Re: DefaultTableModel vs AbstractTableModel

Don't rely on the subject line of a post to act as part of the body.

vw_bora@sky.com wrote:


I'll assume you are asking how to decide between
'javax.swing.table.AbstractTableModel'
<http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api/javax/swing/table/AbstractTableModel.html>
and 'javax.swing.table.DefaultTableModel'
<http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api/javax/swing/table/DefaultTableModel.html>

There are a couple of ways to interpret your question, so if I guessed wrong
please clarify.

The best "simple guide to help decide which model to use" is the Javadocs, to
which I linked in the preceding paragraphs. From those several things are clear:

- 'DefaultTableModel' inherits from 'AbstractTableModel'. That means that if
you are using the former, you are automatically using the latter.

- 'AbstractTableModel' is an abstract class, 'DefaultTableModel' is concrete.

and thus,

- The way you use them is different.

So part of the decision of which to use is the question of whether you want to
simply use the implementation already provided by the concrete class, or you
want to extend the abstract class.

For most purposes 'DefaultTableModel' should suit you fine. When you do
implement a custom table model, don't use 'Vector' - define methods like
'void addRow( List<?> rowData )' instead of
'void addRow( Vector rowData )' and use something like 'ArrayList' internally.

In such a case I would cover the same method suite that 'DefaultTableModel'
does, substituting 'List<?>' for 'Vector' in relevant parameter lists.

--
Lew