Weird behaviour on fireTableDataChanged in JTable

Question

Up till now I had a definition of the JTable like this:

    JTable table = new JTable(model) {
        @Override
        public Component prepareRenderer(TableCellRenderer renderer, int row, int column) {
            Component c = super.prepareRenderer(renderer, row, column);
            TradeTableModel model = (TradeTableModel) getModel();
            if ((Boolean) model.getValueAt(row, model.findColumn("Select"))) {
                Side s = (Side) model.getValueAt(row, model.findColumn("Side"));
                if (s == Side.BUY)
                    c.setBackground(Color.BLUE);
                else
                    c.setBackground(Color.red);
            }
            else {
                c.setBackground(Color.white);
            }
            return c;
        }
    };

This was to make sure the rows will change color based on selecting the boolean column value. At my AbstractTableModel I specified set value method as follows:

public void setValueAt(Object aValue, int rowIndex, int columnIndex) {
    assert columnIndex == 5;

    try{
        Selectable t = trades.get(rowIndex);
        t.setSelected((Boolean)aValue);
        fireTableDataChanged();
        //fireTableCellUpdated(rowIndex, columnIndex);
    }
    catch(Exception  e){
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Object to set was not subtype of boolean");
    }

}

If I use fireTableDataChanged() the color is updated as I click the checkbox on the gui. Howver, I really want to send the fireTableCellUpdated(rowIndex, columnIndex) as other handlers need to know the location of the cell. However, in this scenario, the row only changes if I click on other row in the table, as if it was delayed and waited for some other event to happen.

ANy ideas why that is the case?

Answer 1

Your (unseen) TableModel should fireTableXxxXxxx() as required in order to notify all listeners. DefaultTableModel does this automatically; AbstractTableModel should do so in setValueAt(). One such listener is the table itself. If "other handlers need to know the location of the cell," they can register for TableModelEvent instances via addTableModelListener(). They can also listen for User Selections as needed.