Use Model Helper Widget - Nextedy Documentation

Prerequisites

A data model already configured in Administration > Nextedy Powersheet > Data Models
Permissions to create a LiveReport page in your Polarion project
At least one entity type with relationships defined in your data model

Create the Model Helper LiveReport Page

Model Helper runs as a LiveReport page inside Polarion. To set it up:

Navigate to your project in Polarion
Go to Wiki > LiveReport Pages
Create a new LiveReport page
Import the Model Helper page archive provided by Nextedy

The Model Helper page archive is supplied with the Powersheet installation package. Contact your administrator if you do not have access to the archive file.

Configure the Parameters

When you open the Model Helper LiveReport, fill in four parameter values at the top of the page:

Parameter	Description	Example
`model`	Name of the data model to visualize	`rtm`
`projectId`	Project ID where the model is defined	`RTM_Demo`
`startEntity`	Root entity type for expansion visualization	`UserNeed`
`depth`	Number of relationship levels to expand from the start entity	`3`

Enter these values and submit to generate the visualization.

Begin with depth: 2 or 3. Higher values produce very large visualizations that can be difficult to read, especially for data models with many cross-entity relationships.

Read the Visualization Output

The Model Helper displays three key pieces of information:

Entity types shown as nodes, each displaying the entity name and its polarionType mapping (for example, UserNeed mapped to user_need)
Relationships shown as labeled connections between entity nodes, annotated with the navigation property name (the direct or back name from your data model)
Expansion depth indicating how many relationship levels each entity sits from the start entity

This visualization directly maps to the three configuration layers you work with in Powersheet:

Layer	What it defines	What Model Helper shows
Data model	Entity types and relationships	Nodes and connections
Sheet sources	How to query and expand relationships	Expansion paths from start entity
Sheet columns	How to display the resulting data	Available binding paths at each level

Map Visualization to Source Configuration

The expansion paths shown in Model Helper translate directly to the expand section of your sheet sources. The cardinality of each relationship determines the expand pattern.

Many-to-One (N:1) Relationships

For scalar navigation properties (one parent per child), use a single-level expand with the direct name:

sources:
  - id: user_needs
    query:
      from: UserNeed
    expand:
      - name: chapter

The direct name in your data model (chapter) becomes the expand name. In your columns, bind to this property for a reference picker:

columns:
  chapter:
    title: Chapter
    display: title
    list:
      search:
        - title
  chapter.title:
    title: Chapter Title
    isReadOnly: true

chapter renders a single-value reference picker (scalar navigation property)
chapter.title renders a read-only display of the referenced Chapter’s title using dot-notation

One-to-Many (1:N) Relationships

For collection navigation properties (one parent, many children), the expand opens a new hierarchy level using the back name:

sources:
  - id: chapters
    query:
      from: Chapter
    expand:
      - name: userNeeds

The back name in your data model (userNeeds) becomes the expand name. In columns, reference the child level directly:

columns:
  title:
    title: Chapter
    hasFocus: true
  userNeeds:
    title: Title
    hasFocus: true

The expand creates child rows in the sheet — no dot-notation needed because the expand directly opens the child level.

Many-to-Many (M:N) Relationships

Many-to-many relationships use an association entity between the two types. The source expand requires two levels:

sources:
  - id: user_needs
    query:
      from: UserNeed
    expand:
      - name: systemRequirements
        expand:
          - name: systemRequirement

The first level (systemRequirements) is the association collection; the second level (systemRequirement) is the target entity. Column bindings use dot-notation through the association:

columns:
  systemRequirements.systemRequirement:
    title: System Requirement
    list:
      search:
        - objectId
        - title
      createNew: true
  systemRequirements.systemRequirement.title:
    title: SysReq Title
    hasFocus: true

For M:N relationships, always use two-level expansion: the collection name (systemRequirements) followed by the singular entity name (systemRequirement). Using only the first level will expose the association entity itself, not the target entity you want to display.

Validate Binding Paths Against the Model

After building your source and column configuration, use Model Helper to verify that every binding path in your columns corresponds to a valid expansion path.Cross-check each column key against the visualization:

Simple property (e.g., title, description) — the property must exist on the source entity type
Single-level navigation (e.g., chapter) — must match a direct or back name in a relationship from the source entity
Dot-notation path (e.g., systemRequirements.systemRequirement.title) — each segment must follow a valid relationship defined in the data model

Cardinality Quick Reference

Cardinality	Data Model	Source Expand	Column Binding	UI Behavior
N:1	`cardinality: many-to-one`, `direct` name: `chapter`	`- name: chapter`	`chapter`, `chapter.title`	Single-value reference picker
1:N	Reverse of N:1, `back` name: `userNeeds`	`- name: userNeeds`	`userNeeds`	Child rows (new hierarchy level)
M:N	`cardinality: many-to-many`, `back` name: `systemRequirements`	`- name: systemRequirements` then `- name: systemRequirement`	`systemRequirements.systemRequirement`	Multi-item reference picker

After modifying your data model (adding entity types or relationships), re-run Model Helper with an updated depth to verify that the new paths appear correctly before updating your sheet configuration.

Verify Your Setup

After configuring your sheet based on Model Helper output:

Open the Powersheet document that uses your sheet configuration
Verify that all entity types listed in Model Helper appear as expandable levels in the sheet
Confirm that column headers match the expected entity properties at each level
Expand rows at each hierarchy level to confirm that relationships load correctly
Test reference pickers to ensure they display the correct linked entities

You should now see your data model relationships reflected in the sheet, with each expansion level matching the depth and navigation property names shown in Model Helper.

Open Model Helper in a separate browser tab while editing your sheet configuration YAML. This lets you quickly verify navigation property names and expansion paths without switching back and forth between configuration files.

​Prerequisites

​Many-to-One (N:1) Relationships

​One-to-Many (1:N) Relationships

​Many-to-Many (M:N) Relationships

​Cardinality Quick Reference

​See Also

Prerequisites

Many-to-One (N:1) Relationships

One-to-Many (1:N) Relationships

Many-to-Many (M:N) Relationships

Cardinality Quick Reference

See Also