Use Velocity Templates - Nextedy Documentation

Prerequisites

A data model with a server-rendered property (see Create a Computed Property)
Basic understanding of Apache Velocity template syntax

Access Work Item Properties via $item

The $item variable provides access to the work item model object. Use it to read standard and custom field values:

$item.title
$item.status
$item.author
$item.created
$item.updated

Example serverRender expression that combines fields:

properties:
  summary:
    serverRender: "$item.id: $item.title ($item.status)"
    readable: true
    updatable: false

Use Conditional Logic

Velocity supports #if, #elseif, #else, and #end directives for conditional rendering:

properties:
  priorityLabel:
    serverRender: "#if($item.priority == 'critical')CRITICAL#elseif($item.priority == 'high')High#else Normal#end"
    readable: true
    updatable: false

Directive	Purpose
`#if(condition)`	Start conditional block
`#elseif(condition)`	Alternative condition
`#else`	Default fallback
`#end`	Close block
`#foreach($x in $list)`	Iterate over collections
`#set($var = value)`	Assign a variable

Access Document Context via $module

When a work item belongs to a LiveDoc, the $module variable provides document-level properties:

properties:
  docContext:
    serverRender: "$module.moduleFolder/$module.moduleName"
    readable: true
    updatable: false

If the entity is not associated with a document, $module will be null. Always add a null check: #if($module)$module.moduleName#else N/A#end

Use the Low-Level Work Item API via $wi

The $wi variable exposes the Polarion work item API for operations not available on $item:

properties:
  linkedCount:
    serverRender: "$wi.getLinkedWorkItemsStructsDirect().size()"
    readable: true
    updatable: false

The $wi variable is only available for work item entities. For other entity types (documents, chapters), use $item or $module instead.

Use Platform Services

Server-rendered templates have access to several Polarion platform services:

properties:
  projectName:
    serverRender: "$trackerService.getProjectById($item.projectId).getName()"
    readable: true
    updatable: false

Available service variables:

Variable	Service	Common Uses
`$trackerService`	Work item tracker	Query work items, access projects
`$txService`	Transaction	Transaction context
`$repositoryService`	Repository	Project metadata, users, roles
`$securityService`	Security	Permission checks, user auth

See Access Polarion Services for detailed examples of each service.

Handle Errors Gracefully

When a Velocity template fails, Powersheet returns the error marker #SERVER_RENDER_ERROR in the cell. Protect against common failures with defensive coding:

properties:
  safeTitle:
    serverRender: "#if($item && $item.title)$item.title#else (untitled)#end"
    readable: true
    updatable: false

If you see #SERVER_RENDER_ERROR in a column cell, the template failed due to a parse error, method invocation error, or missing resource. Check the Polarion server logs for the specific exception type.

Template Patterns Reference

String concatenation:

$item.id - $item.title

Null-safe access:

#if($item.severity)$item.severity#else Unset#end

Collection iteration:

#foreach($link in $wi.getLinkedWorkItemsStructsDirect())$link.getLinkedItem().getId() #end

Variable assignment:

#set($count = $wi.getLinkedWorkItemsStructsDirect().size())$count linked items

The available methods on $item, $wi, and platform services depend on your Polarion version. Test templates with simple expressions before building complex logic.

Verify

After configuring a Velocity template expression:

Open the powersheet document in Polarion
You should now see computed values in the server-rendered column
Verify that null-safe checks work by testing with work items that have empty fields
If values show #SERVER_RENDER_ERROR, consult the Debug Template Errors guide

​Prerequisites

​Template Patterns Reference

​Verify

​See Also

Prerequisites

Template Patterns Reference

Verify

See Also