JavaFX 11 fxml TableView Fails to Populate - javafx

Question

I have been endeavouring to implement a TableView using data generated in the initialize() method of the Controller and a user interface provide by the fxml.
However, the TableView fails to poulate and displays an empty view with the message 'No content in table'.
Consequently I have created a simplified application as follows.
If anybody can suggest what I may have omitted it will be much appreciated.
Controller
package sample;
import javafx.beans.property.SimpleStringProperty;
import javafx.collections.FXCollections;
import javafx.collections.ObservableList;
import javafx.fxml.FXML;
import javafx.scene.control.TableColumn;
import javafx.scene.control.TableView;
import javafx.scene.control.cell.PropertyValueFactory;
public class Controller {
#FXML
private TableView tvNicknames;
#FXML
private TableColumn tcName;
#FXML
private TableColumn tcNickname;
#FXML
public void initialize(){
ObservableList<DataModel> nickList =
FXCollections.observableArrayList(
new DataModel(new SimpleStringProperty("Alan"), new SimpleStringProperty("Pip")),
new DataModel(new SimpleStringProperty("Bertie"), new SimpleStringProperty("Beets")),
new DataModel(new SimpleStringProperty("Charlie"), new SimpleStringProperty("Collie")),
new DataModel(new SimpleStringProperty("Dave"), new SimpleStringProperty("Daffy")),
new DataModel(new SimpleStringProperty("Ernie"), new SimpleStringProperty("Einstein"))
);
//specify cell factories for each TableColumn
tcName.setCellValueFactory(new PropertyValueFactory<>("name"));
tcNickname.setCellValueFactory(new PropertyValueFactory<>("nickname"));
}
}
DataModel
package sample;
import javafx.beans.property.SimpleStringProperty;
public class DataModel {
private SimpleStringProperty name;
private SimpleStringProperty nickname;
public DataModel() {
}
public DataModel(SimpleStringProperty name, SimpleStringProperty nickname) {
this.name = name;
this.nickname = nickname;
}
public String getName() {
return name.get();
}
public SimpleStringProperty nameProperty() {
return name;
}
public void setName(String name) {
this.name.set(name);
}
public String getNickname() {
return nickname.get();
}
public SimpleStringProperty nicknameProperty() {
return nickname;
}
public void setNickname(String nickname) {
this.nickname.set(nickname);
}
}
fxml
<?import javafx.scene.control.*?>
<?import javafx.scene.layout.FlowPane?>
<FlowPane fx:controller="sample.Controller"
xmlns:fx="http://javafx.com/fxml" alignment="center" hgap="10" vgap="10">
<TableView fx:id="tvNicknames" prefWidth="250" prefHeight="200">
<columns>
<TableColumn fx:id="tcName" text="Name" prefWidth="100"/>
<TableColumn fx:id="tcNickname" text="Nickname" prefWidth="100" />
</columns>
</TableView>
</FlowPane>

Answer 1

You simply forgot to add the list to the TableView. You basically need to add the following line to method initialize in class Controller.
tvNicknames.setItems(nickList);
In your DataModel class, you don't need a default constructor. I removed it. Also, I prefer to send property values to the constructor and instantiate properties in the constructor. Hence I changed the other constructor in class DataModel. I don't know if it's better, it just feels more correct to me. Here is DataModel class with my changes.
package sample;
import javafx.beans.property.SimpleStringProperty;
public class DataModel {
private SimpleStringProperty name;
private SimpleStringProperty nickname;
public DataModel(String name, String nickname) {
this.name = new SimpleStringProperty(this, "name", name);
this.nickname = new SimpleStringProperty(this, "nickname", nickname);
}
public String getName() {
return name.get();
}
public SimpleStringProperty nameProperty() {
return name;
}
public void setName(String name) {
this.name.set(name);
}
public String getNickname() {
return nickname.get();
}
public SimpleStringProperty nicknameProperty() {
return nickname;
}
public void setNickname(String nickname) {
this.nickname.set(nickname);
}
}
Here is Controller class with the fix that I described above. Notice also that the creation of the list has changed because of the change to the DataModel constructor. Also I added type parameters to the types for the variables. Again, not mandatory, but I feel that it is more correct.
package sample;
import javafx.collections.FXCollections;
import javafx.collections.ObservableList;
import javafx.fxml.FXML;
import javafx.scene.control.TableColumn;
import javafx.scene.control.TableView;
import javafx.scene.control.cell.PropertyValueFactory;
public class Controller {
#FXML
private TableView<DataModel> tvNicknames;
#FXML
private TableColumn<DataModel, String> tcName;
#FXML
private TableColumn<DataModel, String> tcNickname;
#FXML
public void initialize(){
ObservableList<DataModel> nickList =
FXCollections.observableArrayList(
new DataModel("Alan", "Pip"),
new DataModel("Bertie", "Beets"),
new DataModel("Charlie", "Collie"),
new DataModel("Dave", "Daffy"),
new DataModel("Ernie", "Einstein")
);
tvNicknames.setItems(nickList); // ADDED THIS LINE
//specify cell factories for each TableColumn
tcName.setCellValueFactory(new PropertyValueFactory<>("name"));
tcNickname.setCellValueFactory(new PropertyValueFactory<>("nickname"));
}
}
Of-course I created a class that extends javafx.application.Application in order to test the above code. Here is the code of that class.
Note that I named the FXML file nickname.fxml and I did not change anything in it. It is the same as in your question.
package sample;
import java.net.URL;
import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.fxml.FXMLLoader;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.layout.FlowPane;
import javafx.stage.Stage;
public class NickName extends Application {
#Override
public void start(Stage primaryStage) throws Exception {
URL location = getClass().getResource("nickname.fxml");
FXMLLoader loader = new FXMLLoader(location);
FlowPane root = loader.load();
Scene scene = new Scene(root);
primaryStage.setScene(scene);
primaryStage.show();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
launch(args);
}
}