To create a tree or list widget in Inti you need
to use the TreeModel interface in conjunction with the TreeView widget.
This widget is designed around a Model/View/Controller design and
consists of four major parts:
- the tree view widget - Gtk::TreeView
- the view column - Gtk::TreeViewColumn
- the cell renderers - Gtk::CellRenderer etc.
- and the model interface - Gtk::TreeModel
The View is composed of the first three, while the last is the
Model. One of the prime benefits of the MVC design is that multiple
views can be created of a single model. For example, a model mapping
the
file system could be created for a file manager. Many views could be
created to display various parts of the file system, but only one copy
need be kept in memory.
The purpose of the cell renderers is to provide extensibility to the
widget and to allow multiple ways of rendering the same type of data.
For example, consider how to render a boolean variable. Should you
render it as a string of "True" or "False", "On" or "Off", or should
you
render it as a checkbox?
