Abstract model interface for representing a record of named data fields. The map provides a uniform API for accessing data which may be contained in a variety of data model constructs underneath, such as RowSet, DefaultTableModelExt, or arbitrary JavaBean classes. The user-interface Binding classes use this interface to "bind" user-interface components to field elements in a data model without having to understand the specific flavor of data model being used by the application. For example, a field element may map to a named column on a RowSet or a property on a JavaBean, but the binding classes don't need to understand those underlying data structures in order to read and write values.
For each named field, the data model provides access to:
Often data models are collections of like-objects, such as the rows in a RowSet, or a list of JavaBeans. This interface provides a mechanism to index into such a collection such that at any given time, the data model contains the element values associated with the "current" record index into that collection (the current row, or the current bean, etc).
@author Amy Fowler @version 1.0 | |