Keeping track of columns in custom models

[darkadept]

I have a lot of models in my application. Some are normal QSqlTableModel's, some are sub-classed QSqlTableModel's, and other are sub-classed from QAbstractTableModel's.

What's the best/favorite/nicest way to keep track of columns in a model?

Here are some options that I thought of:

1. Hard-coding the column number:

model->setData(model->index(row, 4), value);  //4 is the Name column

model->setData(model->index(row, 4), value);  //4 is the Name column

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2. Using enums:

class MyModel : public QSqlTableModel {
	Q_OBJECT
public:
	enum Columns {
		ColumnFirstName = 0,
		ColumnLastName,
		ColumnAddress,
		ColumnCount
	};
	//I use the last item, ColumnCount,  to return in the columnCount(...) method
 
	//class methods...
};

class MyModel : public QSqlTableModel {
	Q_OBJECT
public:
	enum Columns {
		ColumnFirstName = 0,
		ColumnLastName,
		ColumnAddress,
		ColumnCount
	};
	//I use the last item, ColumnCount,  to return in the columnCount(...) method

	//class methods...
};

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and then:

model->setData(model->index(row, MyModel::ColumnFirstName), value);

model->setData(model->index(row, MyModel::ColumnFirstName), value);

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3. Using some methods to pass QString's as column names (more useful in QSqlTableModel's I'd think)

int nameColumn = model->getColumn("name");
model->setData(model->index(row, nameColumn), value);

int nameColumn = model->getColumn("name");
model->setData(model->index(row, nameColumn), value);

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I'm open to any more ideas you might have. I'm trying to find a balance between not depending too much on the database (how do we know which order the columns are when using a QSqlTableModel?) and ease of use.

Thanks

[wysota]

I personally tend to use enums.