a few development notes for a "generic object list" which should make it easy to create advanced feature-rich lists - including sorting, filtering, adding/removing columns, etc.

1. basics

the generic object list should be able to list any type of model - given a queryset or other iterable object.

implementors can configure different types of columns - dynamically. users can then configure which columns they want to see and which should be used for sorting.

2. terminology

• Column: represents a class which can be used to add a column type to the list
• Column Type:

3. dynamic columns

it must be possible for users to add new columns. - for example a column displaying a given "tag category"

this means that either:

• a column type in a list can be displayed more than once with a different "setting"
• or that users can dynamically add a new column type to the list

4. column configuration

the basic column types are hard coded in python code - just like newforms or models.

all "advanced object lists" and their columns need to be stateless - the user configuration (column config, sorting) is stored in the session (or similar)

an example advanced object list definition could look like:

from sphene.generic import advanced_object_list as objlist
class TaskList(objlist.AdvancedObjectList):
    summary = objlist.AttributeColumn('summary', sortcolumn = 'summary')
    status = objlist.AttributeColumn('owner')
    tagcol = TagCategoryColumn()

an example configuration might look like (this could be python or for example json which is modified by some javascript):

( "summary", "status", { 'column': 'tagcol', 'tagcategory': 'priority' }, )

the following conditions must be met:

• only columns listed in the configuration are displayed
• ... in the order they are configured
• if the config value is a dictionary the values must be passed 1:1 to the column who's name is defined in 'column'
• if the config value is a list it should be considered nested columns (two values in one column)
  • another implementation possibility would be to create a 'MultiValueColumn' and pass a dict value to it configuring "sub columns" .. but i think mult-value columns should be integrated right into the 'advanced object list'.