NewModelViewArchitecture
Homepage for the WIP Model-View architecture for CEGUI widgets!
Introduction
The new architecture aims to unify the underlying implementation of several widgets so that they will use a common base model provider. This will involve a lot of ABI and API breakage.
Proposed architecture
ModelIndex
Identifies uniquely items in the model. This acts as a "dumb token" that it's entirely model's task to understand/process it.
Properties:
- modelData : void *
ItemDataRole
This is an enum, that contains the types of data the model is requested to provide.
Enum members:
- Text
- ImageDecoration
- Tooltip
- <etc>
- UserDefined (used as a base for user-defined custom roles)
ItemModel
The model for the view, that provides data like items count to the view. This is implemented by the developers that want to use this new architecture.
Structure-related methods:
- childrenCount(modelIndex)
- makeIndex(child, parentModelIndex)
- getParentIndex(modelIndex)
Data-provider methods:
- getData(modelIndex, role)
Events:
- ChildrenAdded - startIndex, count
- ChildrenRemoved - startIndex, count
- ChildrenDataChanged - startIndex, count
TODO: Should we instead allow for a rectangular notification area? Like: startIndex / endIndex ?
ModelIndex Invalidation
Views might (read: will) store indices for a faster rendering or operations on the view. But these indices might become invalid if:
- the underlying model instance changes (i.e.: model is set to another instance)
- Solution: Just invalidate the memorized indices
- an index from the "middle" is removed
- Solution1: Create persistent model indices, like Qt does.
- Con: too much management required, prone to errors.
- Solution2: Query the model for validity
- isValid will be moved to the ViewModel
- Solution3: Other?
- Solution1: Create persistent model indices, like Qt does.
Affected widgets
Changed (to the new architecture) widgets
- ComboBox + ComboDropList -> ComboView
- Tree -> TreeView
- ListBox -> ListView
New widgets
- GridView
- ListBoxWidget (combines model & view together for simple usage cases)
Removed/deprecated widgets
- MultiColumnList (replaced by GridView)
- ItemListbox (duplicated by ListBox)
To decide
- ItemListBase
- It's used in other places like: MenuBase and ScrolledItemListBase
- Remove the other usages as well?
Workflow examples
List rendering
- Create root model index (parent=0)
- Query the number of children for root
- For each child (value=[0, childrenCount))
- Create child model index (parent=rootModelIndex)
- Query the image to be displayed for child index (Role=Imagedecoration)
- Draw image
- Query the text to be displayed for child index (Role=text)
- Draw text
- Render non-child elements
Tree rendering
Full/first-time rendering
Triggered first time, or when whole model changes.
Recursive rendering procedure starting with a model index
- > Given a parent model index
- Query the number of children for index
- For each child (value=[0, childrenCount))
- Create child model index (parent=parentModelIndex)
- Query the image to be displayed for child index (Role=imageDecoration)
- Draw image
- Query the text to be displayed for child index (Role=Text)
- Draw text
- Call procedure with child model index.
Actual rendering:
- Call procedure defined above with root model index (parent = 0)
- Render non-row elements
Item(s) modified/isolated rendering
Triggered when some parts of the model changed, but not all.