How the actual data is kept in memory, generated or queried from a data store is completely up to you. If it's static data, you can use the Qt container classes or custom data structures.
You only need to reimplement the setData()
method for editable models.
There are 4 methods you need to implement in a non-editable QAbstractTableModel
subclass:
int rowCount()
int columnCount()
QVariant headerData(int section, Qt::Orientation orientation, int role = Qt::DisplayRole )
QVariant data(const QModelIndex & index, int role = Qt::DisplayRole)
These methods are called from the view, usually a QTableView
instance. The first two methods should return the dimensions of the table. For example, if rowCount()
returns 10
and columnCount()
returns 4
, the view will invoke the data()
method 40 times (once for each cell) asking for the actual data in your model's internal data structures.
As an example suppose you have implemented a custom slot retrieveDataFromMarsCuriosity()
in your model. This slot populates a data structure and is connected to a QPushButton
instance, so you get fresh data by clicking a button.
Now, you need to let the view know when the data is being changed so it can update properly. That's why you need to emit the beginRemoveRows()
, endRemoveRows()
, beginInsertRows()
, endInsertRows()
and its column counterparts.
The Qt Documentation has everything you need to know about this.