This article explains how Issuetrak calculates the "Total/Adjusted Time Open Mins" via the value stored in the database. It is not recommended to use this value directly from the database for reporting purposes, as we will explain.
What is TotTimeOpenMins?
TotTimeOpenMins is a fraction of the total number of minutes in a single day (1440). If the value for TotTimeOpenMins is 1, then that would mean 1440 minutes, which is 1 day.
If the value is "0.933333333333333" then it can be multiplied by 1440 to get the total number of minutes (rounded, that would be 1344) that the issue has been open for. 1344 divided by 60 minutes yields 22.4 hours.
Formulas
x = Value in table 1440(x) = Time in minutes 1440(x) / 60 = Time in hours
When viewing an issue inside Issuetrak, the value for Total Time Open is displayed as HH:MM. This particular calculation (22.4) is therefore displayed as 22:24. The .4 part of 22.4 does not represent 40 minutes; it's 4 tenths of an hour (60 min * .4), which is 24 minutes.
One very important thing to keep in mind is that the IssuesTimeOpen table is updated constantly by Issuetrak. When someone accesses an issue, we calculate the TotTimeOpen for that issue and update the table accordingly. If a report involving the field TotTimeOpenMins is run using Report Writer, then the TotTimeOpen for all the issues is calculated and will appear on the report, and the table will be updated accordingly.
Why is it a bad idea to use this value for reporting?
If no one has accessed the issue or ran a report involving that issue, and you try to grab the field from the database, it will be out-of-date. Therefore, the IssuesTimeOpen table should not be relied upon for SQL queries outside of Issuetrak to determine how long an issue has been open. IssuesTimeOpen is mainly a special table specifically designed for Issuetrak.
If it's imperative that this information be gathered outside of Issuetrak, then it will be necessary to review the stored procedure sp_IssuesTimeOpen_Upd for more information. This requires an advanced understanding of SQL and the Issuetrak database schema.
