{“Sales increase”} this returns the value of the “Sales increase” metric in the record’s scorecard.

    • self.custom.API-KEY{“Name of your worksheet field”} this returns the value of the worksheet field.

Click here for the complete list of fields that can be referenced for each record type.

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Equation examples

Calculate feature value from votes and score

In this example, a feature worksheet is calculating a total prioritization score by multiplying the number of votes received for the feature’s idea with the Aha! Roadmaps score.

1. Navigate to Settings ⚙️ Account Custom fields.

2. Select the Features tab and click Add custom field.

3. Choose Worksheet and click Next.

4. Add a unique Name for your custom field.

5. Worksheet section

   • Row 1

     • In the Field name column, enter “Aha! score” — it’s important to choose a unique value here if you want to reference this field in another calculation at a later time.

     • In the Value column, begin typing to launch the Equation builder. Add the following syntax to reference your feature’s Aha! Roadmaps score: self.score

   • Row 2

     • In the Field name column, enter “Ideas votes”.

     • In the Value column, begin typing to launch the Equation builder. Add the following formula to add the total ideas votes: sum(self.ideas[].votes).

   • Row 3

     • In the Field name column, enter “Total score”.

     • In the Value column, begin typing to launch the Equation builder. Add the following formula to add the total ideas votes: field("Aha! score")*field("Ideas votes")

6. Add the custom field to your layout. If you are already using feature layouts, select the Use in layouts radio button and then select your layout. If you don’t yet have a field layout, select the Use in workspaces option to create a new layout for the features in your workspace.

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Roll up feature costs to your initiatives

In this example, an initiatives worksheet is calculating the total cost of feature development and presenting it on the initiative.

This example assumes that feature cost is being captured via a custom field on features. The custom field’s API key is feature_cost.

1. 1. Navigate to Account Custom fields.

   2. Select the Initiatives tab and click Add custom field.

   3. Choose Worksheet and click Next.

   4. Add a unique Name for your custom field.

   5. Worksheet section

• Row 1

  • In the Field name column, enter “Cost."

  • In the Value column, begin typing to launch the Equation builder. Add the following formula to roll up investment costs to your initiatives: sum(self.features[].custom.feature_cost)

• Row 2

  • In the Field name column, enter “Revenue." You can leave the Value column blank.

• Row 3

  • Click Add row so that the worksheet has three rows.

  • In the Field name column, enter “Profit."

  • In the Value column, add the following formula to calculate the difference between rows 1 and 2: field("Revenue") - field("Cost")

Add the custom field to your layout. If you are already using initiative layouts, select the Use in layouts radio button and then select your layout. If you don’t yet have a field layout, select the Use in workspaces option to create a new layout for the initiatives in your workspace.

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More equation examples

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