This topic in “Ideas in Suggestions” got 5 stars… So many users would like this feature…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7KuXT37lKE
Simple question: Is this scriptable?
No. It is not possible to “hide” channels.
joule said it all, really.
The only workaround I can think would be to somehow extract full track data (dsps et al.) per group. When ‘collapsing’ the group, the tool would save the track somewhere and temporarily remove the track group entirely from the song, leaving a ‘placeholder’ track to note the place of the group. ‘Opening’ a track group would then reload the saved data and substitute the placeholder. Even if that would prove possible (divine intervention?), it would probably have several unwelcome side-effects including the fact that the ‘collapsed’ tracks would not be heard in the song. (Actually this could be avoided by downmixing the trackgroup into a sample and placed in the placeholder track, but that’s really… not… sensible… in… any… way.)
The relative cost of any workarounds (gigantic development factor, slowness, bugginess, colliding with other tools etc.) will more than likely greatly outweigh the possible improvement on workflow.
So one must patiently wait for native solution. 