Try something like this. Use the data method of index. bool CustomProxyModel::filterAcceptsRow(int source_row, const QModelIndex &source_parent) const { const QModelIndex sourceIndex = sourceModel()->index(source_row, 0, source_parent); // Some how get the the role you require. const QString filterElement = sourceIndex.data(role).toString(); return(filterElement.toLower().startsWith(m_filterText)); }

That's a brilliant and elegant solution! Thank you bro for spending your precious time with a newbie like me!

@t3685 As stated in the OP, I know I can write specific getter/setter methods into my QAbstractItemModel subclasses. However, if that really was the only option then QML would be effectively useless for nontrivial data-driven applications as the data models cease to be a standard interface. @p3c0 Thanks, I hadn't thought of doing it that way. In Qt 5.4 you can do this if you set Q_INVOKABLE on QAbstractItemModel::index(int row, int column, const QModelIndex &parent) and QAbstractItemModel::data(const QModelIndex &index, int role) methods. I'm guessing this has been done for you in Qt 5.5. I have also found that in Qt 5.4 (and presumably 5.5) it's also possible to get there via a DelegateModel (often called a VisualDataModel in the documentation), as the DelegateModelGroup within that has a get(row) function that returns an Object through which you can access the data in the same way as in a QML Delegate. http://doc.qt.io/qt-5.4/qml-qtqml-models-delegatemodelgroup.html#get-method However, I haven't yet figured out when it reads the data from the underlying model. Thus, if the DelegateModel has only the default DelegateModelGroup: myDelegateModel.items.get(%row%).model.%role_name% In this, myDelegateModel is a DelegateModel object (which may also be used as the model in a ListView, GridView or PathView), %row% is the row number and %role_name% is the role. Set myDelegateModel.rootIndex to the appropriate parent QModelIndex. PS: $Deity the documentation is beyond awful. So many links straight back to exactly where you are masquerading as a link to what the thing is.