Collapse Column Groups - Nextedy Documentation

This guide describes column grouping and the collapseTo behavior using the verified column properties headerGroup and collapseTo. The exact UI affordance for collapsing a group (header click, group menu, or keyboard shortcut) may vary by Nextedy RISKSHEET version — confirm the click target in your environment.

When to use column groups

Column groups are useful when a Risksheet configuration contains many columns and the analyst wants to switch between a detailed and a summary view without creating separate saved views. Typical examples:

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) sheets that group the Initial Assessment, Mitigation, and Final Assessment columns
Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment (HARA) sheets that group ASIL components (severity, exposure, controllability)
Threat Analysis and Risk Assessment (TARA) sheets that group impact and feasibility ratings

When a group is collapsed, every column inside the group is hidden EXCEPT the columns flagged with collapseTo: true, which remain visible as the group’s representative summary.

How grouping and collapsing fit together

Decide which columns belong to a group

Pick columns that always make sense together for the analyst. A column group works best when:

The columns share a domain meaning (for example, all parameters that feed the same Risk Priority Number).
The analyst frequently toggles between a “detail” mindset (entering severity, occurrence, detection) and a “summary” mindset (reading RPN).
At least one column in the group is a calculated or rolled-up value that can stand in for the rest when collapsed.

Add `headerGroup` to each member column

Open the sheet configuration through Menu > Configuration > Edit Risksheet Configuration. In the columns array, set the same headerGroup string on every column that belongs to the group:

columns:
  - id: severity
    header: S
    bindings: severity
    type: rating:severityEnum
    headerGroup: Initial Assessment
    level: 2
  - id: occurrence
    header: O
    bindings: occurrence
    type: rating:occurrenceEnum
    headerGroup: Initial Assessment
    level: 2
  - id: detection
    header: D
    bindings: detection
    type: rating:detectionEnum
    headerGroup: Initial Assessment
    level: 2
  - id: rpn
    header: RPN
    formula: computeRpn
    headerGroup: Initial Assessment
    collapseTo: true
    level: 2

The headerGroup value becomes the merged header bar displayed above the member columns. Any number of groups can coexist in the same sheet — just use distinct headerGroup strings (for example, Initial Assessment, Mitigation, Final Assessment).

For an FMEA workflow it is common to define three parallel groups (Initial Assessment, Mitigation, Final Assessment) with the same internal structure (severity, occurrence, detection, RPN). Analysts then collapse the groups they are not actively editing, keeping the corresponding RPN columns visible for comparison.

Pin a summary column with `collapseTo`

Add collapseTo: true to the column that should remain visible when the group is collapsed. Typical choices are:

The calculated RPN (or any composite score)
A classification column such as ASIL or risk class
A status column that summarises the group

Column property	Type	Meaning
`headerGroup`	string	Name of the column group. Same value on every member column.
`collapseTo`	boolean	When `true`, the column stays visible while the rest of the group is hidden.

Earlier drafts of community examples sometimes show collapseTo: "rpn" or another column id. That form is not valid in Risksheet. The property is a boolean — set collapseTo: true on the column you want to keep visible. To change which column persists when the group is collapsed, move the true flag to a different column.

Save and reload the document

Save the sheet configuration. Reload the Polarion LiveDoc that hosts the risksheet so the new grouping takes effect. The grid renders a second header row showing the group name, with the member columns aligned underneath.

The configuration editor in v25.5.0+ supports a YAML view with live syntax checking. Use it to confirm that every member column has the same headerGroup value before saving — a typo on one column will split the group into two.

Collapse and expand the group

In the rendered grid, click the group header to collapse all member columns down to those flagged with collapseTo: true. Click again to expand the group back to its full set of columns. The collapsed state is per-user and per-session — it does not modify the sheet configuration.If you want a specific collapsed-by-default layout for every analyst, combine column groups with a saved view: define a view that excludes the detailed columns, and another that includes them all. See Create Saved Views for the columnIds, @all, and -columnId syntax.

Pitfalls and tips

Every column in a group should share the same level value. If one member sits on a different visual level, the group header will not align correctly with the columns below it. See Display Multi-Level Hierarchies for how level values are used for cell merging.

Columns bound to task.* fields are rendered with their own merging logic and do not participate in the same level hierarchy as risk-item columns. If you create a group that mixes risk-item and task columns, expand and collapse may look inconsistent. Prefer grouping columns that bind to the same data type.

Column groups are a per-user runtime affordance — they let an analyst hide detail temporarily. Saved views, by contrast, define persistent column subsets shared across users. Use the two together: one named saved view per workflow stage, and groups inside each view for in-stage focus.

The column flagged with collapseTo: true becomes the only signal the analyst sees when the group is collapsed. Pick a column that is calculated from the others (for example, a Risk Priority Number formula) so that the collapsed view still conveys the group’s outcome. See Configure Calculated Columns for the formula syntax.

Verification

You should now see:

A merged header bar labelled with your headerGroup value above the member columns.
Clicking the group header collapses all member columns except the one with collapseTo: true.
Clicking the collapsed header expands the group back to the full column set.
The collapse state persists for the current session but does not change the stored sheet configuration.

​When to use column groups

​How grouping and collapsing fit together

​Pitfalls and tips

​Verification

​See also

When to use column groups

How grouping and collapsing fit together

Pitfalls and tips

Verification

See also