rowCount() is calling for all the top level items

[prasad_N]

I have customized QAbstractItemModel & QTreeView.

rowCount() is calling for all the top level items in a view, is it a default behavior of model ? //I set setAllColumnsShowFocus( true ); setUniformRowHeights( true );
If so, can we change this so that it will get called only for currently viewing items in view.

I am dealing with huge data (millions of rows) because of this behavior there is some delay in viewing items.

Any suggestions ?

[wysota]

rowCount() is calling for all the top level items in a view, is it a default behavior of model ?

No, it's a default behaviour of QTreeView since the tree wants to know whether each of the items has child items.

If so, can we change this so that it will get called only for currently viewing items in view.

Hmm... I don't think the view cares about items that are not visible unless you asked items to be expanded, in which case it needs to calculate the total size of the tree for the scrollbar.

[prasad_N]

Hmm... I don't think the view cares about items that are not visible unless you asked items to be expanded, in which case it needs to calculate the total size of the tree for the scrollbar.

you mean we can change this default behavior right ?
If yes, How can we do this.

[wysota]

This example shows that the view does not query the whole model when it initializes:

#include <QtWidgets>
 
 
class Model : public QAbstractListModel {
public:
  Model(QObject *parent = 0) : QAbstractListModel(parent) {}
 
  int rowCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
    qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << parent;
    if(parent.isValid()) return 0;    
    return 1000;
  }
  QModelIndex index(int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
    if(parent.isValid()) return QModelIndex();    
    return createIndex(row, column, (void*)0);
  }
 
  QVariant data(const QModelIndex &index, int role = Qt::DisplayRole) const {
    if(role == Qt::DisplayRole) return index.row()+1;
    return QVariant();
  }
};
 
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
  QApplication app(argc, argv);
  QTreeView v;
  Model model;
  v.setModel(&model);
  v.show();
  return app.exec();
}

#include <QtWidgets>


class Model : public QAbstractListModel {
public:
  Model(QObject *parent = 0) : QAbstractListModel(parent) {}
  
  int rowCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
    qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << parent;
    if(parent.isValid()) return 0;    
    return 1000;
  }
  QModelIndex index(int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
    if(parent.isValid()) return QModelIndex();    
    return createIndex(row, column, (void*)0);
  }
  
  QVariant data(const QModelIndex &index, int role = Qt::DisplayRole) const {
    if(role == Qt::DisplayRole) return index.row()+1;
    return QVariant();
  }
};

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
  QApplication app(argc, argv);
  QTreeView v;
  Model model;
  v.setModel(&model);
  v.show();
  return app.exec();
}

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[prasad_N]

This example shows that the view does not query the whole model when it initializes:

No, it's a default behaviour of QTreeView since the tree wants to know whether each of the items has child items:

these 2 statements are conflicting right ?

1. In my model rowCount is calling for all the top level items.

my model is :

QModelIndex TreeModel::index( int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent ) const
{
    if ( ! hasIndex(row, column, parent) )
        return QModelIndex();
 
   TreeItem *parentItem;
 
    if ( ! parent.isValid() )
     parentItem = m_rootItem;
    else
     parentItem = static_cast<TreeItem*>( parent.internalPointer() );
 
    TreeItem *childItem = parentItem->child( row );
    if ( childItem )
     return createIndex( row, column, childItem );
    else
     return QModelIndex();
}
 
QModelIndex TreeModel::parent( const QModelIndex &index ) const
{
    if ( ! index.isValid() )
        return QModelIndex();
 
    TreeItem *childItem  = static_cast<TreeItem*>( index.internalPointer() );
    TreeItem *parentItem = childItem->parent();
 
    if ( (parentItem == m_rootItem)  || (parentItem == NULL))
        return QModelIndex();
 
    return createIndex( parentItem->row(), 0, parentItem );
}
 
int TreeModel::rowCount( const QModelIndex &parent ) const
{
       if ( parent.column() > 0 )
        return 0;
 
    TreeItem *parentItem;
    if ( ! parent.isValid() )
        parentItem = m_rootItem;
    else
        parentItem = static_cast<TreeItem*>( parent.internalPointer() );
 
    return parentItem->childCount();
}

QModelIndex TreeModel::index( int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent ) const
{
    if ( ! hasIndex(row, column, parent) )
        return QModelIndex();

   TreeItem *parentItem;

    if ( ! parent.isValid() )
     parentItem = m_rootItem;
    else
     parentItem = static_cast<TreeItem*>( parent.internalPointer() );

    TreeItem *childItem = parentItem->child( row );
    if ( childItem )
     return createIndex( row, column, childItem );
    else
     return QModelIndex();
}

QModelIndex TreeModel::parent( const QModelIndex &index ) const
{
    if ( ! index.isValid() )
        return QModelIndex();

    TreeItem *childItem  = static_cast<TreeItem*>( index.internalPointer() );
    TreeItem *parentItem = childItem->parent();

    if ( (parentItem == m_rootItem)  || (parentItem == NULL))
        return QModelIndex();

    return createIndex( parentItem->row(), 0, parentItem );
}

int TreeModel::rowCount( const QModelIndex &parent ) const
{
       if ( parent.column() > 0 )
        return 0;

    TreeItem *parentItem;
    if ( ! parent.isValid() )
        parentItem = m_rootItem;
    else
        parentItem = static_cast<TreeItem*>( parent.internalPointer() );

    return parentItem->childCount();
}

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2. When I change your model little bit on order to check tree function calling. in the index if(parent.isValid()) is not at all executing.

int rowCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
    qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << parent;
    if(parent.isValid()) return 2;    //each parent with 2 child
    return 10;                            // 10 top most parrents
  }
 
  QModelIndex index(int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
      if(parent.isValid()){        // this condition is not at all executing 
          qDebug() << "Yes isValid = " << parent.child(row, column);
          return createIndex(row, column, (void*)parent.child(row, column).internalPointer());   //create &return child index
      }
 
    return createIndex(row, column, (void*)0);    // return top most elements index's
  }

int rowCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
    qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << parent;
    if(parent.isValid()) return 2;    //each parent with 2 child
    return 10;                            // 10 top most parrents
  }

  QModelIndex index(int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
      if(parent.isValid()){        // this condition is not at all executing 
          qDebug() << "Yes isValid = " << parent.child(row, column);
          return createIndex(row, column, (void*)parent.child(row, column).internalPointer());   //create &return child index
      }

    return createIndex(row, column, (void*)0);    // return top most elements index's
  }

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What wrong am I doing here ?

I don't want to use treeItems in my model for tree(if possible, I think it is possible with above implementation).

[wysota]

these 2 statements are conflicting right ?

Yes, I didn't express myself clearly. I meant that it is the view which is causing what you see, not the model. I didn't mean to say that "the view has to query all the indexes".

1. In my model rowCount is calling for all the top level items.

my model is :

QModelIndex TreeModel::index( int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent ) const
{
    if ( ! hasIndex(row, column, parent) )
        return QModelIndex();
 
   TreeItem *parentItem;
 
    if ( ! parent.isValid() )
     parentItem = m_rootItem;
    else
     parentItem = static_cast<TreeItem*>( parent.internalPointer() );
 
    TreeItem *childItem = parentItem->child( row );
    if ( childItem )
     return createIndex( row, column, childItem );
    else
     return QModelIndex();
}
 
QModelIndex TreeModel::parent( const QModelIndex &index ) const
{
    if ( ! index.isValid() )
        return QModelIndex();
 
    TreeItem *childItem  = static_cast<TreeItem*>( index.internalPointer() );
    TreeItem *parentItem = childItem->parent();
 
    if ( (parentItem == m_rootItem)  || (parentItem == NULL))
        return QModelIndex();
 
    return createIndex( parentItem->row(), 0, parentItem );
}
 
int TreeModel::rowCount( const QModelIndex &parent ) const
{
       if ( parent.column() > 0 )
        return 0;
 
    TreeItem *parentItem;
    if ( ! parent.isValid() )
        parentItem = m_rootItem;
    else
        parentItem = static_cast<TreeItem*>( parent.internalPointer() );
 
    return parentItem->childCount();
}

QModelIndex TreeModel::index( int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent ) const
{
    if ( ! hasIndex(row, column, parent) )
        return QModelIndex();

   TreeItem *parentItem;

    if ( ! parent.isValid() )
     parentItem = m_rootItem;
    else
     parentItem = static_cast<TreeItem*>( parent.internalPointer() );

    TreeItem *childItem = parentItem->child( row );
    if ( childItem )
     return createIndex( row, column, childItem );
    else
     return QModelIndex();
}

QModelIndex TreeModel::parent( const QModelIndex &index ) const
{
    if ( ! index.isValid() )
        return QModelIndex();

    TreeItem *childItem  = static_cast<TreeItem*>( index.internalPointer() );
    TreeItem *parentItem = childItem->parent();

    if ( (parentItem == m_rootItem)  || (parentItem == NULL))
        return QModelIndex();

    return createIndex( parentItem->row(), 0, parentItem );
}

int TreeModel::rowCount( const QModelIndex &parent ) const
{
       if ( parent.column() > 0 )
        return 0;

    TreeItem *parentItem;
    if ( ! parent.isValid() )
        parentItem = m_rootItem;
    else
        parentItem = static_cast<TreeItem*>( parent.internalPointer() );

    return parentItem->childCount();
}

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This is the implementation of QAbstractItemModel::hasIndex():

bool QAbstractItemModel::hasIndex(int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent) const
{
    if (row < 0 || column < 0)
        return false;
    return row < rowCount(parent) && column < columnCount(parent);
}

bool QAbstractItemModel::hasIndex(int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent) const
{
    if (row < 0 || column < 0)
        return false;
    return row < rowCount(parent) && column < columnCount(parent);
}

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Therefore each time you call you index() implementation, it calls hasIndex() which in turn calls rowCount() for the parent. Possibly this applies to other methods and their default implementations.

2. When I change your model little bit on order to check tree function calling. in the index if(parent.isValid()) is not at all executing.

int rowCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
    qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << parent;
    if(parent.isValid()) return 2;    //each parent with 2 child
    return 10;                            // 10 top most parrents
  }
 
  QModelIndex index(int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
      if(parent.isValid()){        // this condition is not at all executing 
          qDebug() << "Yes isValid = " << parent.child(row, column);
          return createIndex(row, column, (void*)parent.child(row, column).internalPointer());   //create &return child index
      }
 
    return createIndex(row, column, (void*)0);    // return top most elements index's
  }

int rowCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
    qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << parent;
    if(parent.isValid()) return 2;    //each parent with 2 child
    return 10;                            // 10 top most parrents
  }

  QModelIndex index(int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
      if(parent.isValid()){        // this condition is not at all executing 
          qDebug() << "Yes isValid = " << parent.child(row, column);
          return createIndex(row, column, (void*)parent.child(row, column).internalPointer());   //create &return child index
      }

    return createIndex(row, column, (void*)0);    // return top most elements index's
  }

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What wrong am I doing here ?

Most likely you didn't change the base class to QAbstractItemModel. Apparently QTreeView has an optimization to not check child nodes for flat models.

#include <QtWidgets>
 
#define BASEMODEL QAbstractItemModel
 
class Model : public BASEMODEL {
public:
  Model(QObject *parent = 0) : BASEMODEL(parent) {}
 
  int columnCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const { return 1; }
 
  int rowCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
    qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << parent;
    if(!parent.isValid()) return 10;
    if(parent.isValid() && !parent.parent().isValid()) return 2; // limit to two levels
 
    return 0;
  }
  QModelIndex index(int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
    qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << row << column << parent;
    if(parent.isValid()) {
	qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << "parent valid";
	// we only need id of the parent since it identifies the item
	return createIndex(row, column, parent.row());
    }
    return createIndex(row, column, -1); // top level item has invalid parent
  }
 
  QModelIndex parent(const QModelIndex &ind) const {
    qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << ind;
    if(!ind.isValid()) return QModelIndex();
    int id = ind.internalId();
    if( id == -1) return QModelIndex();
    return index(id, 0); // return top-level item
  }
 
  QVariant data(const QModelIndex &index, int role = Qt::DisplayRole) const {
    if(role == Qt::DisplayRole) return index.row()+1;
    return QVariant();
  }
};
 
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
  QApplication app(argc, argv);
  QTreeView v;
  Model model;
  v.setModel(&model);
  v.show();
  return app.exec();
}

#include <QtWidgets>

#define BASEMODEL QAbstractItemModel

class Model : public BASEMODEL {
public:
  Model(QObject *parent = 0) : BASEMODEL(parent) {}

  int columnCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const { return 1; }
  
  int rowCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
    qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << parent;
    if(!parent.isValid()) return 10;
    if(parent.isValid() && !parent.parent().isValid()) return 2; // limit to two levels
    
    return 0;
  }
  QModelIndex index(int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const {
    qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << row << column << parent;
    if(parent.isValid()) {
	qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << "parent valid";
	// we only need id of the parent since it identifies the item
	return createIndex(row, column, parent.row());
    }
    return createIndex(row, column, -1); // top level item has invalid parent
  }

  QModelIndex parent(const QModelIndex &ind) const {
    qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << ind;
    if(!ind.isValid()) return QModelIndex();
    int id = ind.internalId();
    if( id == -1) return QModelIndex();
    return index(id, 0); // return top-level item
  }
  
  QVariant data(const QModelIndex &index, int role = Qt::DisplayRole) const {
    if(role == Qt::DisplayRole) return index.row()+1;
    return QVariant();
  }
};

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
  QApplication app(argc, argv);
  QTreeView v;
  Model model;
  v.setModel(&model);
  v.show();
  return app.exec();
}

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I don't want to use treeItems in my model for tree(if possible, I think it is possible with above implementation).

Then don't use them

By the way, changing the base class to QAbstractItemModel does cause the tree view to query rowCount for all the top-level items at start, I will try to see why this happens. You can probably switch some property and it will stop doing that.

Edit: It looks like during layout of the tree, the widget calls rowCount() on items that have children. What is worrying is that it also calls canFetchMore() && fetchMore() for them which in my opinion defeats the purpose of implementing those two methods at all at least for two level models.

[prasad_N]

but when I test your new model I have seen all the top levels items rowsCount() is getting called, I am struggling exactly with this behavior only.

int rowCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const 
{
      qDebug() << parent;   //little change in debug msg
 
    if(!parent.isValid()) return 10;
    if(parent.isValid() && !parent.parent().isValid()) return 2; // limit to two levels
 
    return 0;
  }
 
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
  QApplication app(argc, argv);
  QTreeView v; 
  v.setFixedSize(200, 50);  //set height to 50 so that view can accommodate 2 top level elements only 
  Model model;
  v.setModel(&model);
  v.show();
  return app.exec();
}

int rowCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const 
{
      qDebug() << parent;   //little change in debug msg

    if(!parent.isValid()) return 10;
    if(parent.isValid() && !parent.parent().isValid()) return 2; // limit to two levels

    return 0;
  }

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
  QApplication app(argc, argv);
  QTreeView v; 
  v.setFixedSize(200, 50);  //set height to 50 so that view can accommodate 2 top level elements only 
  Model model;
  v.setModel(&model);
  v.show();
  return app.exec();
}

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The out put I observed is :

QModelIndex(-1,-1,0x0,QObject(0x0) )
QModelIndex(-1,-1,0x0,QObject(0x0) )
QModelIndex(-1,-1,0x0,QObject(0x0) )
QModelIndex(0,0,0xffffffff,QAbstractItemModel(0x28 fe18) )
QModelIndex(1,0,0xffffffff,QAbstractItemModel(0x28 fe18) )
QModelIndex(2,0,0xffffffff,QAbstractItemModel(0x28 fe18) )
QModelIndex(3,0,0xffffffff,QAbstractItemModel(0x28 fe18) )
QModelIndex(4,0,0xffffffff,QAbstractItemModel(0x28 fe18) )
QModelIndex(5,0,0xffffffff,QAbstractItemModel(0x28 fe18) )
QModelIndex(6,0,0xffffffff,QAbstractItemModel(0x28 fe18) )
QModelIndex(7,0,0xffffffff,QAbstractItemModel(0x28 fe18) )
QModelIndex(8,0,0xffffffff,QAbstractItemModel(0x28 fe18) )
QModelIndex(9,0,0xffffffff,QAbstractItemModel(0x28 fe18) )

//rowCount() is getting called for all top level items here.

One more thing I have observed is, When i return 10000000(top level items) in rowCount() (in old model you suggested & in new model also), My application got crashed with runtime error (on Windows 8, 64bit application).
And when I return 1000000 row count & when I try to scroll down its hanging like hell, not able to scroll at all.

[wysota]

Which Qt version are you using? How much RAM does your machine have?

[prasad_N]

I am using 4.8.6 & 5.4.0 with windows 8 and 4GB RAM, I tested on both the versions it failed.

[prasad_N]

Hi Any idea, why is this happening ?

[wysota]

4E9 bytes for 1E7 items yields 4E2 (=400) bytes per item. My guess is you are running out of memory