Module java.desktop
Package javax.swing

Class RowSorter<M>

java.lang.Object
javax.swing.RowSorter<M>
Type Parameters:
M - the type of the underlying model
Direct Known Subclasses:
DefaultRowSorter
public abstract class RowSorter<M> extends Object
RowSorter provides the basis for sorting and filtering. Beyond creating and installing a RowSorter, you very rarely need to interact with one directly. Refer to TableRowSorter for a concrete implementation of RowSorter for JTable.

RowSorter's primary role is to provide a mapping between two coordinate systems: that of the view (for example a JTable) and that of the underlying data source, typically a model.

The view invokes the following methods on the RowSorter:

  • toggleSortOrder — The view invokes this when the appropriate user gesture has occurred to trigger a sort. For example, the user clicked a column header in a table.
  • One of the model change methods — The view invokes a model change method when the underlying model has changed. There may be order dependencies in how the events are delivered, so a RowSorter should not update its mapping until one of these methods is invoked.
Because the view makes extensive use of the convertRowIndexToModel, convertRowIndexToView and getViewRowCount methods, these methods need to be fast.

RowSorter provides notification of changes by way of RowSorterListener. Two types of notification are sent:

  • RowSorterEvent.Type.SORT_ORDER_CHANGED — notifies listeners that the sort order has changed. This is typically followed by a notification that the sort has changed.
  • RowSorterEvent.Type.SORTED — notifies listeners that the mapping maintained by the RowSorter has changed in some way.
RowSorter implementations typically don't have a one-to-one mapping with the underlying model, but they can. For example, if a database does the sorting, toggleSortOrder might call through to the database (on a background thread), and override the mapping methods to return the argument that is passed in.

Concrete implementations of RowSorter need to reference a model such as TableModel or ListModel. The view classes, such as JTable and JList, will also have a reference to the model. To avoid ordering dependencies, RowSorter implementations should not install a listener on the model. Instead the view class will call into the RowSorter when the model changes. For example, if a row is updated in a TableModel JTable invokes rowsUpdated. When the model changes, the view may call into any of the following methods: modelStructureChanged, allRowsChanged, rowsInserted, rowsDeleted and rowsUpdated.

Since:
1.6
See Also:

  • Nested Class Summary

    Nested Classes
    Modifier and Type
    Class
    Description
    static class 
    RowSorter.SortKey
    SortKey describes the sort order for a particular column.

  • Constructor Summary

    Constructors
    Constructor
    Description
    RowSorter()
    Creates a RowSorter.

  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    void
    addRowSorterListener(RowSorterListener l)
    Adds a RowSorterListener to receive notification about this RowSorter.
    abstract void
    allRowsChanged()
    Invoked when the contents of the underlying model have completely changed.
    abstract int
    convertRowIndexToModel(int index)
    Returns the location of index in terms of the underlying model.
    abstract int
    convertRowIndexToView(int index)
    Returns the location of index in terms of the view.
    protected void
    fireRowSorterChanged(int[] lastRowIndexToModel)
    Notifies listener that the mapping has changed.
    protected void
    fireSortOrderChanged()
    Notifies listener that the sort order has changed.
    abstract M
    getModel()
    Returns the underlying model.
    abstract int
    getModelRowCount()
    Returns the number of rows in the underlying model.
    abstract List<? extends RowSorter.SortKey>
    getSortKeys()
    Returns the current sort keys.
    abstract int
    getViewRowCount()
    Returns the number of rows in the view.
    abstract void
    modelStructureChanged()
    Invoked when the underlying model structure has completely changed.
    void
    removeRowSorterListener(RowSorterListener l)
    Removes a RowSorterListener.
    abstract void
    rowsDeleted(int firstRow, int endRow)
    Invoked when rows have been deleted from the underlying model in the specified range (inclusive).
    abstract void
    rowsInserted(int firstRow, int endRow)
    Invoked when rows have been inserted into the underlying model in the specified range (inclusive).
    abstract void
    rowsUpdated(int firstRow, int endRow)
    Invoked when rows have been changed in the underlying model between the specified range (inclusive).
    abstract void
    rowsUpdated(int firstRow, int endRow, int column)
    Invoked when the column in the rows have been updated in the underlying model between the specified range.
    abstract void
    setSortKeys(List<? extends RowSorter.SortKey> keys)
    Sets the current sort keys.
    abstract void
    toggleSortOrder(int column)
    Reverses the sort order of the specified column.

    Methods declared in class java.lang.Object

    clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

  • Constructor Details

    • RowSorter

      public RowSorter()
      Creates a RowSorter.

  • Method Details

    • getModel

      public abstract M getModel()
      Returns the underlying model.
      Returns:
      the underlying model

    • toggleSortOrder

      public abstract void toggleSortOrder(int column)
      Reverses the sort order of the specified column. It is up to subclasses to provide the exact behavior when invoked. Typically this will reverse the sort order from ascending to descending (or descending to ascending) if the specified column is already the primary sorted column; otherwise, makes the specified column the primary sorted column, with an ascending sort order. If the specified column is not sortable, this method has no effect.

      If this results in changing the sort order and sorting, the appropriate RowSorterListener notification will be sent.

      Parameters:
      column - the column to toggle the sort ordering of, in terms of the underlying model
      Throws:
      IndexOutOfBoundsException - if column is outside the range of the underlying model

    • convertRowIndexToModel

      public abstract int convertRowIndexToModel(int index)
      Returns the location of index in terms of the underlying model. That is, for the row index in the coordinates of the view this returns the row index in terms of the underlying model.
      Parameters:
      index - the row index in terms of the underlying view
      Returns:
      row index in terms of the view
      Throws:
      IndexOutOfBoundsException - if index is outside the range of the view

    • convertRowIndexToView

      public abstract int convertRowIndexToView(int index)
      Returns the location of index in terms of the view. That is, for the row index in the coordinates of the underlying model this returns the row index in terms of the view.
      Parameters:
      index - the row index in terms of the underlying model
      Returns:
      row index in terms of the view, or -1 if index has been filtered out of the view
      Throws:
      IndexOutOfBoundsException - if index is outside the range of the model

    • setSortKeys

      public abstract void setSortKeys(List<? extends RowSorter.SortKey> keys)
      Sets the current sort keys.
      Parameters:
      keys - the new SortKeys; null is a shorthand for specifying an empty list, indicating that the view should be unsorted

    • getSortKeys

      public abstract List<? extends RowSorter.SortKey> getSortKeys()
      Returns the current sort keys. This must return a non-null List and may return an unmodifiable List. If you need to change the sort keys, make a copy of the returned List, mutate the copy and invoke setSortKeys with the new list.
      Returns:
      the current sort order

    • getViewRowCount

      public abstract int getViewRowCount()
      Returns the number of rows in the view. If the contents have been filtered this might differ from the row count of the underlying model.
      Returns:
      number of rows in the view
      See Also:

    • getModelRowCount

      public abstract int getModelRowCount()
      Returns the number of rows in the underlying model.
      Returns:
      number of rows in the underlying model
      See Also:

    • modelStructureChanged

      public abstract void modelStructureChanged()
      Invoked when the underlying model structure has completely changed. For example, if the number of columns in a TableModel changed, this method would be invoked.

      You normally do not call this method. This method is public to allow view classes to call it.

    • allRowsChanged

      public abstract void allRowsChanged()
      Invoked when the contents of the underlying model have completely changed. The structure of the table is the same, only the contents have changed. This is typically sent when it is too expensive to characterize the change in terms of the other methods.

      You normally do not call this method. This method is public to allow view classes to call it.

    • rowsInserted

      public abstract void rowsInserted(int firstRow, int endRow)
      Invoked when rows have been inserted into the underlying model in the specified range (inclusive).

      The arguments give the indices of the effected range. The first argument is in terms of the model before the change, and must be less than or equal to the size of the model before the change. The second argument is in terms of the model after the change and must be less than the size of the model after the change. For example, if you have a 5-row model and add 3 items to the end of the model the indices are 5, 7.

      You normally do not call this method. This method is public to allow view classes to call it.

      Parameters:
      firstRow - the first row
      endRow - the last row
      Throws:
      IndexOutOfBoundsException - if either argument is invalid, or firstRow > endRow

    • rowsDeleted

      public abstract void rowsDeleted(int firstRow, int endRow)
      Invoked when rows have been deleted from the underlying model in the specified range (inclusive).

      The arguments give the indices of the effected range and are in terms of the model before the change. For example, if you have a 5-row model and delete 3 items from the end of the model the indices are 2, 4.

      You normally do not call this method. This method is public to allow view classes to call it.

      Parameters:
      firstRow - the first row
      endRow - the last row
      Throws:
      IndexOutOfBoundsException - if either argument is outside the range of the model before the change, or firstRow > endRow

    • rowsUpdated

      public abstract void rowsUpdated(int firstRow, int endRow)
      Invoked when rows have been changed in the underlying model between the specified range (inclusive).

      You normally do not call this method. This method is public to allow view classes to call it.

      Parameters:
      firstRow - the first row, in terms of the underlying model
      endRow - the last row, in terms of the underlying model
      Throws:
      IndexOutOfBoundsException - if either argument is outside the range of the underlying model, or firstRow > endRow

    • rowsUpdated

      public abstract void rowsUpdated(int firstRow, int endRow, int column)
      Invoked when the column in the rows have been updated in the underlying model between the specified range.

      You normally do not call this method. This method is public to allow view classes to call it.

      Parameters:
      firstRow - the first row, in terms of the underlying model
      endRow - the last row, in terms of the underlying model
      column - the column that has changed, in terms of the underlying model
      Throws:
      IndexOutOfBoundsException - if either argument is outside the range of the underlying model after the change, firstRow > endRow, or column is outside the range of the underlying model

    • addRowSorterListener

      public void addRowSorterListener(RowSorterListener l)
      Adds a RowSorterListener to receive notification about this RowSorter. If the same listener is added more than once it will receive multiple notifications. If l is null nothing is done.
      Parameters:
      l - the RowSorterListener

    • removeRowSorterListener

      public void removeRowSorterListener(RowSorterListener l)
      Removes a RowSorterListener. If l is null nothing is done.
      Parameters:
      l - the RowSorterListener

    • fireSortOrderChanged

      protected void fireSortOrderChanged()
      Notifies listener that the sort order has changed.

    • fireRowSorterChanged

      protected void fireRowSorterChanged(int[] lastRowIndexToModel)
      Notifies listener that the mapping has changed.
      Parameters:
      lastRowIndexToModel - the mapping from model indices to view indices prior to the sort, may be null