Explore how setting column and row-types help you control rule targeting and formatting
To support cleaner, more readable, and reusable targeting with rules, Grunt allows you to assign specific types to columns and rows within your Visual Grid.
The four available types are: "Content”, “Header”, “Sub-header”, and “Footer.”
When you select an object, the type assigned to each column and row is immediately visible. Any column or row that has a type different from the default is indicated in its respective header.
You can also see the type name used in the targets of rules:
If you define column- and row types before adding rules, Grunt will use these definitions to add cleaner and more efficient targets automatically.
By default, all elements in a Visual Grid are set to the “Content” type. To change a type, simply right-click on a column or row and select the “Set type” option.
Beyond improving the readability and manageability of rule targets, assigning types primarily serves three key purposes:
1. To target "all" regular columns or rows
A typical setup in the Visual Grid involves having one or more header rows, followed by several content rows. If you want to create a rule that specifically targets these content rows, there are multiple approaches available—each offering different behavior if the number of rows or other aspects of your grid change over time.
Method A: Targeting by row ID. This approach successfully omits the top row from formatting. However, if additional rows are inserted later (such as row 6, row 7, and so on), these new rows will not be included in the rule’s formatting.
This is how rules-targeting will look if you do not use column and row types. The rule will not dynamically reflect added columns/rows.
Method B: Using "Content" rows (recommended)
This method also excludes the top row from formatting. Additionally, any new row added—by default categorized as a "Content" row—will automatically be included in the rule’s formatting.
2. To consolidate targeting
Another frequent scenario arises when you need certain parts of your Visual Grid to stand out from the rest—such as emphasizing subtotals in a Profit & Loss-table with bold text and borders.
This often requires multiple rules to achieve the desired formatting. While you can target these areas by referencing specific row IDs in each rule, this method is error-prone and inefficient, especially when updates are needed (since every rule must be edited individually).
Instead, by setting the “Sub-header” row type as the rule target, you simply assign the appropriate type to each relevant row. Any changes to formatting can then be managed centrally, making updates faster and more reliable.
3. To control sorting
When sorting, only the Content rows and columns are sorted, leaving Headers, Sub-headers and Footers in place. In this way, you can for instance "sort descending", while still keeping the SUM-row at the bottom.
If you have subtotals in your chart, they will also be sorted within their defined areas while the subtotal-row keeps it's position.
In this example, the SUM-row ends up moved to the top when sorted descending because it has not been defined as Footer-type. On the right is the same example with the SUM-row defined as Footer.
Columns and rows that do not have content will not move when sorting.
For a more customizable version of column- and row types that can help with scenarios where you don't want to target a whole column or row, check out Tags.