Dynamic population of a NSTableView with NSDictionaries with unknown keys

Is there no "simple" way to bind an NSArray that contains NSDictionaries with unknown keys to a NSTableView?

What is the best approach to solve this "common" problem?

Coming from c#/asp.net it seems to be a really painful operation.

edit:

To clarify what the app is about: its a simple queryeditor that displays the result of the query in a tableview.

I have tried to follow this example: http://www.cocoabuilder.com/archive/cocoa/150245-dynamic-columns-in-nstableview.html

I use an object that implements the NSTableViewDataSource protocol.

When the user issues the first query, the result is displayed correctly. But the second query shows something strange: the columns are not removed correctly and are added to the existing ones, but not all.

In the method, that builds the table i use something like this:

    NSArray *columns = [_resultTableView tableColumns];

    if(columns && [columns count] > 0)
    {
        for( int i=0; i < [columns count]; i++)
        {
            NSTableColumn *col = [columns objectAtIndex:i];
            NSLog(@"removing column: %@", [col identifier]);
            [_resultTableView removeTableColumn:col];
        }
    }


    NSDictionar开发者_运维技巧y *dict = [_resultTableDataSource.data objectAtIndex:0];

    NSArray *keys = [[dict keyEnumerator] allObjects];

    for( int i=0; i < [keys count]; i++)
    {
        NSTableColumn *column = [[NSTableColumn alloc] initWithIdentifier:[keys objectAtIndex:i]];
        [column setEditable:NO];
        [[column headerCell] setStringValue:[keys objectAtIndex:i]];
        [_resultTableView addTableColumn:column];
    }

    [_resultTableView setDataSource:_resultTableDataSource];

    [_resultTableView reloadData];

_resultTableDataSource.data is a NSMutableArray with NSMutableDictionary's as records.

---

Take a look at NSArrayController and configure the columns in Interface Builder. Then it's as easy as 1-2-3 ;)

Start here and read on in the NSArrayController description: http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/CocoaBindings/Concepts/CntrlContent.html

---

Ok simple enough.

Since i iterate over the columns by reference i have to use 0 as index, since after the removal of the first column, the column count is already minus 1.

Changing the loop to the following solves the problem:

    for( int i=0; i < [columns count]; i++)
    {
        NSTableColumn *col = [columns objectAtIndex:0];
        NSLog(@"removing column: %@", [col identifier]);
        [_resultTableView removeTableColumn:col];
    }