Some useful Table methods not documented in reference

[jwoLondon]

There are some useful methods in the Table class that, looking at the source code, appear to be available, but are not mentioned in the reference pages for Table.

In particular sort() and sortReverse(), and associated with this for sorting rows by numeric value, setColumnType().

Also useful is the ability to return entire columns as arrays, which is mentioned in the reference for getStringColumn(), but not getIntColumn() or getFloatColumn().

I mention these because I have found them useful for teaching beginners who wish to manipulate tables and are not used to browsing source code or full Java API docs. I had also previously been writing my own table sorting code in Java, not realising the functionality was already there but undocumented.

[scotthmurray]

Yes, Processing has lots of methods that we deliberately do not document in the main reference. However, I don't remember the thinking behind these specific ones. @REAS or @shiffman do you recall the discussion on excluding these?

[REAS]

I think a first step is to mention there are many more methods within the description and to link directly to the JavaDoc. This was an omission. A second step will be to evaluate if more methods should be added to the simple reference.

[scotthmurray]

Thanks, Casey. I added that text and link here: https://processing.org/reference/Table.html

I'll close this for now; we can have a separate issue/thread for evaluating whether or not to add methods to the simple reference, if there is demand.

[REAS]

Great! Thank you.

[jwoLondon]

Thanks for responding so quickly - I think a link to the API from the reference pages helps.

I hope it's not bad form to comment after an issue has been closed, but some thoughts should they be helpful:

• A link directly to http://processing.github.io/processing-javadocs/core/processing/data/Table.html rather than the frames-based API might be easier for people who don't know that Table exists in the data package. The can always click the 'Frames' link if they need to navigate to other classes or packages in the API.
• My rationale for suggesting sort() might be promoted to the reference pages was that for newish Processing users (and I teach a lot of them), sorting a table is something they would not be able to program themselves, but as a technique it is very useful. The Table class has now stabilised and a highly convenient way of storing tabular data for people not confident with creating their own classes for doing such. It has opened up the possibility of some quite powerful filtering and sorting operations on mixed data collections for those without the programming expertise to implement themselves. I'd therefore place findRow()/findRows(), matchRow()/matchRows() and sort()/sortReverse() in a similar category of usefulness and ease of use.
• The case for getXXXColumn() is perhaps less compelling as the need for beginners to move a table column into an array is perhaps not quite so pressing or difficult to manage via other means. But I do struggle to see why if getStringColumn() is listed in the reference, getFloatColumn() or getIntColumn() is not.

[REAS]

@benfry What do you think about adding sort() to the Table class documentation on the site?

[REAS]

I'm adding sort() and I directly linked to the Table HTML page.

[benfry]

Sorry, apparently missed this one. Works for me!

findRows() and matchRows() might also be good candidates. Probably better would be to make a nice thorough Table tutorial. A lot of thought (and practice) has gone into it, I just haven't had time to explain it better.

[REAS]

I'll open a new issue for findRows() and matchRows(). I think that will likely happen before a nice Table tutorial.