diff --git a/src/columns/ColParent.cpp b/src/columns/ColParent.cpp
index 2cd167cda..a10e24570 100644
--- a/src/columns/ColParent.cpp
+++ b/src/columns/ColParent.cpp
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ extern Context context;
 ColumnParent::ColumnParent ()
 {
   _name       = "parent";
-  _type       = "string";
   _style      = "long";
   _label      = STRING_COLUMN_LABEL_PARENT;
   _modifiable = false;
@@ -76,19 +75,11 @@ void ColumnParent::render (
   {
     // f30cb9c3-3fc0-483f-bfb2-3bf134f00694  default
     //                             34f00694  short
-    if (_style == "default" ||
-        _style == "long")
-    {
-      lines.push_back (color.colorize (leftJustify (task.get (_name), width)));
-    }
+    if (_style == "default" || _style == "long")
+      renderStringLeft (lines, width, color, task.get(_name));
 
     else if (_style == "short")
-    {
-      if (task.has (_name))
-        lines.push_back (color.colorize (leftJustify (task.get (_name).substr (28), width)));
-      else
-        lines.push_back (color.colorize (leftJustify ("", width)));
-    }
+      renderStringLeft (lines, width, color, task.get (_name).substr (28));
   }
 }