Show ID and Title in One Column for Downstream Items

When to use this pattern

By default, you might use two separate columns to show the downstream item ID and the downstream item title. That works, but it doubles the horizontal footprint of every linked task. A single combined column is especially useful when:

You are showing several downstream task types side by side (mitigation, verification, safety requirement)
The grid is already wide and you want to reclaim horizontal space
You want a clickable, copy-friendly summary like MIT-0042 — Add fuse to power input

The combined column uses a server-rendered Velocity template that produces the ID, a separator, and the title in one cell, with the task object exposed through the task.$item binding pattern.

A downstream item shown as a combined ID and title in a single Nextedy RISKSHEET column

Before you start

You will need:

A sheet configuration where dataTypes.task is already configured (work item type, link role, name)
Permission to edit the sheet configuration through Menu > Configuration > Edit Risksheet Configuration
Familiarity with combining server-rendered columns and the task.$item binding (see Render Custom Data)

Start from your existing solution template — pick the closest template for your methodology and modify it. Do not start from a blank configuration.

Confirm dataTypes.task is configured

Open the sheet configuration. Locate the dataTypes block and make sure the task entry is present:

dataTypes:
  risk:
    type: failureMode
  task:
    type: mitigationTask
    role: mitigates
    name: Mitigation
    zoomColumn: taskIdTitle

The name is what appears in toolbar menus. The zoomColumn should be the ID of the combined column you are about to create — this lets users click into the column when they zoom into a task.

“Risk” and “task” are naming conventions, not constraints. The same pattern works for any two work item types, including requirements linked to test cases, or hazards linked to safety goals.

Add a combined ID + Title column

Add a new column entry under columns. The key trick is binding to task.$item and using a Velocity serverRender template to format the output:

columns:
  - id: taskIdTitle
    header: Task
    bindings: task.$item
    width: 280
    serverRender: |
      #if($item)
        <strong>$item.fields().id().get()</strong> — $item.fields().title().get()
      #end

Key points:

bindings: task.$item exposes the entire downstream task work item as $item in the Velocity context
The column is implicitly read-only because it is server-rendered
The #if($item) guard prevents rendering when a row has no linked task
The em-dash (—) is a visual separator — adapt to your house style (colon, pipe, line break)

For richer formatting, wrap the ID in a clickable link. Velocity’s $item.render().linkTo() helper or the standard Polarion link helpers produce a hyperlink to the work item. See Customize Link Rendering for the patterns Risksheet supports.

Pick a separator style

The most common formats are:

Style	Example	Best for
Em-dash	`MIT-0042 — Add fuse`	Print-friendly, easy to scan
Colon	`MIT-0042: Add fuse`	Compact lists
Line break (`<br/>`)	`MIT-0042`<br/>`Add fuse`	Long titles, narrow columns
Bold ID + plain title	MIT-0042 Add fuse	Maximum visual contrast

For a two-line layout that wraps the title under a bold ID:

- id: taskIdTitle
  header: Task
  bindings: task.$item
  width: 240
  serverRender: |
    #if($item)
      <strong>$item.fields().id().get()</strong><br/>
      <span style="color:#5e6c84">$item.fields().title().get()</span>
    #end

Hide the separate ID and Title columns

If you previously had separate taskId and taskTitle columns, remove or hide them. The cleanest approach is to delete them entirely from the columns array. If you need them available for power users, keep them in the configuration and exclude them from your default view:

views:
  - name: Compact
    defaultView: true
    columnIds:
      - "@all"
      - "-taskId"
      - "-taskTitle"
  - name: Detailed
    columnIds:
      - "@all"

The @all shorthand includes every column, and the -columnId prefix removes specific columns from that set. See Configure Column Visibility for more on view filtering.

Update the level mapping (if needed)

Combined columns are typically task-scope columns and therefore should have no level property — task columns merge by parent risk item plus task ID, not by visual level. Check that the column entry does not include a level: N setting that would push it into a risk-row hierarchy.

Adding a level to a task-bound column makes Risksheet try to merge cells across rows that share the same parent risk, which collapses several distinct tasks into a single cell. If your combined column shows one row per risk instead of one row per task, remove the level property.

Save and verify

Save the sheet configuration through the editor
Reload the risksheet document
Confirm that the combined column displays both the ID and the title for every linked downstream task

You should now see one column per downstream task showing ID — Title, with no separate ID/title columns cluttering the view. Clicking the column header should sort by the rendered value, and the column should remain read-only.

Working with multiple downstream types

If your sheet has more than one downstream type (for example, mitigations and verifications), repeat the pattern with one combined column per type. Reference your dataTypes.task configuration and assign distinct id values to each combined column. See Configure Multiple Downstream Types for the broader pattern.

Use a cellDecorator to color-code the combined column by task work item type. The decorator can inspect the rendered cell text or the underlying info.item and apply a CSS class through $(info.cell).toggleClass('mitigation-row', condition).

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Cell renders empty	No downstream task linked, or `#if($item)` guard missing	Confirm a task is linked; verify the Velocity template wraps output in `#if($item)`
Cell shows raw `$item.fields()...`	`bindings: task.$item` is missing or wrong	Re-check the column `bindings` value — the `$item` suffix is required
Column is editable	`serverRender` was removed or misspelled	Add the `serverRender` template back — server-rendered columns are read-only
Both ID and title appear blank but other task columns work	Different downstream task type without these fields	Confirm the task work item type actually has `id` and `title` fields populated
Long titles overflow	Column width too narrow	Increase `width` or switch to the two-line layout in Step 3

​When to use this pattern

​Before you start

​Working with multiple downstream types

​Troubleshooting

​See also

When to use this pattern

Before you start

Working with multiple downstream types

Troubleshooting

See also