Rich Text Fields - Nextedy Documentation

Display Modes

Rich text fields can be displayed in two modes within the Risksheet grid. The choice depends on whether you need to preserve formatting or enable editing.

Standard Text Display

When a rich text field is bound to a standard column (without the serverRender property), the content is converted to plain text by the type conversion system:

Behavior	Description
Formatting stripped	All HTML tags are removed. Bold, italic, colors, lists, and tables are lost.
Links processed	Links embedded in the content are automatically processed for rendering, though they appear as plain text.
Text type	The column uses the `text` type, which supports multi-line plain text editing.
Editable	Plain text can be edited and saved back to Polarion. However, the original HTML formatting is permanently lost once saved from the grid.

Configuration example:

{
  "id": "description",
  "header": "Description",
  "bindings": "description",
  "type": "text",
  "width": 300,
  "level": 1
}

Risksheet does not fully support editing rich text fields. Editing a rich text field through the grid may strip line breaks and HTML formatting from the work item XML, causing all text to appear concatenated. Use column type text (multi-line plain text) as the recommended alternative when editing capability is needed. For preserving formatting, use serverRender instead (read-only).

Server Render Display

Use the serverRender property to display rich text with full HTML formatting. Server render columns execute a Velocity expression on the server to produce the HTML output:

id: description
header: Description
serverRender: $item.fields().get('description').render().htmlFor().forFrame()
width: 300
level: 1

Behavior	Description
Full HTML rendering	Colors, bold, italic, underline, lists, tables, and other HTML formatting are preserved and rendered in the grid cell.
Clickable links	Hyperlinks within the rich text remain functional and can be clicked to navigate.
Embedded images	Images stored in rich text fields (diagrams, symbols, annotations) are displayed inline in the cell.
Read-only	Server render columns are always read-only. Content cannot be edited through the grid.

The serverRender property produces a read-only display. There is no way to edit rich text formatting from within the Risksheet grid. Users must edit rich text content in Polarion’s native work item editor, then refresh the Risksheet to see the updated content.

Velocity Snippets for Rich Text

The serverRender property accepts Velocity expressions that are evaluated server-side. The following snippets are the standard patterns for rendering rich text fields.

Basic Rich Text Field Rendering

Use $item.fields().get('fieldID') with the .render().htmlFor().forFrame() chain:

$item.fields().get('description').render().htmlFor().forFrame()

Replace description with the actual Polarion field ID of your rich text field.

Common Field Aliases

Some standard Polarion fields have shortcut methods:

$item.fields().description().render().htmlFor().forFrame()

Custom Rich Text Fields

For custom rich text fields defined on your work item type:

$item.fields().get('customRichTextField').render().htmlFor().forFrame()

The field ID used in $item.fields().get('...') must match the Polarion custom field ID exactly. Check your project’s custom field definitions in the Polarion administration panel, or see Field Mapping for details on how Polarion fields map to Risksheet columns.

Rich Text with Images

For fields containing embedded images (such as symbol libraries, annotated diagrams, or visual risk descriptions):

id: symbols
header: Symbols
serverRender: $item.fields().get('testRichTextFieldID').render().htmlFor().forFrame()
width: 200
level: 1

Rich text fields with images are a commonly requested feature. The serverRender approach is the recommended method for displaying images in the grid. The images render at their original size within the cell, which may cause layout issues if images are large. See the section on controlling image display below for CSS-based sizing.

Column Properties for Rich Text

Standard Text Column Properties

Name	Type	Default	Description
`id`	`string`	Auto-generated	Unique column identifier
`header`	`string`	Required	Display text in column header
`bindings`	`string`	Same as `id`	Polarion field binding for the rich text field
`type`	`string`	`text`	Set to `text` for multi-line editing. Auto-detected from Polarion field type if omitted.
`width`	`number`	See application	Column width in pixels
`level`	`number`	`1`	Hierarchical level
`readOnly`	`boolean`	`false`	Set to `true` to prevent editing (recommended for rich text fields)
`headerGroup`	`string`	None	Header group for multi-level column grouping

Server Render Column Properties

Name	Type	Default	Description
`id`	`string`	Auto-generated	Unique column identifier
`header`	`string`	Required	Display text in column header
`serverRender`	`string`	None	Velocity expression to execute server-side. The result HTML is rendered in the cell.
`width`	`number`	See application	Column width in pixels
`level`	`number`	`1`	Hierarchical level
`headerGroup`	`string`	None	Header group for multi-level column grouping

When using serverRender, the bindings property is not required for the display itself — the Velocity expression retrieves the data directly. However, if the column needs to participate in sorting or filtering, a bindings may still be useful.

Controlling Image Display

Images rendered through serverRender may appear at their original dimensions, which can disrupt the grid layout. Control image sizing using CSS in the top panel template or via custom styles:

Approach	Description
CSS in Top Panel	Add CSS rules targeting `img` elements within server-rendered cells to limit `max-width` and `max-height`
Cell height configuration	Adjust row heights in the `headers` configuration to accommodate image dimensions
Custom renderer	Use a custom Velocity renderer that wraps images in a sized container

See the Top Panel Template reference for details on injecting custom CSS.

Autocomplete Behavior

Text columns (non-server-render) support autocomplete suggestions when editing:

Property	Default	Description
`settings.global.suggestTextFields`	`true`	Enables autocomplete for text fields based on existing values
`queryFactory`	None	Custom JavaScript function to customize autocomplete suggestions

When suggestTextFields is enabled, the text editor shows suggestions based on existing values in the same column across all rows. This is useful for maintaining consistency in plain text descriptions but does not apply to server-rendered columns.

Export Behavior

Excel Export

Rich text columns export differently based on their configuration:

Configuration	Export Behavior
Standard text column	Plain text (HTML already stripped during display). Editable values export as-is.
Server render column	HTML is stripped to plain text. Line breaks from `<li>` elements are preserved by inserting newlines before each closing `</li>` tag.

PDF Export

Configuration	Export Behavior
Standard text column	Plain text value included in PDF cell
Server render column	HTML is stripped to produce plain text content. The `emptyPlaceholder` property controls display for empty cells.

The exact rendering of rich text in PDF exports depends on your custom PDF export script configuration. Complex HTML content (tables within tables, deeply nested lists) may not render as expected in the plain text conversion.

Known Limitations

Limitation	Description	Workaround
No rich text editing in grid	Editing rich text through standard columns strips all HTML formatting	Use `serverRender` for display; edit in Polarion’s work item editor
Line breaks lost on edit	Editing rich text fields may strip line breaks from the work item XML	Use `type: "text"` (multi-line text) instead of binding directly to rich text fields
Server render is read-only	No way to edit server-rendered content from the grid	Edit in Polarion, then refresh Risksheet
Image sizing	Images render at original size in cells	Apply CSS rules in the top panel template to constrain dimensions
Custom Excel templates	Custom Excel export templates for rich text formatting are not available	Use PDF export with custom scripts for formatted output

Complete Example

An FMEA configuration with a mix of editable plain text and read-only rich text columns:

{
  "columns": [
    {
      "id": "title",
      "header": "Failure Mode",
      "bindings": "title",
      "type": "text",
      "width": 200,
      "level": 1
    },
    {
      "id": "descriptionFormatted",
      "header": "Description (Formatted)",
      "serverRender": "$item.fields().get('description').render().htmlFor().forFrame()",
      "width": 350,
      "level": 1,
      "headerGroup": "Details"
    },
    {
      "id": "descriptionPlain",
      "header": "Description (Editable)",
      "bindings": "description",
      "type": "text",
      "width": 250,
      "level": 1,
      "readOnly": false,
      "headerGroup": "Details"
    },
    {
      "id": "sev",
      "header": "Severity",
      "bindings": "sev",
      "type": "rating:severity",
      "width": 70,
      "level": 1,
      "headerGroup": "Assessment"
    },
    {
      "id": "taskNotes",
      "header": "Mitigation Notes",
      "serverRender": "$item.fields().get('notes').render().htmlFor().forFrame()",
      "width": 300,
      "headerGroup": "Mitigation"
    },
    {
      "id": "taskDescription",
      "header": "Task Details (Editable)",
      "bindings": "task.description",
      "type": "text",
      "width": 250,
      "headerGroup": "Mitigation"
    }
  ]
}

This configuration provides:

A formatted, read-only view of the description field with full HTML rendering
A parallel editable plain text version for quick edits (loses formatting)
Server-rendered mitigation notes with preserved formatting
An editable task description for downstream items

Server Render Columns — full reference for server-rendered columns and Velocity expressions
Velocity Template Context — available Velocity context variables and methods
Column Type Reference — overview of all available column types
Data Types — field type reference and type conversion behavior
Supported Field Types — complete list of Polarion field types
Field Mapping — how Polarion fields map to Risksheet columns
Top Panel Template — inject custom CSS for image sizing

​Display Modes

​Standard Text Display

​Server Render Display

​Velocity Snippets for Rich Text

​Basic Rich Text Field Rendering

​Common Field Aliases

​Custom Rich Text Fields

​Rich Text with Images

​Column Properties for Rich Text

​Standard Text Column Properties

​Server Render Column Properties

​Controlling Image Display

​Autocomplete Behavior

​Export Behavior

​Excel Export

​PDF Export

​Known Limitations

​Complete Example

​Related Pages

Display Modes

Standard Text Display

Server Render Display

Velocity Snippets for Rich Text

Basic Rich Text Field Rendering

Common Field Aliases

Custom Rich Text Fields

Rich Text with Images

Column Properties for Rich Text

Standard Text Column Properties

Server Render Column Properties

Controlling Image Display

Autocomplete Behavior

Export Behavior

Excel Export

PDF Export

Known Limitations

Complete Example

Related Pages