Column types

Each type of column requires different operators when you search them.

Text

The following operators can be used on Text columns.

Operator Description
: Contains
:: Contains case sensitive
!: Not contains
!!: Not contains case sensitive
=> Starts with
==> Starts with case sensitive
=< Ends with
==< Ends with case sensitive
= Equals to
== Equals to case sensitive
!= Not equals to
!!= Not equals to case sensitive
> Greater than
>> Greater than case sensitive
< Less than
<< Less than case sensitive
>= Greater than equal
>>= Greater than equal case sensitive
<= Less than equal
<<= Less than equal case sensitive
Example Explicitly typing Results returned
Description:Code Description:Text("Code") All items whose description contain the text "Code".

Number / Points

The following operators can be used on Number and Points columns.

Operator Synonyms Description
= ==   :   ::  =>  ==>  =<  ==< Equals to
!= !!=   !:   !!: Not equals to
> >> Greater than
< << Less than
>= >>= Greater than equal
<= <<= Less than equal
:   Contains (needs explicit typing to text, see example below)
Example Results returned
Estimatedidealdays >= 5.30 All items that have an estimated ideal days greater than or equal to 5.30.

Boolean

Boolean columns can either contain the values true / 1 or false / 0.

The following operators can be used in Boolean columns:

Operator Description
= Equals to
!= Not equals to
Since the Boolean column returns a number, the operators for the Number type can also be used.
Example Explicitly typing Results returned
ScheduledconditionInprogress = 1 ScheduledconditionInprogress = true All scheduled tasks that are currently in progress.

Hours and Days

Since the Hours and Days are a number, the Number type operators apply.

Hours and days are used on columns such as Duration and Work remaining and are specified by a number followed by d for days or h for hours. As such, 8d means 8 days, and 4.5h means 4 and a half hours.

If you write no letter after the number Helix Plan will auto-type to the default type for that column. For example, if you type Duration > 5, Duration will automatically refer to days.

Days and hours can be converted between each other. For example, you can search for Duration > 16h and it will automatically convert the duration expressed as days to hours. The conversion always assumes 8 hour days.

Example Results returned
Duration > 5d All scheduled tasks that have a duration longer than 5 days.

Item

The item type specifies one or several of any kind of item, task or bug in Helix Plan. The following operators can be used in Item columns:

Operator Synonyms Description
: :: Any of items
> >> Any of items, some other
< >> Any of items, no other
!:   None of items
!!:   None of items, some other
= == All of items, no other
!= !!= None of items or some other
>= >>= All of items, some other
<= <<= At least all of items
=> ==> First is any of items
=< ==< Non-first are any of items

Item searches can also include one of several codes representing the type of item to search for:

Type Description
ST
  • Scheduled task
    		•
    M Milestone
    BI Backlog item
    AT Agile task
    S Sprint
    SP Sub project
    B Bug
    Example Results returned
    Linkedtotaskitembug : Item(BI"As an application user, I can reply to emails") All items linked to the backlog item "As an application user, I can reply to emails".

    Resources

    The Resources type people specifies both individual users and user groups. The following operators can be used on this column type:

    Operator Synonyms Description
    : :: Any of selected
    > >> Any of selected, some other
    < >> Any of selected, no other
    !:   None of selected
    !!:   None of selected, some other
    = == All of selected, no other
    != !!= None of selected or some other
    >= >>= All of selected, some other
    <= <<= At least all of selected
    => ==> First is any of selected
    =< ==< Non-first are any of selected

    You can also use an additional letter to specify if you're searching for an individual resource (R), or a resource group (G). This letter should be written before the typed keyword:

    Example Results returned
    Lastupdatedby:resource(G"Business Unit 3", R"Example Proj Manager")

    All items last updated by a user in user group "Business Unit 3" or to the individual user "Example Proj Manager".

    Time

    The time type is used for all kinds of date columns such as Start and Last Commented on. All dates are specified in the ISO 8601 format YYYY-MM-DD.

    A date is recognized as such when an integer with a - after is found. You don't need to specify the whole date and time, but can stop at any precision. You cannot include any white space within the date expression and thus need to write the whole date without any spaces.

    When searching on dates or time the keyword now can be used, such as in start >= now, as well as + or -.

    The following operators can be used on dates and times:

    Operator Synonyms Description
    = ==   :   ::   =>   ==>   =<   ==< On date
    != !!=   !:   !!: Not on date
    > >> After date
    < << Before date
    >= >>= On or after date
    <= <<= On or before date

    There are three ways to specify a date:

    Gregorian date and time YYYY-[MM[-DD]][:HH[:MM[:SS]]]
    ISO week, day and time YYYY-['W'WW-[D]][:HH[:MM[:SS]]]
    Offset from the current time Now[(+,-)X(Y,M,D,W,H,m,S)][:HH[:MM[:SS]]]

    The following units can be used:

    Second s
    Minute m
    Hour h
    Day d
    Week w
    Month M
    Year y

    When specifying a date or time it will implicitly have a precision attached to it. The precision is determined by the amount of accuracy that the date is specified with.

    The precision of the time/date determines the range of time that the search sees as a match. For example, if you specify a specific hour (2008-08-09:19) all times that fall within that hour will be matched in the search.

    Syntax Accuracy
    2008- Year
    2008-08 Month
    2008-08-09 Day
    2008-08-09:19 Hour
    2008-08-09:19:30 Minute
    2008-08-09:19:30:11 Second
    2008-W5 Week
    2008-W5-1 Day
    2008-W5-1:09 Hour
    2008-W5-1:09:30 Minute
    2008-W5-1:09:30:11 Second
    Now Second
    Now+1y Day
    Now+1.5y Day
    Now+1M Day
    Now+1.5M Day
    Now+1w Day
    Now+1.5w Hour
    Now+1d Day
    Now+1.5d Hour
    Now+1h Hour
    Now+1.5h Minute
    Now+1m Minute
    Now+1.5m Second
    Now:09 Hour
    Now:09:30 Minute
    Now:09:30:11 Second

    You can also specify a time range when specifying time. This is done with the FromDateToDate keyword.

    Example Results returned
    Start = FromDateToDate(now-2y, now+1y) All scheduled tasks with a start date from two years ago to one year into the future.

    Drop list types

    The drop list types are:

    • Confidence
    • Severity
    • Priority
    • Item status
    • Risk
    • Backlog category
    • Item type
    • Project
    • Bug status
    • Custom column drop list
    • Workflow
    • Workflow Status
    • Pipeline

    Pre-defined and custom drop lists all follow the same pattern with regards to how to find on them. Please note that the drop lists here are separate types.

    The following operators can be used on drop list columns:

    Operator Description
    = Equals to
    != Not equals to
    Since the drop list types are represented as a number, the operators for the Number type can also be used. For example, you could use this when the drop lists have a specified order such as Severity.
    Example Explicitly typing Results returned
    WorkflowStatus = "Sign off" WorkflowStatus("Sign off") All items where the workflow status is "Sign off".

    Column

    You can compare two different columns by using the Column type.

    Example Results returned
    Workremaining > Column(Estimatedidealdays)

    All items where the work remaining exceeds the estimated ideal days.