Combobox show one list but show different value once selected

[Geoff Berl]

I'm not sure if that title made any sense but it's the best I could come up with. I have a CellEditor for my table that is a Combobox

import Objects.Operation;
import java.awt.Component;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import javax.swing.DefaultCellEditor;
import javax.swing.JComboBox;
import javax.swing.JTable;

public class OperationsCellEditor extends DefaultCellEditor {

    
    public OperationsCellEditor(String[] items) {
        super(new JComboBox(items));
    }
    
    public OperationsCellEditor(Operation[] items) {
        super(new JComboBox(items));
    }

    @Override
    public Component getTableCellEditorComponent(JTable table, Object value,
                                                boolean isSelected,
                                                int row, int column) {
        return super.getTableCellEditorComponent(table, value, isSelected, row, column);
    }
      
    public void addListener(ActionListener al) {
        ((JComboBox)getComponent()).addActionListener(al);
    }

}

And here is Operation:

/**
 *
 * @author berlgeof
 */
public class Operation {
    
    int num;
    String desc;
    
    public Operation(int number, String description) {
        num = number;
        desc = description;
    }
    
    public String getDescription() {
        return desc;
    }
    
    public int getNumber() {
        return num;
    }
    
    public String toString() {
        return num + " " + desc;
    }
    
}

So, I have my cell showing a combobox when clicked and it shows the operation Number and Description. Once selected I want the Combobox AND the table value to represent only the number. Basically this is just to allow the user to easily see what number correlates to what process step but only during the actual selection. The result should only display the number though.

I've been trying all sorts of different things but I can't seem to get it to work.

[Michael Dunn]

just thinking out loud here.

if the comboBox only displays 'Operations' (public OperationsCellEditor(String[] items) --> could be a problem),
maybe this might work:
1) add a field to Operation()
boolean selected = false;
2) add (or add to) a listener - when an operation is selected - change that operation's 'selected' to true
3) add the indicated line to Operation's toString()

public String toString() {  
    if(selected) return num;//<----
    return num + " " + desc;  
}