Bind TableView to ObservableList - javafx

Question

I have an observable List saving Author objects. The gui is able to add an author to my database. The observable list contains all the objects of the database. I want my table to update automatically if I add an Author in the databse.
I have already tried to refresh the list with table.refresh(). I am also thinking about using a change listener for the observable list.
Here the Code for creating the table. authorList is an observable list. I think I don't quite understand how to use an observable list. My suggestion was that by using "table.setItem(authorList)", my table automatically updates its entries if something is changed in the list. Obviously this is not the case.
private void createAuthorsTablePane() {
// TODO: Layout ändern
GridPane authorGridPane = new GridPane();
// create table
TableView<Author> table = new TableView<>();
// Create columns with title
TableColumn<Author, String> idColumn = new TableColumn<>("ID");
TableColumn<Author, String> nameColumn = new TableColumn<>("Name");
TableColumn<Author, String> emailColumn = new TableColumn<>("Email");
TableColumn<Author, String> publicationsColumn = new TableColumn<>("Publications");
// Add columns to table node
table.getColumns().add(idColumn);
table.getColumns().add(nameColumn);
table.getColumns().add(emailColumn);
table.getColumns().add(publicationsColumn);
// Bindings
PropertyValueFactory<Author, String> idColumnFactory = new PropertyValueFactory<>("id");
PropertyValueFactory<Author, String> nameColumnFactory = new PropertyValueFactory<>("name");
PropertyValueFactory<Author, String> emailColumnFactory = new PropertyValueFactory<>("email");
PropertyValueFactory<Author, String> publicationsColumnFactory = new PropertyValueFactory<>("publications");
idColumn.setCellValueFactory(idColumnFactory);
nameColumn.setCellValueFactory(nameColumnFactory);
emailColumn.setCellValueFactory(emailColumnFactory);
publicationsColumn.setCellValueFactory(publicationsColumnFactory);
table.setItems(authorList);
// Create Buttons
createAuthorButton = new Button("Create author");
createAuthorButton.setOnAction(new EventHandler<ActionEvent>() {
public void handle(ActionEvent event) {
mainController.createAuthorController();
}
});
deleteAuthorButton = new Button("Delete selected author");
// Add Nodes to Pane
authorGridPane.add(new Label("Authors"), 0, 0);
authorGridPane.add(table, 0, 1);
authorGridPane.add(deleteAuthorButton, 0, 2);
authorGridPane.add(createAuthorButton, 1, 2);
authorPane = authorGridPane;
}
Here is the class, where I create my authorList. I am registering the list in the class where I create the table by using a controller.
public class ObservableModel {
private ObservableList<Publication> publicationList;
private ObservableList<Author> authorList;
public ObservableModel(DatabaseService database) {
publicationList = FXCollections.observableList(database.getPublications());
authorList = FXCollections.observableList(database.getAuthors());
}
public ObservableList<Publication> getPublicationList() {
return publicationList;
}
public ObservableList<Author> getAuthorList() {
return authorList;
}
}

Answer 1

TableView<Author> table = new TableView<>();
private ObservableList<Author> authorList = FXCollections.observableArrayList();
private Property<ObservableList<Author>> authorListProperty = new SimpleObjectProperty<>(authorList);
table.itemsProperty().bind(authorListProperty); // The Binding
Every time you change authorList the tableview will be updated as well

Answer 2

idcolumnFactory.setCellValueFactory(cellData -> cellData.getValue().getIdProperty());
or if you declare simple bean
idcolumnFactory.setCellValueFactory(cellData -> new SimpleStringProperty(cellData.getValue().getId()));
don't forget
table.setItems(your_observale_list);