Feature #8: allow columns to be arbitrarily ordered, and Feature #20: use a builder pattern.

[rahl0b10]

Feature #20

Use a builder pattern for table creation.

This proposed solution provides two improvements in the API.

1. The process of selecting a column for 'hiding' is streamlined into the construction process for the Table<T>.
2. Columns can be identified for hiding by property name rather than index.

var table = TableBuilder<DemoAnimals>
                .Initialize(animalData)
                .HideColumn("Name")
                .Build();

NOTE: Build() returns Table<T>.

Feature #8

Allow columns to be arbitrarily ordered

This solution was also integrated into the builder pattern. This allows for a very streamlined table construction process. Simply passing a preferred index and the name of the target Column allows for the position of the targetColumn and the Column occupying the destination index to be swapped.

var table = TableBuilder<DemoAnimals>
                .Initialize(animalData)
                .SetColumnIndex("IntCol", 0)
                .Build();

Example class

public class DemoAnimals
    {
        public string Species { get; set; }
        public string Color { get; set; }
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public int IntCol { get; set; }
    }

Default ordering of columns (based on relative property position).

+----------+-------+-------+--------+
| Species  | Color | Name  | IntCol |
+----------+-------+-------+--------+
| Cats     | Gray  | Joe   | 2      |
| Dogs     | Red   | Billy | 1      |
| Chickens | Green | Jill  | 3      |
+----------+-------+-------+--------+

New ordering of columns after IntCol was explicitly set to location with index of 0.

+--------+-------+-------+----------+
| IntCol | Color | Name  | Species  |
+--------+-------+-------+----------+
| 2      | Gray  | Joe   | Cats     |
| 1      | Red   | Billy | Dogs     |
| 3      | Green | Jill  | Chickens |
+--------+-------+-------+----------+

Chainable

Because these two features are part of the same builder class, they can be chained.

HideColumn(name) and SetColumnIndex(name, index) methods can be chained in a highly streamlined table creation process, for example:

var table = TableBuilder<DemoAnimals>
                .Initialize(animalData)
                .SetColumnIndex("IntCol", 0)
                .HideColumn("Name")
                .Build();

[tdwright]

Hi @rahl0b10.

There's a lot to like here:

• The builder syntax is really "fluent"
• The ability to address columns by property name is loads better than their index
• Being able to reorder columns is a huge win

That said, it's not quite there yet.

For me, the most fundamental concern is that the new functionality has been built into the new builder. This breaks the equivalence of the two APIs. What I like about the addition of the builder class is that it provides choice, but at the moment that choice is limited because the new features are only supported in one of the two APIs.

I don't think there's any fundamental reason why access via property names or column reordering couldn't be offered via the old-style syntax. Is there any way we could move it into the core and provide access to it via the builder class? In other words, I suppose I'm asking if we could simplify things by using the builder class as a wrapper around the core API?

Some other (more minor) feedback:

• To me, the reordering behaviour should be more of an insert than a swap. So if I specify that the column in 4th position should move to the 1st position, I would expect to see the column that has been in 1st position move to 2nd position, the one in 2nd position to move to 3rd, etc.
• The test coverage of your new builder class seems (from my eyeballing) to be quite low.
• I'm not sure how I feel about the addition of yet another type of test data class. In fact, I think we need to address this question in it's own issue. (So let's leave DemoAnimals in there for now.)

To reiterate, I think you're on to a winner here. We just need to iron out a few of the details. As ever, thanks for your contributions!

Tom

PS Are @geekmdio another of your accounts?

[rahl0b10]

@tdwright - Thanks for all the feedback :) Those are great points, and I will implement in that way. I appreciate the concept of equivalency of the API's. I hadn't really considered that. Even thought not a direct hit in terms of backward compatibility, it indirectly forces people to refactor if they want the new functionality. It'll be quite a bit more work, so give me a bit of time.

As for the @geekmdio account, yes it's mine. I'm working on something proprietary under that account. It's all in it's infancy. It's showing up because OS X is doing something strange when I push. The push goes to the correct account, but under the wrong username no matter what I do with the local and global settings. I found out that if I push via HTTPS I get the desired behavior, my local git config is respected, and the correct account is credited with the push. Not a huge inconvenience, but still annoying.

[tdwright]

Great stuff! And don't sweat it if it takes a while - we're doing this in our free time, remember? 😉

I'll leave this functionality to you, but I may do some stuff elsewhere, so be sure to merge the develop back into your repo from time to time.

[rahl0b10]

Ha, ha. Yes, good point. In our free time. ;)

I'm a self-taught amateur (who works in an entirely different profession), so to date I haven't worked in a team environment. This is as close as I've been so far, so I may be over-eager at times.

[tdwright]

Hi @rahl0b10

Hope you had a good Christmas / winter break?

Were you still hoping to make the changes we discussed? I may have some capacity coming up in the next few weeks, so could start work on some aspects of this, if you've not already started? Don't want to tread on your toes!

Tom

[ghost]

@tdwright - Hi! Yes, Christmas was good. Busy, but good. Hope yours was as well! Anyway, I've been very busy lately. I would like to continue contributing, but if you get to a feature before I do I will not feel offended. Its your project anyway :) Please feel free to do as you please.

[tdwright]

Think we should probably close this one now.