QAbstractTableModel

QAbstractTableModel is a fundamental class in the Qt framework, serving as the abstract base class for all model classes that present data in a table-like structure. It is part of the Model/View programming paradigm in Qt, designed to separate data management from data presentation.

The primary purpose of QAbstractTableModel is to define the interface that views, such as QTableView or QListView, use to access and manipulate data. It establishes a clear contract for how data should be organized and presented, typically in rows and columns. Key methods that subclasses must implement include rowCount(), columnCount(), and data(). The rowCount() and columnCount() methods specify the dimensions of the data, while data() retrieves the actual content for a given item at a specific row and column index.

To signal changes in the data to the views, QAbstractTableModel provides a set of signals. For instance, dataChanged() is emitted when the data for one or more items has been modified. Similarly, rowsInserted(), rowsRemoved(), and columnsInserted(), columnsRemoved() are used to inform views about structural changes to the model.

Developers typically do not use QAbstractTableModel directly. Instead, they create subclasses that inherit from it and provide concrete implementations tailored to their specific data source, such as a database, a file, or an in-memory data structure. This abstraction allows views to work with any data source that adheres to the QAbstractTableModel interface without needing to know the underlying data management details.