JavaFX, how to freeze the position of some columns in TableView

Question

The idea is: on a TableView of N columns to have the first M columns always visible even when you use the horizontal scroller.

The only thing near my requirement is this Binding two tableviews together such that they scroll in sync. The idea to put side by side two tables is not the best by my point of view because

1) The sort of the column is partially indipendent between the two tables: if you use the same observableList the rows are sorted in both tables but it is not possible the sort on multiple columns where at least one column is not on the same table
2) There is no syncronous scroll with the mouse wheel or with the arrows keys

I know that, probably, I can cope with problems like these using EventHandlers and Listeners but I am hoping it is possible to use only one table.

So, the question is: are there any configurable properties on TableView or TableColumns to have the behaviour I am looking for?

Answer 1

I am able to freeze columns in javafx table view. We need to create our custom table column class where in we will have two methods setFixed and isFixed which will be used to make some column as fixed.

Apart from this you need to create your own

1. TableViewskin

2. TableHeaderRow - basically in this class you need to override the getRootHeader() method

3. NestedTableColumnHeader - In this class override layoutChildren() method and add new method to layout the fixedColumns
4. VirtualFlow
5. TableView - override createDefaultSkin() , add new booleanProperty showColumnHeaderand one ObservableArrayList for fixedTableColumn
6. TableRow - Override createDefaultSkin()
7. TableRowSkinBase - override layoutChildren() method to handle fixed columns.

Answer 2

There is currently no such feature. In fact, even manipulating the scroll bar and responding to scrollbar events are problematic. Two options I can think of:

Option #1 - Multiple Table

Create a new layout which contains the two tables and two scroll bars like in the FXML snippet below:

<BorderPane prefHeight="200.0" prefWidth="200.0" AnchorPane.bottomAnchor="0.0" AnchorPane.leftAnchor="0.0" AnchorPane.rightAnchor="0.0" AnchorPane.topAnchor="0.0">
  <bottom>
    <ScrollBar fx:id="hScroll" />
  </bottom>
  <center>
    <HBox fx:id="varTable" prefHeight="100.0" prefWidth="200.0">
      <children>
        <TableView fx:id="fixedTable" prefHeight="200.0" prefWidth="200.0">
          <columns>
            <TableColumn prefWidth="75.0" text="Column X" />
            <TableColumn prefWidth="75.0" text="Column X" />
          </columns>
        </TableView>
        <TableView prefHeight="200.0" prefWidth="200.0" HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS">
          <columns>
            <TableColumn prefWidth="75.0" text="Column X" />
            <TableColumn prefWidth="75.0" text="Column X" />
          </columns>
        </TableView>
      </children>
    </HBox>
  </center>
  <right>
    <ScrollBar fx:id="vScroll" orientation="VERTICAL" />
  </right>
</BorderPane>

Note the second tabe has HBox.hgrow="ALWAYS" set.

Write a function to locate the scroll bar in a TableView:

private static final ScrollBar getScrollBar(final TableView<?> tableView) {
  for (final VirtualFlow virtualFlow: Nodes.filter(Nodes.descendents(tableView, 2), VirtualFlow.class)) {
     for (final Node subNode: virtualFlow.getChildrenUnmodifiable()) {
        if (subNode instanceof ScrollBar && ((ScrollBar)subNode).getOrientation() == Orientation.VERTICAL) {
           return (ScrollBar)subNode;
        }
     }
  }

  return null;

}

Use this to locate the two vertical scroll bars and bind their properties (like min, max, value etc.) to your own vertical scroll bar and then hide the original scroll bars. You will also need to set managed=false so that they do not take up space in the layout.

Locate and hide the horizontal scroll bars and bind the properties of the 'moving' table horizontal scroll bar to your own horizontal scroll bar.

We are succesfully using this technique to link two tables with a single scroll bar while waiting for this Jira to be fixed.

Option #2 - Write your own TableViewSkin Download the JavaFx source to see what they do with the skin and then you can either write a complete custom skin or write a skin that wraps two regular skins and implement in a similar way to Option #1 above

Answer 3

So, the question is: are there any configurable properties on TableView or TableColumns to have the behaviour I am looking for?

Apparently not, but there is a feature request for this behavior on the JavaFX Jira (you'll need to register to view it):

https://javafx-jira.kenai.com/browse/RT-19454

I suggest you vote for it. :^)

Answer 4

JavaFX doesn't have this functionality. Check out ControlsFX's SpreadsheetView.