suggestions for repeating display views

mzimmers

Thanks for the reference. I've taken some of that example and adapted it.

So, to summarize, I have a QTableView that is associated with a QAbstractItemModel. The table reveals a few details about all the devices (rows) found. Now I'd like to display some additional detail about any device that the user selects.

A very simple start would be to display the MAC address in a QLineEdit when the user selects a row. I can envision a way to do this, but it's cumbersome and indirect (signalling the model to extract the information and signal it back to the widget). Can someone inform me of a preferred method to do this?

Thanks...

JonB

@mzimmers

but it's cumbersome and indirect (signalling the model to extract the information and signal it back to the widget)

Why? What do you have in mind by "indirect" & "signalling"? You haven't mentioned threads anywhere, so assuming your UI, view & model are all in the same thread where is there any "signalling" involved (unless you mean the row selected signal, but that does not matter)?

You just retrieve the data via QAbstractItemModel::data() and plonk it into your widget(s), explicitly.

Depending, you can already have retrieved the "additional detail" into your model without having to display it in the QTableView, so you can access it without having to do work at that instant if you prefer (perhaps not relevant for your device-model, but often the case when it's a database-model).

kshegunov

Well, I'd just fill the model data as it comes. And it'd come as the selection of the selection model changes ... I think just subscribing to the QItemSelectionModel::selectionChanged signal should be enough, no?

mzimmers

Here's what I'm trying to do in my display:

// in my c'tor.
    QObject::connect(ui->tableView->selectionModel(), QItemSelectionModel::currentRowChanged, this, &Widget::updateDetails);
}

void Widget::updateDetails(QModelIndex i)
{
    int row = i.row();
    QVariant qv;
    QString s;
    QModelIndex qmi;
    qmi = m_model->getModel()->index(row, DEV_MACADDR, QModelIndex());
    qv = m_model->getModel()->data(qmi, DEV_MACADDR);
    s = qv.toString();
    ui->macAddr->setText(s);

    qmi = m_model->getModel()->index(row, DEV_DEVNAME, QModelIndex());
    qv = m_model->getModel()->data(qmi, DEV_DEVNAME);
    s = qv.toString();
    ui->devName->setText(s);

    qmi = m_model->getModel()->index(row, DEV_LATEST_HB, QModelIndex());
    qv = m_model->getModel()->data(qmi, DEV_LATEST_HB);
    s = qv.toString();
    ui->heartbeat->setText(s);

I'm sure this isn't the best way to do this (particularly since it doesn't work), but in any event, the first assignment of qv works, but the others give qv an invalid value. What am I doing wrong?

EDIT: OK, I just realized I shouldn't be using the 2nd argument to the data() call. It's working now. Not ready to mark this solved yet, though, as I'm going to have other questions in a bit.

Thanks...

mzimmers

So far, I've been experimenting entirely with QStrings as elements in my model, like this:

struct DeviceDetails
{
    uint8_t macAddr[6];
    char devName[25];
...
} d;
QAbstractItemModel *m_model;
...   
 m_model->setData(m_model->index(row, DEV_DEVNAME), d.devName); /

I'm now trying to work with other data types, such as the macAddr, but I can't figure out how to do this. This is what I'm trying to do (but doesn't compile):

    m_model->setData(m_model->index(row, DEV_MACADDR), d.macAddr);

How do I do this? Thanks...

kshegunov

@mzimmers said in suggestions for repeating display views:

but doesn't compile

With what error?
I could imagine QVariant isn't aware of how to serialize that type, but that's just a speculation at this point.

mzimmers

C:\Qt\5.10.1\mingw53_32\include\QtCore\qvariant.h:471: error: 'QVariant::QVariant(void*)' is private
     inline QVariant(void *) Q_DECL_EQ_DELETE;
            ^

and:

C:\Users\MZimmers\CD desktop apps\Qt projects\wb_utility\model.cpp:36: error: use of deleted function 'QVariant::QVariant(void*)'

kshegunov

Well, I suggest you convert d.macAddr to QString before you pass it to setData ...

mzimmers

This post is deleted!

VRonin

@mzimmers said in suggestions for repeating display views:

'QVariant::QVariant(void*)' is private

That is a "safeguard" operator to avoid people using pointers to non-QObjects into a QVariant.
Basically macAddr is of type unsigned char* the d will still own the data into d.macAddr and will delete it when it goes out of scope. QVariant needs to own the data and know how to delete it. you should be able to hack your way around it by using a smart pointer but it's probably much easier to store it in a Qt container like QByteArray
m_model->setData(m_model->index(row, DEV_MACADDR), QByteArray(d.macAddr,sizeof(d.macAddr));

P.S.
If the compiler complains about signed/unsigned you can use:
QByteArray(static_cast<char*>(d.macAddr),sizeof(d.macAddr))

mzimmers

@VRonin ah that explains it (in fact, that's exactly what I was trying to do).

I like your idea of changing my char array into QByteArray, but there's a snag - I'm attempting to use the same C struct for my target device as my host app, which restricts me to C++11 types.

JonB

@mzimmers
But @VRonin is only asking you to make a copy into a QByteArray for passing to m_model->setData(); you're not changing what is actually in your struct d. So how does that affect your use of the struct in the two apps?

mzimmers

Aargh - I still get confused about using setdata() (and in fact the whole model/view paradigm). Let me play with this, and I'll get back with more confusion in a bit.

JonB

@mzimmers
Maybe it's me who's misunderstanding you:

I'm attempting to use the same C struct for my target device as my host app, which restricts me to C++11 types

I am taking that as you have two, separate programs which wish to share a struct in a .h file, so you'd like the actual declaration & content to be accessible from a non-Qt program. Maybe you mean something quite different?!

mzimmers

Yes, you got it exactly. I'm kind of a fanatic when it comes to not duplicating data structures (not because I'm lazy, but because I'm afraid of updating one of them, but forgetting to update the other, down the road). This philosophy has occasionally caused headaches during initial implementation, but usually repays itself in simplified maintenance.

mzimmers

OK, I've been grinding through this stuff, and I understand it at least a little better now. My worker receives a message, converts it from XML into a struct, and passes the struct to the object containing the model. My model object then does stuff like this:

    mac_itoa(d.macAddr, macStr);
    m_model->setData(m_model->index(row, DEV_MACADDR), macStr);

So, my summary information in the display widget updates automatically. But, as I mentioned, I have a details area. How do I go about updating the values in this area? I can't do a setModel, as they're just edit boxes, not lists, tables or trees.

VRonin

You have 2 options:
Do it manually: connect(view->selectionModel(),&QItemSelectionModel::selectionChanged and fill your widgets with data

or use QDataWidgetMapper like explained here: http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qdatawidgetmapper.html#setCurrentModelIndex

mzimmers

@VRonin thanks for the link. I looked at one of the mapper examples (simplewidgetmapper), and I think this is the way to go for me.

In fact, I'm thinking about changing the entire UI. Instead of separate summary/detail areas, I could provide the user with two lists: one for the MAC address, and one for the device name. When the user makes a selection, all the details area (contained in a grid like the simplewidgetmapper example) would update. The user could then edit the details and press a "commit" button.

How does this sound so far?

EDIT:

So, I've begun an in-place conversion from QTableView to using individual widgets (and QDataWidgetMapper). (I've only implemented 2 fields so far.) I think I must be missing a step, because the fields don't initialize on startup the way they did with the table view.

    mapper = new QDataWidgetMapper(this);
    mapper->setModel(d->getModel());
    mapper->addMapping(ui->comboBoxMacAddr, 0);
    mapper->addMapping(ui->deviceName, 1);

    ui->gridLayout->addWidget(ui->labelMacAddr, 0, 0, 1, 1);
    ui->gridLayout->addWidget(ui->comboBoxMacAddr, 0, 1, 1, 1);
    ui->gridLayout->addWidget(ui->labelDevName, 1, 0, 1, 1);
    ui->gridLayout->addWidget(ui->deviceName, 1, 1, 1, 1);

Have I indeed left out a step? It may be noteworthy that, once I select a row in my table (I still have the table active), the update properly affects these fields.

Thanks...

VRonin

@mzimmers said in suggestions for repeating display views:

the fields don't initialize on startup

What would the expected behaviour be?

mzimmers

I was expecting that the widgets that I mapped to the model would be automatically updated with the model data. (This is how the view table worked.) Could the problem be that I have multiple views setting on the same model? (I still have my view table active.)

If it looks like I misunderstood the correct use of the mapper, please let me know and I'll make whatever changes necessary.