[news.eclipse.technology.nebula] Re: [CompositeTable] 6th Oct 2006

["David J. Orme" <djo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ivan wrote:
> Hi David,
>
>  Now I'm really really used CompositeTable in production application.

Excellent!

> 1st of all, I would like to say thanks for few things :-
> 1)what a nice pice of control!!

Thanks! <blush/>

> 2)AbsoluteLayout, it works!! :-D
>   Now I able to design row's components using VE! Thanks!
> 3)Scrolling performance in AbsoluteLayout excellent!! no complaint!! 
> super fast!
>
> Few questions/comments :-)
>
> 1)Nice if row height can be set or base on row's component height.

I know.  Well, it's based on the *prototype row* component's height, and 
all rows *must* be the same height.  This can be a minor headache 
sometimes.  It really should compute the height of each row and use that 
dynamically.

> 2)Is there anyway that I can insert row ?

From the user interface: Ctrl-Insert, by default.

From code: insert the row in your underlying collection, 
setNumRows(numRows+1), compositeTable.refresh() or something like that.

If you're using data binding, the grid will refresh automatically if its 
bound to a collection and a row is inserted or deleted in the collection.

> 3)Performance in "grid" not so good as AbsoluteLayout... slow scrolling... 

Can you write a snippet and post it here please?  CompositeTable is 
designed for (1) speed, and (2) in-place editing.  Any performance 
problems should be reported as bugs.

> 4)Is there anyway that I can 
> create a heighlight on row in grid ?  

Yes, but it's slightly tricky.  Basically, you have to write an SWT 
control that behaves like the highlight bar in a list box.  Off the top 
of my head (I'm away from my code that does this right now), this means:

1) Process traverse events to tell SWT to accept focus.
2) In focusIn:

setBackground(Display.getCurrent().getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_LIST_BOX_SELECTION));

(That's not the right SWT constant, but you'll find it; sorry I don't 
have the actual code handy to look it up for you.)

3) in focusOut:

setBackground(Display.getCurrent().getSystemColor(SWT.COLOR_WIDGET_BACKGROUND));

(I'm pretty sure of that color constant but check it)

Then use SWT Label objects for your actual data.

> 5)Readonly mode in grid ?

Use SWT Label objects to display your data and it'll be read-only. :-)

> Thanks and hope to hear from you soon. Hey, can I email you directly ? 

If you need consulting, training, or mentoring services, by all means 
email me directly. :-)

However, I prefer for technical questions to go to this newsgroup 
because then others will benefit from the answers, and as long as you 
use [CompositeTable] in the subject, your message will automatically be 
forwarded to my email anyway. :-)

> We can adopting CompositeTable as our standard table control for our 
> financial app.

Excellent.  As always, patches are appreciated. :-)


Best regards,


Dave Orme