Obtain a stringValue from NSTableView - objective-c

Question

I have a simple NSTableView which I have loaded with data from a NSMutableArray. When I select a row (entry) in the tableView and modify it, I can find the row index, what I cannot get is the edited entry out as a string so I can modify the array. I can find lots of information on selecting rows, etc., but not on how to get the actual modified string. I keep thinking this should be real simple. Help please.
Part of my code:
- (IBAction)toDoEdit:(id)sender // Accept the edited data
{
NSString *toDoItem = [[toDoTableCell:toDoTableView dataCellFoTableColumn:0 row:rowToBeEdited] stringValue];
// I get the error "dataCellForTableColumn' method cannot be found.
[toDoArray replaceObjectAtIndex:rowToBeDeleted withObject:toDoItem];
[toDoTableView reloadData];
[toDoTableView deselectRow:rowToBeDeleted];
}
~~~~~~~~~~~
// This method should return the cell value of the selected row
- toDoTableCell:(NSTableView *)tableView dataCellForTableColumn:(NSTableColumn *)tableColumn row:(NSInteger)row
{
return toDoTableCell; // No errors here but toDoTableCell is nil.
}
The 'Add' data to tableView works, 'Delete' data from tableView works, I just cannot get the edited data out of tableView so I can reload the data with the corrections.

Answer 1

What you are looking for is an NSTableView Delegate method:
- (NSCell *)tableView:(NSTableView *)tableView dataCellForTableColumn:(NSTableColumn *)tableColumn row:(NSInteger)row
This will return the NSCell that is in the row and column that you specify. From the NSCell you should be able to extract the value that you need. Depending on how you are using your NSCell you would either call [cell stringValue] or [cell objectValue].

Answer 2

Try this:
– tableView:setObjectValue:forTableColumn:row:
in - NSTableViewDataSource Protocol Reference
--- Edited based on comment ---
Above method is called whenever user tries to edit a table row, it also provides user with changed value as parameter. If you are trying to edit the row in table itself then it should serve your purpose. You can simply check the objectValue obtained as parameter and verify if it is correct or not. In case it is incorrect you can modify the obtained value and set it in todoArray.
Briefly:
- (void)tableView:(NSTableView *)aTableView setObjectValue:(id)anObject forTableColumn:(NSTableColumn *)aTableColumn row:(NSInteger)rowIndex
{
// below case is an example, you can add your own
if([anObject isEqualToString:#"Incorrect"])
{
anObject = #"Correct";
}
// Considering todoArray is array of dictionary items containing keys as table-column identifiers
NSMutableDictionary *originalData = [todoArray objectAtIndex:rowIndex];
[originalData setValue:anObject forKey:[aTableColumn identifier]];
[toDoTableView reloadData];
}
To get the value being edited you can simply use this code in above method, before setting the new value:
NSString *editedValue = [[todoArray objectAtIndex:rowIndex] valueForKey:[aTableColumn identifier]];
Hope this helps :)

Answer 3

It is simple. Read up on Cocoa Bindings and NSArrayController.

Answer 4

Take a look at the NSTableView methods selectedColumn, selectedColumnIndexes, selectedRow and selectedRowIndexes. I guess they should provide you with the needed information.
Now you can query the model, i.e. the array, for the data you need.