I'm still struggling with model/view

[mzimmers]

@VRonin OK, that makes a lot more sense. So, is the missing field in your setData() examples a pointer to my structure element? Is that how the model keeps track of changes to that data?

[VRonin]

No, my example was using QStandardItemModel. the missing argument is the actual value you want to save in the model, something like item->setData(QStringLiteral("00:A0:C9:14:C8:29"),DeviceRoles::macAddr);

[mzimmers]

Oh, I see. So, am I then responsible for manually updating the item when data changes?

[VRonin]

@mzimmers said in I'm still struggling with model/view:

am I then responsible for manually updating the item when data changes?

Correct, but that would always be the case. if you subclass QAbstractItemModel it's your responsibility to signal changes of data emitting the dataChanged signal

[mzimmers]

So, if I understand this, the general program flow would be:

1. the worker thread receives updates from the various devices
2. the worker passes the updates (via a signal) to the model
3. the model then either adds rows or modifies existing rows
4. the UI automatically reflects the change to the model.

That about right?

One thing I'm still not clear on, is how to modify data in existing rows, for example, changing the timestamp on a device that's already been added.

[VRonin]

@mzimmers said in I'm still struggling with model/view:

That about right?

What workflow did you decide to adopt?

• Use QStandardItemModel
• or subclass QAbstractItemModel

[mzimmers]

I'm now trying to use QStandardItemModel. Unfortunately, the data isn't showing up in the QTableView yet, so I'll have to work through to see where it's failing.

[VRonin]

I'm now trying to use QStandardItemModel

Then:

1. the worker thread receives updates from the various devices
2. the worker passes the updates (via a signal) to a QObject in the main thread that owns the model
3. the object inserts/removes/updates the model
4. the UI automatically reflects the change to the model.

[mzimmers]

Yes, that's how I'm doing it. (My model class is DeviceModel.) Just as a test, I put this into the c'tor:

DeviceModel::DeviceModel()
{
    QString s1 = "aaa", s2 = "bbb", s3 = "ccc";
    QVariant qv;

    qv = s1;
    item.setData(qv, DeviceRoles::macAddr);
    qv = s2;
    item.setData(qv, DeviceRoles::devName);
    qv = s3;
    item.setData(qv, DeviceRoles::latestTimestamp);
    appendRow(&item);
}

I'd expect to see this in my QTableView, but I don't. What might I be missing?

[VRonin]

I'm now trying to use QStandardItemModel

My model class is DeviceModel

Your model class should be QStandardItemModel. Are you subclassing the model?

P.S.

item.

as mentioned previously, you should avoid the allocation of QStandardItems on the stack as the model is supposed to own them

[mzimmers]

Yes:

class DeviceModel : public QStandardItemModel
{
private:
    ModelData deviceTable;
    QStandardItem item;
...

EDIT:

Ohhhhhh...okay.

[mrjj]

so it would be like

DeviceModel::DeviceModel()
{
    QString s1 = "aaa", s2 = "bbb", s3 = "ccc";
    QVariant qv;
     QStandardItem * item = new   QStandardItem (); // model will clean up
    qv = s1;
    item->setData(qv, DeviceRoles::macAddr);
    qv = s2;
    item->setData(qv, DeviceRoles::devName);
    qv = s3;
    item->setData(qv, DeviceRoles::latestTimestamp);
    appendRow(item); 
}

[VRonin]

You should have something like this:

#include <QApplication>
#include <QStandardItemModel>
#include <QTableView>
#include <QDateTime>
#include <QTimer>
#include <functional>
class ModelManager : public QObject{
    Q_OBJECT
    Q_DISABLE_COPY(ModelManager)
public:
    enum DeviceCols{
        dc_macAddr
        ,dc_devName
        ,dc_latestTimestamp
        
        ,dc_count
    };
    explicit ModelManager(QObject* parent = Q_NULLPTR)
        :QObject(parent)
        , m_model(new QStandardItemModel(this))
    {
        m_model->insertColumns(0,dc_count);
        m_model->setHeaderData(dc_macAddr,Qt::Horizontal,tr("Mac Address"));
        m_model->setHeaderData(dc_devName,Qt::Horizontal,tr("Name"));
        m_model->setHeaderData(dc_latestTimestamp,Qt::Horizontal,tr("Time Stamp"));
    }
    QAbstractItemModel* model() const {return m_model;}
public slots:
    void addDevice(const QString& macAdr, const QString& name, const QDateTime& timeStamp){
        const int newRow = m_model->rowCount();
        m_model->insertRow(newRow);
        m_model->setData(m_model->index(newRow,dc_macAddr),macAdr);
        m_model->setData(m_model->index(newRow,dc_devName),name);
        m_model->setData(m_model->index(newRow,dc_latestTimestamp),timeStamp);
    }
    void updateDevice(int row, const QString& macAdr, const QString& name, const QDateTime& timeStamp){
        if(row<0 || row>=m_model->rowCount())
            return;
        m_model->setData(m_model->index(row,dc_macAddr),macAdr);
        m_model->setData(m_model->index(row,dc_devName),name);
        m_model->setData(m_model->index(row,dc_latestTimestamp),timeStamp);
    }
private:
    QAbstractItemModel* m_model;
};


int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    QApplication application(argc, argv);
    ModelManager manager;
    manager.addDevice(QStringLiteral("Foo"),QStringLiteral("Bar"),QDateTime::currentDateTime());
    manager.addDevice(QStringLiteral("Foo1"),QStringLiteral("Bar1"),QDateTime::currentDateTime());
    manager.addDevice(QStringLiteral("Foo2"),QStringLiteral("Bar2"),QDateTime::currentDateTime());
    QTableView view;
    view.setModel(manager.model());
    view.show();
    // simulate adding a device and updating one
    QTimer::singleShot(1000,&manager,std::bind(&ModelManager::addDevice,&manager,QStringLiteral("AddMac"),QStringLiteral("AddName"),QDateTime::currentDateTime().addSecs(1)));
    QTimer::singleShot(2000,&manager,std::bind(&ModelManager::updateDevice,&manager,1,QStringLiteral("UpdateMac"),QStringLiteral("UpdateName"),QDateTime::currentDateTime().addSecs(2)));
    return application.exec();
}

Of course, instead of the QTimer the updates should come from your workers

[mzimmers]

Beautiful.

I made a minor change to the update:

void Device::update(DeviceDetails d)
{
    int rowCnt = m_model->rowCount();
    int row ;

    for(row = 0; row < rowCnt; ++row)
    {
        if(m_model->index(row, dc_macAddr).data().toString() == d.macAddr)
        {
            break;
        }
    }

    if (row == rowCnt) // didn't find the Mac address; add a new row.
    {
        add(d);
    }
    else
    {
        m_model->setData(m_model->index(row, dc_macAddr), d.macAddr);
        m_model->setData(m_model->index(row, dc_devName), d.devName);
        m_model->setData(m_model->index(row, dc_latestTimestamp), d.latestHB);
    }
}

Using the QStandardItemModel is indeed much, much simpler than subclassing. Thanks for all the help.