How to make a readable return of data - c++

Question

I read this article http://www.slideshare.net/redigon/refactoring-1658371
on page 53 it states that "You have a method that returns a value but also changes the state of the object. create two methods,one for the query and one for the modification.
But what if on the query I need the values of more than 1 field.
For example:
QSqlQuery query(QSqlDatabase::database("MAIN"));
QString command = "SELECT FIELD1, FIELD2, FIELD3, FIELD4, FIELD5 FROM TABLE";
query.exec( command );
This is the method I know but I really feel that this is not that readable
QString values;
columnDelimiter = "[!##]";
rowDelimiter = "[$%^]";
while( query.next )
{
values += query.value(0).toString() + columnDelimiter;
values += query.value(1).toString() + columnDelimiter;
values += query.value(2).toString() + columnDelimiter;
values += query.value(3).toString() + columnDelimiter;
values += rowDelimiter;
}
And I will retrive it like this.
QStringList rowValues, columnValues;
rowValues = values.split(rowDelimiter);
int rowCtr =0;
while( rowCtr < rowValues.count() )
{
columnValues.clear();
// Here i got the fields I need
columnValues = rowValues.at( rowCtr ).split( columnDelimiter );
// I will put the modification on variables here
rowCtr++;
}
EDIT: Is there a more readable way of doing this?

Answer 1

"Is there a more readable way of doing this?" is a subjective question. I'm not sure whether your question will last long on SO, as SO prefers factual problems and solutions.
What I personally think will make your code more readable, would be:
Use a custom made data structure for your data set. Strings are not the right data structures for tabulated data. Lists of custom made structs are better.
Example:
// data structure for a single row
struct MyRow {
QString a, b, c;
}
...
QList<MyRow> myDataSet;
while( query.next )
{
MyRow currentRow;
// fill with data
currentRow.a = query.value(0).toString();
currentRow.b = query.value(1).toString();
...
myDataSet.append(currentRow);
}
I doubt all your data is text. Some is probably numbers. Never store numbers as strings. That's inefficient.
You first read all data into a data structure, and then read the data structure to process it. Why don't you combine the two? I.e. process while reading the data, in the same while(...)
In your comment, you're confused by the difference between an enum and struct. I suggest, stop doing complex database and QT stuff. Grab a basic C++ book and try to understand C++ first.