Formatting combined columns in text mode (so close to the right answer!)

[KyleMi]

Okay here is the goal: We have project managers and product managers (sometimes) on projects. I wanted to combine the project manager and product managers into one column so you can see both in one column. This made it difficult to tell who's who so I wanted to add labels prefixing the users so you knew (Examples: PjM: Kyle Mills and PdM: John Doe). Then to just make it easier on the eyes I wanted to bold the labels (so PjM: Kyle Mills would become PjM: Kyle Mills)

Now it has taken a lot of trial and error to get to where I am at. I believe in order to get just the label to be bold I have to create columns specifically for them, which I have and I've gotten that part to work. Furthermore it took some playing around to get the PdM label to only show up when there is a PdM on the project which is identified with a custom project typeahead (user) field. Anyways you can see in the attached image I now have two columns with bolded labels one with a line break just waiting to be combined with the other.

My Issue: The problem is when I add the sharecol=true line to the left column the "PdM: " label no longer stays bold (as displayed in second pic) and it's driving me mad. For context, this happened when adding the line break to the column with the PdM in it as well however I was able to resolve the issue by reducing the column number of the style lines by 1 (used to read column.10.styledef... now reads column.9.styledef...or used to before I reordered the columns either way that rebolded the text)

PjM/PdM column code:

column.4.displayname=PjM/PdM

column.4.sharecol=true

column.4.textmode=true

column.4.value=<b>PjM: </b>

column.4.valueformat=HTML

column.5.displayname=

column.5.linkedname=owner

column.5.namekey=view.relatedcolumn

column.5.namekeyargkey.0=owner

column.5.namekeyargkey.1=name

column.5.querysort=owner:name

column.5.textmode=true

column.5.valuefield=owner:name

column.5.valueformat=HTML

Line Break PdM Column Code:

column.6.displayname=Line Break PdM

column.6.sharecol=true

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.icon=false

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.leftmethod=company:name

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.lefttext=company:name

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.operator=notblank

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.operatortype=string

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.righttext=

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.trueproperty.0.name=fontstyle

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.trueproperty.0.value=bold

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.truetext=

column.6.textmode=true

column.6.value=<br>

column.6.valueformat=HTML

column.7.displayname=PdM Label

column.7.linkedname=Product Manager - PdM

column.7.namekey=view.relatedcolumn

column.7.namekeyargkey.0=Product Manager - PdM

column.7.namekeyargkey.1=name

column.7.querysort=DE:Product Manager - PdM:name

column.7.sharecol=true

column.7.textmode=true

column.7.valueformat=HTML

column.8.sharecol=true

column.8.textmode=true

column.8.valueexpression=IF(ISBLANK({DE:Product Manager - PdM:name}),"","PdM: ")

column.8.valueformat=HTML

column.9.displayname=

column.9.linkedname=Product Manager - PdM

column.9.namekey=view.relatedcolumn

column.9.namekeyargkey.0=Product Manager - PdM

column.9.namekeyargkey.1=name

column.9.querysort=DE:Product Manager - PdM:name

column.9.textmode=true

column.9.valuefield=Product Manager - PdM:name

column.9.valueformat=customReferenceObjectAsString

Combined column that doesn't work (result shown in second pic):

column.4.displayname=PjM/PdM

column.4.sharecol=true

column.4.textmode=true

column.4.value=<b>PjM: </b>

column.4.valueformat=HTML

column.5.displayname=

column.5.linkedname=owner

column.5.namekey=view.relatedcolumn

column.5.namekeyargkey.0=owner

column.5.namekeyargkey.1=name

column.5.querysort=owner:name

column.5.sharecol=true

column.5.textmode=true

column.5.valuefield=owner:name

column.5.valueformat=HTML

column.6.displayname=Line Break PdM

column.6.sharecol=true

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.icon=false

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.leftmethod=company:name

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.lefttext=company:name

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.operator=notblank

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.operatortype=string

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.righttext=

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.trueproperty.0.name=fontstyle

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.trueproperty.0.value=bold

column.6.styledef.case.0.comparison.truetext=

column.6.textmode=true

column.6.value=<br>

column.6.valueformat=HTML

column.7.displayname=PdM Label

column.7.linkedname=Product Manager - PdM

column.7.namekey=view.relatedcolumn

column.7.namekeyargkey.0=Product Manager - PdM

column.7.namekeyargkey.1=name

column.7.querysort=DE:Product Manager - PdM:name

column.7.sharecol=true

column.7.textmode=true

column.7.valueformat=HTML

column.8.sharecol=true

column.8.textmode=true

column.8.valueexpression=IF(ISBLANK({DE:Product Manager - PdM:name}),"","PdM: ")

column.8.valueformat=HTML

column.9.displayname=

column.9.linkedname=Product Manager - PdM

column.9.namekey=view.relatedcolumn

column.9.namekeyargkey.0=Product Manager - PdM

column.9.namekeyargkey.1=name

column.9.querysort=DE:Product Manager - PdM:name

column.9.textmode=true

column.9.valuefield=Product Manager - PdM:name

column.9.valueformat=customReferenceObjectAsString

---------------------------

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I took different approaches to bolding the labels because the "PjM: " label will be present on every single project so I could make it a static element to the report. The "PdM: " label should only be present if there is a PdM on the project (denoted by custom field) so I had to use a valuexpression to make it conditionally display and I could only get it to bold via the styledef lines. Again when I did the first step to combining the PjM and PdM columns (adding line break to PdM column) the "PdM: " label unbolded and I fixed that issue by reducing the value in the styledef lines column value by 1 (no idea why that worked I just had a hunch). Now when I add the sharecol=true line to the PjM column it does combine everything exactly how I want it to but "PdM: " is not bolded ("PjM: " does stay bolded though). I did try reducing the styledef lines column value by 1 but that didn't work this time. Furthermore if I set the PdM column to be the left most column it works fine and both labels stay bolded but I don't want the PdM to be displayed on top since it won't always be there and I don't want people to start associating the first name with the PdM.

Sorry that was a lot of text but I am just trying to dump everything out of my brain before I quit thinking about this. Thank you!

[skyehansen]

honestly this is a lot to look at, so I'm just going to throw out one suggestion.

What if instead of doing your column 6 the way you did it, you just use it to open a bold tag, and then closed the bold tag between column 8 and 9? (new column 9, move old column 9 to 10)

Additionally... I don't know if you've realized but everything in those columns in your screenshot is bolded. (the headers and the answers)

Potentially (bad coding alert), you might just open the b tag in column 4 and close it after column 9.

[KyleMi]

Okay, that makes sense, I'll try that thank you!

[AnthonyIm]

I'm with Skye, and since the name is already bold and hyperlinked, you might as well do the open bold tag and just do a column at the end to close it if you really need PdM to disappear.

Otherwise, if you don't need the PdM label to disappear, I would just do 4 columns: blank 1, PjM, blank 2, PdM

In Blank 2, I'd put

sharecol=true

textmode=true

value=<br><b>PdM:&nbsp;</b>

valueformat=HTML

In PjM, change to text mode and add sharecol=true

In Blank 1, I'd put

displayname=PjM/PdM

sharecol=true

textmode=true

value=<b>PjM:&nbsp;</b>

valueformat=HTML

NOTE: As you may know, for shared columns, it is better to go right to left. :)

[KyleMi]

Okay, that makes sense, I'll try that thank you!

[PatriciaGr]

I do something similar, but I don't do a separate line for my breaks for the most part... Example:

column.1.sharecol=true

column.1.shortview=true

column.1.textmode=true

column.1.value=<strong>Project: </b></strong>

column.1.valueformat=html

column.2.displayname=

column.2.linkedname=direct

column.2.namekey=name

column.2.querysort=name

column.2.sharecol=true

column.2.shortview=true

column.2.textmode=true

column.2.value=<hr>

column.2.valueexpression=IF({DE:Project Type}="Relocation",Concat({DE:Horizon ID - Relocation New Site}," -- ",{name}),Concat({DE:Horizon ID}," -- ",{name}))

column.2.valueformat=HTML

column.2.width=50

column.3.sharecol=true

column.3.shortview=true

column.3.textmode=true

column.3.value=<br>

column.3.valueformat=HTML

column.4.displayname=

column.4.linkedname=

column.4.namekey=

column.4.sharecol=true

column.4.shortview=true

column.4.textmode=true

column.4.valueexpression=Concat("TM - ",{DE:Transaction Manager},"; PM - ",{DE:Project Manager},"; NBP - ",{DE:Network Business Partner})

column.4.valueformat=html

column.5.sharecol=true

column.5.shortview=true

column.5.textmode=true

column.5.value=<br><strong></strong>

column.5.valueformat=HTML

column.6.displayname=

column.6.linkedname=direct

column.6.namekey=description

column.6.querysort=description

column.6.sharecol=true

column.6.shortview=true

column.6.textmode=true

column.6.valuefield=description

column.6.valueformat=HTML

column.7.sharecol=true

column.7.shortview=true

column.7.textmode=true

column.7.value=<hr><strong>Project Phase: </strong>

column.7.valueformat=HTML

column.8.displayname=

column.8.linkedname=direct

column.8.namekey=Phase

column.8.querysort=DE:Phase

column.8.sharecol=true

column.8.shortview=true

column.8.textmode=true

column.8.valuefield=Phase

column.8.valueformat=customDataLabelsAsString

column.9.sharecol=true

column.9.shortview=true

column.9.textmode=true

column.9.value=<br><strong>Project Type: </strong>

column.9.valueformat=HTML

column.10.displayname=

column.10.linkedname=direct

column.10.namekey=Project Type

column.10.querysort=DE:Project Type

column.10.sharecol=true

column.10.shortview=true

column.10.textmode=true

column.10.valuefield=Project Type

column.10.valueformat=customDataLabelsAsString

column.11.sharecol=true

column.11.shortview=true

column.11.textmode=true

column.11.value=<br><strong>TM Status: </strong>

column.11.valueformat=HTML

column.12.displayname=

column.12.linkedname=direct

column.12.namekey=TM Status

column.12.querysort=DE:TM Status

column.12.sharecol=true

column.12.shortview=true

column.12.textmode=true

column.12.valuefield=TM Status

column.12.valueformat=customDataLabelsAsString

column.13.sharecol=true

column.13.shortview=true

column.13.textmode=true

column.13.value=<strong>; PDS Status: </strong>

column.13.valueformat=HTML

column.14.displayname=

column.14.linkedname=direct

column.14.namekey=PDS Status

column.14.sharecol=true

column.14.shortview=true

column.14.textmode=true

column.14.valuefield=PDS Status

column.14.valueformat=customDataLabelsAsString

column.14.width=150

column.15.sharecol=true

column.15.shortview=true

column.15.textmode=true

column.15.value=<br><strong>Lease Expiration Date: </strong>

column.15.valueformat=HTML