Set Up Action Priority Matrix - Nextedy Documentation

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

Risksheet installed and licensed in your Siemens Polarion ALM project
Administrative access to edit the sheet configuration
Severity and probability rating enumerations defined in Polarion Administration > Enumerations
Custom fields on your risk work item type bound to those enumerations
Familiarity with the configuration editor

When to Use Action Priority vs. RPN

The AIAG & VDA Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Handbook introduced Action Priority as a replacement for traditional RPN scoring. Rather than multiplying three numerical ratings, Action Priority maps severity and occurrence (or probability) directly to action categories.

	Low Probability	Medium Probability	High Probability
High Severity	Further Investigation	Unacceptable	Unacceptable
Medium Severity	Acceptable	Further Investigation	Unacceptable
Low Severity	Acceptable	Acceptable	Further Investigation

Legend:

Acceptable — No action required
Further Investigation — Evaluate further, action recommended
Unacceptable — Action mandatory

Risksheet is a generic risk-analysis tool. It supports FMEA, Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment (HARA), Threat Analysis and Risk Assessment (TARA), STRIDE, and Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS). Start from the closest Nextedy solution template for your industry, then adjust the configuration to match your process — do not build from a blank file.

Define Rating Scales as Polarion Enumerations

Risksheet does not define rating scales inside the sheet configuration. Instead, rating values live in standard Polarion enumerations, and the sheet configuration references them by enum ID.

In Polarion, go to Administration > Enumerations for your project (or the global scope).
Create two enumerations, for example risk-severity and risk-probability. Add values such as 1 - Minor, 2 - Moderate, 3 - Significant, 4 - Severe, 5 - Critical for severity and a comparable set for probability.
On your risk work item type, define two custom fields — for example severity and probability — each typed as the corresponding enumeration.

The Risksheet server loads enum values automatically when a column declares type: rating:<enumId> and bindings: <fieldId>. No rating definitions are duplicated in the sheet configuration.

Create the Risk Value Formula

Define a riskValue function in the formulas section of the sheet configuration. The formula maps severity and probability to action categories using conditional logic:

formulas:
  riskValue: |
    function(info) {
      var sev = parseInt(info.item['severity']);
      var prob = parseInt(info.item['probability']);
      if (!sev || !prob) return null;
      if (sev >= 4 && prob >= 3) return 'Unacceptable';
      if (sev >= 3 && prob >= 4) return 'Unacceptable';
      if (sev >= 3 && prob >= 2) return 'Further Investigation';
      if (sev >= 2 && prob >= 3) return 'Further Investigation';
      return 'Acceptable';
    }

Adjust the threshold combinations to match your organization’s risk acceptance criteria.

You can implement Action Priority using either direct if-statement functions (shown above) or a configurable risk matrix lookup table. The if-statement approach is simpler for small matrices. For complex matrices with many severity/probability combinations, consider a lookup object approach similar to the one shown in Configure HARA Workflows. For regulated environments, externalize complex matrix logic into risksheetTopPanel.vm and call it from a thin wrapper formula here.

Configure the Risk Value Column

Add severity, probability, and a calculated column that references the riskValue formula. Note the rating type syntax rating:<enumId>, which loads enum values from Polarion automatically:

columns:
  - id: severity
    bindings: severity
    header: Severity
    type: rating:risk-severity
    width: 90
  - id: probability
    bindings: probability
    header: Probability
    type: rating:risk-probability
    width: 90
  - id: actionPriority
    header: Action Priority
    formula: riskValue
    width: 140

The actionPriority column is automatically read-only because it uses a formula property.

Add Conditional Formatting

Apply color-coded styling to the Action Priority column using cellDecorators and styles. Use toggleClass so cells reuse classes correctly during scrolling:

cellDecorators:
  actionPriority: |
    function(info) {
      var val = info.value;
      $(info.cell).toggleClass('apAcceptable', val === 'Acceptable');
      $(info.cell).toggleClass('apFurther', val === 'Further Investigation');
      $(info.cell).toggleClass('apUnacceptable', val === 'Unacceptable');
    }

styles:
  '.apAcceptable': '{background-color: #eaf5e9 !important; color: #1d5f20 !important; font-weight: 600;}'
  '.apFurther': '{background-color: #fff3d2 !important; color: #735602 !important; font-weight: 600;}'
  '.apUnacceptable': '{background-color: #f8eae7 !important; color: #ab1c00 !important; font-weight: 600;}'

Style values must be wrapped in {} braces. The result is a traffic-light display:

Action Priority	Color	Meaning
Acceptable	Green	No further action required
Further Investigation	Yellow	Evaluate and decide on risk reduction
Unacceptable	Red	Action is mandatory

Apply to Row Headers (Optional)

For at-a-glance risk visibility, apply the same logic to the row header renderer, using the same jQuery $(info.cell).toggleClass(...) form as cell decorators (the form the product’s reference templates use):

headers:
  rowHeader:
    renderer: rowHeaderAP

cellDecorators:
  rowHeaderAP: |
    function(info) {
      var val = info.item['actionPriority'];
      $(info.cell).toggleClass('apAcceptable', val === 'Acceptable');
      $(info.cell).toggleClass('apFurther', val === 'Further Investigation');
      $(info.cell).toggleClass('apUnacceptable', val === 'Unacceptable');
    }

Customizing the Matrix

To adapt the Action Priority matrix to your specific risk acceptance criteria:

Adjust thresholds — modify the if-statement conditions in the riskValue formula to change which severity/probability combinations map to each category.
Add categories — extend the formula with additional return values (for example “Monitor”, “Urgent”) and add matching styles.
Use numeric scores — if you prefer a numeric Action Priority score instead of categories, return a calculated number and use threshold-based cellDecorators similar to RPN formatting.

The return values in your riskValue formula must match the string comparisons in your cellDecorators exactly, including case and spacing. A mismatch causes formatting to not be applied.

Verification

After saving the sheet configuration:

Reload the Risksheet document in your browser.
You should now see Severity and Probability input columns alongside the calculated Action Priority column.
Enter severity and probability values for a risk item — the Action Priority cell should display a color-coded category.
Verify that different severity/probability combinations produce the expected action categories.

​Prerequisites

​When to Use Action Priority vs. RPN

​Customizing the Matrix

​Verification

​See Also

Prerequisites

When to Use Action Priority vs. RPN

Customizing the Matrix

Verification

See Also