What you will achieve
By the end of this tutorial, you will be familiar with every major area of the Risksheet interface: the toolbar, column headers, column group headers, the data grid, row headers, hierarchical row levels, context menus, cell editors, filtering controls, and saved views. You will know how to navigate a risk analysis table, identify different column types by their visual cues, understand the hierarchical row structure used for FMEA and HARA workflows, and perform basic interactions such as editing, sorting, and filtering.
Prerequisites
- Risksheet is installed on your Polarion instance (see Installation)
- You have access to a Polarion project with at least one Risksheet document
- You are logged into Polarion with a valid license (see Evaluate Risksheet)
If you do not have an existing Risksheet document, follow Create Your First Risksheet to set one up before continuing with this tutorial. Step 1: Open a Risksheet Document
Navigate to your Polarion project and open a LiveDoc document that contains a Risksheet widget. The Risksheet grid loads within the document page, replacing the standard Polarion table view with an interactive spreadsheet-like interface.
You should see the full Risksheet grid occupying the document area, with a toolbar row above and the data grid below.
The layout divides into four horizontal zones stacked top to bottom: the Polarion navigation bar, the Risksheet toolbar, the header area (group headers and column headers), and the data grid containing all risk item rows.
The toolbar row sits at the top of the Risksheet grid. It provides buttons for the most common operations:
| Button | Action | Notes |
|---|
| 💾 Save | Save all pending changes to the server | Batches multiple edits into one save operation |
| Undo | Undo the last edit | Client-side undo, works before save |
| Redo | Redo an undone edit | Cleared when you make a new edit |
| Export to Excel | Download the current view as an Excel file | Respects column visibility settings |
| Export to PDF | Generate a formatted PDF export | Configurable through PDF export scripts |
| Views | Switch between saved column visibility presets | Only visible if views are configured |
| ⚙️ Configure | Open the configuration editor | Only visible for admin users (canAdmin permission) |
Use Ctrl+S (or Cmd+S on macOS) to save, Ctrl+Z to undo, and Ctrl+Y to redo. Copy cells with Ctrl+C and paste with Ctrl+V. These shortcuts work whenever the grid has focus.
Step 3: Understand Column Headers and Groups
Risksheet supports two header rows above the data cells:
-
Column group headers — the top row that spans multiple columns under a shared label (for example, “Initial Risk Assessment” or “Revised Assessment”). These groups are configured via the
headerGroup property on individual column definitions. The height of this row is set by headers.columnGroupHeader.height (default: 32 pixels). Groups can be collapsed to hide their member columns, controlled by the collapseTo property.
-
Column headers — the row directly above the data cells showing individual column names (for example, “Severity (S)”, “Occurrence (O)”, “Detection (D)”, “RPN”). The height is set by
headers.columnHeader.height (default: 32 pixels). Each header displays the value from the column’s header property.
Click a column header to sort the grid by that column. Click again to reverse the sort direction. A third click removes the sort. Sorting is performed entirely client-side, so results appear instantly with no server round-trip.
Click the collapse icon on a column group header to hide grouped columns. The column specified by collapseTo remains visible as a summary. Click again to expand and show all columns.
Step 4: Navigate the Row Structure
Risksheet organizes rows in a hierarchical structure based on the levels configuration in risksheet.json. Each level represents a different type of work item in the risk analysis. In a typical FMEA, the hierarchy looks like this:
| Level | Typical Content | Example IDs | Configuration |
|---|
| Level 1 | Failure mode or hazard | FM-001, HZ-001 | levels[0] with showInMenu: true |
| Level 2 | Cause, effect, or sub-analysis | C-001, E-001 | levels[1] with showInMenu: true |
| Task level | Mitigation actions or tasks | T-001, ACT-001 | dataTypes.task configuration |
The row header column appears on the left side of the grid. It displays the work item ID and can show conditional color coding based on risk values. For example, the headers.rowHeader.renderer property (default: rowHeaderRpnNew) applies color-coded backgrounds to row headers based on the revised RPN value, giving you an at-a-glance risk summary.
Click a Level 1 row header (for example, a failure mode ID) to zoom into that item and see only its child rows. This behavior is controlled by the levels[].controlColumn property (default: systemItemId). Use the breadcrumb or browser back button to return to the full view.
Step 5: Identify Column Types and Edit a Cell
Click any editable cell in the grid to enter edit mode. The cell editor that appears depends on the column type configured in risksheet.json:
| Column Type | Editor | Behavior |
|---|
text | Multi-line text input | Free-form text with word wrap |
enum:<id>, rating:<id> | Dropdown selector | Shows enum options with optional descriptions |
multiEnum:<id> | Multi-select checkbox dropdown | Shows up to 2 selections, then “+N more” |
boolean | Checkbox toggle | Click to toggle true/false |
date | Date picker | Stores as YYYY-MM-DD |
datetime | Date-time picker | Stores as ISO datetime |
int, float, currency | Numeric input | Validates numeric entry |
itemLink | Link picker with search | Browse or create linked work items |
multiItemLink | Multi-link picker | Link to multiple work items |
workflow | Status dropdown | Shows available workflow transitions |
Ctrl+S. Risksheet batches multiple edits and sends them to the server together, so you can make several changes before saving. The toolbar Save button shows an indicator when there are unsaved changes.
Some cells cannot be edited. Cells with a formula (calculated columns), a serverRender script, or that reference system fields like id, status, type, project, created, updated, or outlineNumber are automatically read-only. Additionally, columns explicitly marked with readOnly: true and any grid viewing a historical revision (not the current head) are entirely read-only. Read-only cells display a visual indicator when you attempt to click them.
| Menu Item | Action | Availability |
|---|
| Open Row Item | Opens the work item in the standard Polarion editor | Always available |
| Open Linked Item | Opens a linked work item from an item link column | When cell contains a valid item link |
| New [Level] Item | Creates a new work item at the specified hierarchy level | When levels[].showInMenu is true and grid is editable |
| New Task | Creates a downstream mitigation task linked to the selected row | When dataTypes.task.showInMenu is true |
| Remove Row Item | Removes the selected item from the grid | In editable grids only |
| Freeze Pane | Freezes columns to the left for horizontal scrolling | Always available |
| Unfreeze Pane | Removes column freezing | When columns are currently frozen |
dataTypes configuration, and your user permissions. Custom context menu actions can also be added via the customContextMenuActions extensibility point.
The Debug menu option appears only when appConfig.debug is set to true and outputs diagnostic information to the browser console for troubleshooting purposes.
Step 7: Use Filtering
Risksheet supports column-level filtering for any column where filterable is set to true (the default). Click the filter icon in a column header to open the filter panel, then select or deselect values to narrow the displayed rows.
Filtering is performed client-side, so results appear instantly. You can apply filters to multiple columns simultaneously. Filtered rows are hidden from view but not removed from the data — clearing the filter restores all rows.
Filters persist within your browser session but are not saved across page reloads. Filters are applied on the client and do not affect other users viewing the same document.
Step 8: Switch Saved Views
If your Risksheet configuration includes saved views (defined in the views array in risksheet.json), use the Views dropdown in the toolbar to switch between different column visibility presets. Each view shows a different subset of columns, allowing you to focus on specific aspects of the risk analysis without scrolling through all columns.
Common view configurations include:
| View Name | Columns Shown | Use Case |
|---|
| Full FMEA | All columns visible | Comprehensive analysis review |
| Risk Summary | Failure mode, RPN, status | Management reporting |
| Mitigation Tracking | Mitigation actions, assignee, due date, status | Action item follow-up |
| Initial vs. Revised | S, O, D, RPN for both initial and revised | Before/after comparison |
Next Steps
Now that you understand the interface layout and basic interactions, continue with these tutorials:
- Basic Configuration — learn how to customize the
risksheet.json configuration file
- Quick Start Guide — end-to-end walkthrough from setup to first risk analysis
- How-To Guides — task-oriented guides for specific workflows like column configuration, export, and review management
- Concepts — deeper explanations of architecture, data model, and traceability
