[Interest] need advise on QStandardItemModel vs. QAbstractTableModel

[Bo Thorsen]

Hi Frank,

Den 12-01-2016 kl. 22:40 skrev Frank Rueter | OHUfx:
> I just joined this list so hello everybody.
> I'm using QT via PySide mainly to create tools for vfx workflows and
> custom tools for the software Nuke.
> <http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/nuke/>
> I'm not a programmer by trade, more of a vfx artist and technician using
> Python/PySide to enhance pipelines and workflows for myself and other
> companies.
> Currently I am writing a custom spreadsheet that will need many custom
> ItemDelegates and a controlled way of data input/output when a cell's
> data is changed.
> I will also need to write a feature that allows for multiple cells to be
> changed at the same time (haven't got that far yet though).
>
> The amount of items will potentially be in the 100,000s and a lot of
> filtering will be going on.
>
> I started using the QStandardItemModel and so far things are working
> fine, but I haven't implemented the delegates or editors yet, and I
> believe I will also have to override the data()/setData() methods in
> order to control how the data is managed on IO.
>
> I can't make up my mind if I should switch to using the
> QAbstractTableModel before proceeding.
> I am using some of the QStandardItemModel's method's, such as clear()
> and item() and setItem(), but I guess those are easy to re-implement.
>
> The docs say that one should consider using QAbstractTableModel (or
> QAbstractItemModel) for efficiency and flexibility, but I am struggling
> to make an educated decision because I haven't used model/views often
> enough yet to know about all the pros and cons, and I can't find a
> discussion concerning this online.
>
> I have started re-writeing the code using QAbstractTableModel, trying to
> get to the same level I'm at with the code using the QStandardItemModel.
> It seems a bit harder than I thought, but I will keep going for training
> purposes if nothing else, hoping that I might even have a more
> responsive model in the end, but I'm just not sure if it's worth it in
> my case, or if I should just stick to the pre-fab QStandardItemModel.
>
> Any advice from more experienced programmers on how to make that
> decision would be very much appreciated. I'd hate to finish writing the
> code only to find out that it's too slow for large data sets, and then
> re-jig everything to use the QAbstractTableModel.

To me, the standard item model has always been something I use as little 
as I can. It's bad in so many ways. But I do understand why sometimes 
it's a quick fix for a small problem.

Implementing a proper table model is not as easy, but in the long run 
you will prefer it. Once a proper model is done, it just keeps working. 
And it can handle the large load you are talking about.

If it was me, I wouldn't have to think about this. It's a clear case of 
a proper table model.

Bo Thorsen,
Director, Viking Software.

-- 
Viking Software
Qt and C++ developers for hire
http://www.vikingsoft.eu