TableView and Fragment to edit Details with tornadofx - kotlin

Question

I use kotlinx.serialization for my models.
I'd like the idea of them to not depend on JavaFX, so they do not expose properties.
Given a model, I want a tableview for a quick representation of a list of instances, and additionally a more detailed Fragment as an editor.
consider the following model:
#Serializable
data class Person(
var name: String,
var firstname: String,
var complex: Stuff)
the view containing the tableview contains
private val personlist = mutableListOf<Person>().observable()
with a tableview that opens an instance of PersonEditor for the selected row when Enter is pressed:
tableview(personlist) {
column("name", Person::name)
column("first name", Person::firstname)
setOnKeyPressed { ev ->
selectedItem?.apply {
when (ev.code) {
KeyCode.ENTER -> PersonEditor(this).openModal()
}
}
}
}
I followed this gitbook section (but do not want the modelview to be rebound on selection of another row within the tableview)
The editor looks about like this:
class PersonEditor(person: Person) : ItemFragment<Person>() {
val model: Model = Model()
override val root = form {
fieldset("Personal information") {
field("Name") {
textfield(model.name)
}
field("Vorname") {
textfield(model.firstname)
}
}
fieldset("complex stuff") {
//... more complex stuff here
}
fieldset {
button("Save") {
enableWhen(model.dirty)
action { model.commit() }
}
button("Reset") { action { model.rollback() } }
}
}
class Model : ItemViewModel<Person>() {
val name = bind(Person::name)
val firstname = bind(Person::firstname)
//... complex stuff
}
init {
itemProperty.value = mieter
model.bindTo(this)
}
}
When I save the edited values in the detail view, the tableview is not updated.
Whats the best practize to solve this?
Also I'm unsure, if what I'm doing can be considered good practize, so i'd be happy for some advice on that too.

Answer 1

The best practice in a JavaFX application is to use observable properties. Not doing so is an uphill battle. You can keep your lean domain objects, but add a JavaFX/TornadoFX specific version with observable properties. This object can know how to copy data to/from your "lean" domain objects.
With this approach, especially in combination with ItemViewModel wrappers will make sure that your data is always updated.
The setOnKeyPressed code you posted can be changed to:
setOnUserSelect {
PersonEditor(it).openModal()
}
Notice though, that you are not supposed to instantiate Views and Fragments directly, as doing so skips certain steps in the TornadoFX life cycle. Instead you should pass the person as a parameter, or create a new scope and inject a PersonModel into that scope before opening the editor in that scope:
setOnUserSelect {
find<PersonEditor>(Scope(PersonEditor(it)))
}