doc/src/examples/contiguouscache.qdoc
author Eckhart Koeppen <eckhart.koppen@nokia.com>
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/****************************************************************************
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**
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** Copyright (C) 2010 Nokia Corporation and/or its subsidiary(-ies).
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** All rights reserved.
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** Contact: Nokia Corporation (qt-info@nokia.com)
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**
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** This file is part of the documentation of the Qt Toolkit.
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**
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** $QT_BEGIN_LICENSE:LGPL$
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** No Commercial Usage
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** This file contains pre-release code and may not be distributed.
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** You may use this file in accordance with the terms and conditions
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** contained in the Technology Preview License Agreement accompanying
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** this package.
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**
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** GNU Lesser General Public License Usage
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** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU Lesser
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** General Public License version 2.1 as published by the Free Software
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** Foundation and appearing in the file LICENSE.LGPL included in the
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** packaging of this file.  Please review the following information to
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** ensure the GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1 requirements
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** will be met: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/lgpl-2.1.html.
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**
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** In addition, as a special exception, Nokia gives you certain additional
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** rights.  These rights are described in the Nokia Qt LGPL Exception
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** version 1.1, included in the file LGPL_EXCEPTION.txt in this package.
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**
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** If you have questions regarding the use of this file, please contact
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** Nokia at qt-info@nokia.com.
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**
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**
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**
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**
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**
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**
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**
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**
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** $QT_END_LICENSE$
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**
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****************************************************************************/
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/*!
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    \example tools/contiguouscache
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    \title Contiguous Cache Example
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    The Contiguous Cache example shows how to use QContiguousCache to manage memory usage for
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    very large models.  In some environments memory is limited and, even when it
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    isn't, users still dislike an application using excessive memory.
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    Using QContiguousCache to manage a list, rather than loading
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    the entire list into memory, allows the application to limit the amount
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    of memory it uses, regardless of the size of the data set it accesses
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    The simplest way to use QContiguousCache is to cache as items are requested. When
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    a view requests an item at row N it is also likely to ask for items at rows near
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    to N.
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    \snippet examples/tools/contiguouscache/randomlistmodel.cpp 0
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    After getting the row, the class determines if the row is in the bounds
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    of the contiguous cache's current range.  It would have been equally valid to
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    simply have the following code instead.
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    \code
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    while (row > m_rows.lastIndex())
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        m_rows.append(fetchWord(m_rows.lastIndex()+1);
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    while (row < m_rows.firstIndex())
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        m_rows.prepend(fetchWord(m_rows.firstIndex()-1);
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    \endcode
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    However a list will often jump rows if the scroll bar is used directly, resulting in
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    the code above causing every row between the old and new rows to be fetched.
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    Using QContiguousCache::lastIndex() and QContiguousCache::firstIndex() allows
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    the example to determine what part of the list the cache is currently caching.
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    These values don't represent the indexes into the cache's own memory, but rather
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    a virtual infinite array that the cache represents.
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    By using QContiguousCache::append() and QContiguousCache::prepend() the code ensures
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    that items that may be still on the screen are not lost when the requested row
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    has not moved far from the current cache range.  QContiguousCache::insert() can
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    potentially remove more than one item from the cache as QContiguousCache does not
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    allow for gaps.  If your cache needs to quickly jump back and forth between
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    rows with significant gaps between them consider using QCache instead.
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    And thats it.  A perfectly reasonable cache, using minimal memory for a very large
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    list.  In this case the accessor for getting the words into the cache
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    generates random information rather than fixed information.  This allows you 
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    to see how the cache range is kept for a local number of rows when running the
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    example.
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    \snippet examples/tools/contiguouscache/randomlistmodel.cpp 1
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    It is also worth considering pre-fetching items into the cache outside of the
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    application's paint routine.  This can be done either with a separate thread
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    or using a QTimer to incrementally expand the range of the cache prior to
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    rows being requested out of the current cache range.
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parents:
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*/