libgtk2-perl-doc 2:1.2499-1 / usr / share / perl5 / Gtk2 / TreeModel.pod

=head1 NAME

Gtk2::TreeModel - wrapper for GtkTreeModel

=cut

=for position SYNOPSIS

=head1 SYNOPSIS

 # Three ways of getting the iter pointing to the location 3:2:5

 # get the iterator from a string
 $iter = $model->get_iter_from_string ("3:2:5");

 # get the iterator from a path
 $path = Gtk2::TreePath->new_from_string ("3:2:5");
 $iter = $model->get_iter ($path);

 # walk the tree to find the iterator
 $iter = $model->iter_nth_child (undef, 3);
 $iter = $model->iter_nth_child ($iter, 2);
 $iter = $model->iter_nth_child ($iter, 5);

 
 # getting and setting values

 # assuming a model with these columns
 use constant STRING_COLUMN => 0;
 use constant INT_COLUMN => 1;

 # set values
 $model->set ($iter,
	      STRING_COLUMN, $new_string_value,
	      INT_COLUMN, $new_int_value);

 # and get values
 ($int, $str) = $model->get ($iter, INT_COLUMN, STRING_COLUMN);

 # if you don't specify a list of column numbers,
 # you get all of them.
 @values = $model->get ($iter);

=cut



=for position DESCRIPTION

=head1 DESCRIPTION

The Gtk2::TreeModel provides a generic tree interface for use by the 
Gtk2::TreeView widget.  It is an abstract interface, designed to be usable
with any appropriate data structure.

The model is represented as a hierarchical tree of strongly-typed, columned
data.  In other words, the model can be seen as a tree where every node has
different values depending on which column is being queried.  The type of
data found in a column is determined by using the GType system (i.e. package
names like Glib::Int, Gtk2::Button, Glib::Scalar, etc).  The types are
homogeneous per column across all nodes.  It is important to note that this
interface only provides a way of examining a model and observing changes.
The implementation of each individual model decides how and if changes are
made.

In order to make life simpler for programmers who do not need to write their
own specialized model, two generic models are provided - the Gtk2::TreeStore
and the Gtk2::ListStore.  To use these, the developer simply pushes data into
these models as necessary.  These models provide the data structure as well
as all appropriate tree interfaces.  As a result, implementing drag and drop,
sorting, and storing data is trivial.  For the vast majority of trees and
lists, these two models are sufficient.  For information on how to implement
your own model in Perl, see L</CREATING A CUSTOM TREE MODEL>.

Models are accessed on a node/column level of granularity.  One can query for
the value of a model at a certain node and a certain column on that node.
There are two structures used to reference a particular node in a model:
the Gtk2::TreePath and the Gtk2::TreeIter (short for "iterator").  Most of
the interface consists of operations on a Gtk2::TreeIter.

A path is essentially a potential node.  It is a location on a model that
may or may not actually correspond to a node on a specific model.  The
Gtk2::TreePath object can be converted into either an array of unsigned
integers or a string.  The string form is a list of numbers separated by a
colon.  Each number refers to the offset at that level.  Thus, the path '0'
refers to the root node and the path '2:4' refers to the fifth child of the
third node.

By contrast, a Gtk2::TreeIter is a reference to a specific node on a specific
model.  To the user of a model, the iter is merely an opaque object.
One can convert a path to an iterator by calling C<Gtk2::TreeModel::get_iter>.
These iterators are the primary way of accessing a model and are
similar to the iterators used by Gtk2::TextBuffer. The model interface
defines a set of operations using them for navigating the model.

The iterators are generally used only for a short time, and their
behaviour is different to that suggested by the Gtk+ documentation. They
are not valid when the model is changed, even though get_flags returns
'iters-persist'. Iterators obtained within a GtkTreeModelForeachFunc are
also invalid after the foreach terminates. There may be other such
cases. In the foreach case, and perhaps others, a persistent iterator
may be obtained by copying it (see Glib::Boxed->copy).

(The preceding description and most of the method descriptions have been
adapted directly from the Gtk+ C API reference.)

=cut



=head1 HIERARCHY

  Glib::Interface
  +----Gtk2::TreeModel



=cut


=head1 METHODS

=head2 string = $tree_model-E<gt>B<get_column_type> ($index_)

=over

=item * $index_ (integer) 

=back

Returns the type of column I<$index_> as a package name.

=head2 treemodelflags = $tree_model-E<gt>B<get_flags> 

=head2 $model-E<gt>B<foreach> ($func, $user_data=undef)

=over

=item * $func (subroutine) 

=item * $user_data (scalar) 

=back

Call I<$func> on each row in I<$model> as

    bool = &$func ($model, $path, $iter, $user_data)

If I<$func> returns true, the tree ceases to be walked,
and C<< $treemodel->foreach >> returns.

=head2 $tree_model-E<gt>B<get> ($iter, ...)

=over

=item * $iter (Gtk2::TreeIter) 

=item * ... (list) of column indices

=back


Fetch and return the model's values in the row pointed to by I<$iter>.
If you specify no column indices, it returns the values for all of the
columns, otherwise, returns just those columns' values (in order).

This overrides overrides Glib::Object's C<get>, so you'll want to use
C<< $object->get_property >> to get object properties.


=head2 treeiter = $tree_model-E<gt>B<iter_children> ($parent)

=over

=item * $parent (Gtk2::TreeIter or undef) 

=back

Returns undef if I<$parent> has no children, otherwise, returns a new iter
to the first child of I<$parent>.  I<$parent> is unaltered.  If I<$parent>
is undef, this is equivalent to C<Gtk2::TreeModel::get_iter_first>.

=head2 treeiter = $tree_model-E<gt>B<get_iter_first> 

Return a new iter pointing to the first node in the tree (the one at path
"0"), or undef if the tree is empty.

=head2 treeiter = $tree_model-E<gt>B<get_iter_from_string> ($path_string)

=over

=item * $path_string (string) 

=back

Returns a new iter pointing to the node described by I<$path_string>, or
undef if the path does not exist.

=head2 treeiter = $tree_model-E<gt>B<get_iter> ($path)

=over

=item * $path (Gtk2::TreePath) 

=back

Returns a new Gtk2::TreeIter corresponding to I<$path>.

=head2 boolean = $tree_model-E<gt>B<iter_has_child> ($iter)

=over

=item * $iter (Gtk2::TreeIter) 

=back

Returns true if I<$iter> has child nodes.

=head2 integer = $tree_model-E<gt>B<iter_n_children> ($iter=undef)

=over

=item * $iter (Gtk2::TreeIter or undef) 

=back

Returns the number of children I<$iter> has.  If I<$iter> is undef (or omitted)
then returns the number of toplevel nodes.

=head2 treeiter = $tree_model-E<gt>B<iter_next> ($iter)

=over

=item * $iter (Gtk2::TreeIter) 

=back

Return a new iter pointing to node following I<$iter> at the current level,
or undef if there is no next node.  I<$iter> is unaltered.  (Note: this is
different from the C version, which modifies the iter.)

=head2 treeiter = $tree_model-E<gt>B<iter_nth_child> ($parent, $n)

=over

=item * $parent (Gtk2::TreeIter or undef) 

=item * $n (integer) 

=back

Returns an iter to the child of I<$parent> at index I<$n>, or undef if there
is no such child.  I<$parent> is unaltered.

=head2 treeiter = $tree_model-E<gt>B<iter_parent> ($child)

=over

=item * $child (Gtk2::TreeIter) 

=back

Returns a new iter pointing to I<$child>'s parent node, or undef if I<$child>
doesn't have a parent.  I<$child> is unaltered.

=head2 integer = $tree_model-E<gt>B<get_n_columns> 

=head2 treepath = $tree_model-E<gt>B<get_path> ($iter)

=over

=item * $iter (Gtk2::TreeIter) 

=back

Return a new Gtk2::TreePath corresponding to I<$iter>.

=head2 $tree_model-E<gt>B<ref_node> ($iter)

=over

=item * $iter (Gtk2::TreeIter) 

=back

Lets the tree ref the node. This is an optional method for models to implement.
To be more specific, models may ignore this call as it exists primarily for
performance reasons.

This function is primarily meant as a way for views to let caching model know
when nodes are being displayed (and hence, whether or not to cache that node.)
For example, a file-system based model would not want to keep the entire
file-hierarchy in memory, just the sections that are currently being
displayed by every current view.

A model should be expected to be able to get an iter independent of its reffed
state.

=head2 $tree_model-E<gt>B<row_changed> ($path, $iter)

=over

=item * $path (Gtk2::TreePath) 

=item * $iter (Gtk2::TreeIter) 

=back

Emits the "row_changed" signal on I<$tree_model>.

=head2 $tree_model-E<gt>B<row_deleted> ($path)

=over

=item * $path (Gtk2::TreePath) 

=back

Emits the "row_deleted" signal on I<$tree_model>.  This should be called by
models after a row has been removed.  The location pointed to by I<$path>
should be the removed row's old location.  It may not be a valid location
anymore.

=head2 $tree_model-E<gt>B<row_has_child_toggled> ($path, $iter)

=over

=item * $path (Gtk2::TreePath) 

=item * $iter (Gtk2::TreeIter) 

=back

Emits the "row_has_child_toggled" signal on I<$tree_model>.  This should be
called by models after the child state of a node changes.

=head2 $tree_model-E<gt>B<row_inserted> ($path, $iter)

=over

=item * $path (Gtk2::TreePath) 

=item * $iter (Gtk2::TreeIter) 

=back

Emits the "row_inserted" signal on I<$tree_model>.

=head2 $tree_model-E<gt>B<rows_reordered> ($path, $iter, ...)

=over

=item * $path (Gtk2::TreePath) the tree node whose children have been reordered

=item * $iter (Gtk2::TreeIter or undef) the tree node whose children have been reordered

=item * ... (list) list of integers mapping the current position of each child to its old position before the re-ordering, i.e. $new_order[$newpos] = $oldpos.  There should be as many elements in this list as there are rows in I<$tree_model>.

=back


Emits the "rows-reordered" signal on I<$tree_model>/  This should be called
by models with their rows have been reordered.

=head2 string = $tree_model-E<gt>B<get_string_from_iter> ($iter)

=over

=item * $iter (Gtk2::TreeIter) 

=back

Generates a string representation of the iter.  This string is a ':' separated
list of numbers.  For example, "4:10:0:3" would be an acceptable return value
for this string.

Since: gtk+ 2.2

=head2 $tree_model-E<gt>B<unref_node> ($iter)

=over

=item * $iter (Gtk2::TreeIter) 

=back

Lets the tree unref the node. This is an optional method for models to
implement. To be more specific, models may ignore this call as it exists
primarily for performance reasons.

For more information on what this means, see C<Gtk2::TreeModel::ref_node>.
Please note that nodes that are deleted are not unreffed.

=head2 $tree_model-E<gt>B<get_value> ($iter, ...)

=over

=item * $iter (Gtk2::TreeIter) 

=item * ... (list) of column indices

=back

Alias for L<get|/"$tree_model-E<gt>B<get> ($iter, ...)">.



=cut

=for position post_methods

=head1 CREATING A CUSTOM TREE MODEL

GTK+ provides two model implementations, Gtk2::TreeStore and Gtk2::ListStore,
which should be sufficient in most cases.  For some cases, however, it is
advantageous to provide a custom tree model implementation.  It is possible
to create custom tree models in Perl, because we're cool like that.

To do this, you create a Glib::Object derivative which implements the 
Gtk2::TreeModel interface; this is gtk2-perl-speak for "you have to add
a special key when you register your object type."  For example:

  package MyModel;
  use Gtk2;
  use Glib::Object::Subclass
      Glib::Object::,
      interfaces => [ Gtk2::TreeModel:: ],
      ;

This will cause perl to call several virtual methods with ALL_CAPS_NAMES
when Gtk+ attempts to perform certain actions on the model.  You simply
provide (or override) those methods.

=head2 TREE ITERS

Gtk2::TreeIter is normally an opaque object, but on the implementation side
of a Gtk2::TreeModel, you have to define what's inside.  The virtual methods
described below deal with iters as a reference to an array containing four
values:

=over

=item o stamp (integer)

A number unique to this model.

=item o user_data (integer)

An arbitrary integer value.

=item o user_data2 (scalar)

An arbitrary reference.  Will not persist.  May be undef.

=item o user_data3 (scalar)

An arbitrary reference.  Will not persist.  May be undef.

=back

The two references, if used, will generally be to data within the model,
like a row array, or a node object in a tree or linked list.  Keeping the
things referred to alive is the model's responsibility.  An iter doesn't
make them persist, and if the things are destroyed then any iters still
containing them will become invalid (and result in memory corruption if
used).  An iter only has to remain valid until the model contents change, so
generally anything internal to the model is fine.

=head2 VIRTUAL METHODS

An implementation of

=over

=item treemodelflags = GET_FLAGS ($model)

=item integer = GET_N_COLUMNS ($model)

=item string = GET_COLUMN_TYPE ($model, $index)

=item ARRAYREF = GET_ITER ($model, $path)

See above for a description of what goes in the returned array reference.

=item treepath = GET_PATH ($model, ARRAYREF)

=item scalar = GET_VALUE ($model, ARRAYREF, $column)

Implements $treemodel->get().

=item ARRAYREF = ITER_NEXT ($model, ARRAYREF)

=item ARRAYREF = ITER_CHILDREN ($model, ARRAYREF)

=item boolean = ITER_HAS_CHILD ($model, ARRAYREF)

=item integer = ITER_N_CHILDREN ($model, ARRAYREF)

=item ARRAYREF = ITER_NTH_CHILD ($model, ARRAYREF, $n)

=item ARRAYREF = ITER_PARENT ($model, ARRAYREF)

=item REF_NODE ($model, ARRAYREF)

Optional.

=item UNREF_NODE ($model, ARRAYREF)

Optional.

=back

=cut




=head1 SIGNALS

=over

=item B<row-changed> (Gtk2::TreeModel, Gtk2::TreePath, Gtk2::TreeIter)

=item B<row-deleted> (Gtk2::TreeModel, Gtk2::TreePath)

=item B<row-has-child-toggled> (Gtk2::TreeModel, Gtk2::TreePath, Gtk2::TreeIter)

=item B<row-inserted> (Gtk2::TreeModel, Gtk2::TreePath, Gtk2::TreeIter)

=item B<rows-reordered> (Gtk2::TreeModel, Gtk2::TreePath, Gtk2::TreeIter, gpointer)

=back



=cut

=for position post_signals

Note that currently in a Perl subclass of an object implementing
C<Gtk2::TreeModel>, the class closure, ie. class default signal
handler, for the C<rows-reordered> signal is called only with an
integer address for the reorder array parameter, not a Perl arrayref
like a handler installed with C<signal_connect> receives.  It works to
C<signal_chain_from_overridden> with the address, but it's otherwise
fairly useless and will likely change in the future.

=cut




=head1 ENUMS AND FLAGS

=head2 flags Gtk2::TreeModelFlags



=over

=item * 'iters-persist' / 'GTK_TREE_MODEL_ITERS_PERSIST'

=item * 'list-only' / 'GTK_TREE_MODEL_LIST_ONLY'

=back




=cut


=head1 SEE ALSO

L<Gtk2>, L<Glib::Interface>


=cut


=head1 COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2003-2011 by the gtk2-perl team.

This software is licensed under the LGPL.  See L<Gtk2> for a full notice.



=cut