DataTable update_cell - text keys as given in add_columns()

[alexveden]

It would be nice to be able to access table keys simply by column name (str), as passed in table.add_columns().

from textual.app import App
from textual.widgets import Header, Footer
from textual.widgets import DataTable


class TableTestApp(App):
    def compose(self):
        """Create child widgets for the app."""
        yield Header()
        yield DataTable(id='data_table')
        yield Footer()
    
    def on_mount(self):
        table: DataTable = self.query_one('#data_table', DataTable)
        table.cursor_type = 'row'
        keys = table.add_columns('Status', 'File', 'Log', 'Run')
        table.add_row('test', 'fn', 'log', 'run', key='test_key')
        
        # It's great to have this way of updates - via text column as key
        #table.update_cell('test_key', 'File', 'foo')
        
        # This works fine
        table.update_cell('test_key', keys[1], 'foo')


if __name__ == "__main__":
    #print("Hello world")
    app = TableTestApp()
    app.run()

To be added by @willmcgugan

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[TomJGooding]

I found this open issue while looking into a possible bug with update_cell.

If I've understood this #3196 (comment) correctly, the column key actually should not be inferred from the label?

If that's the case, I think the docs should clarify that the key that "will be generated for you" has nothing to do with the column label.