private String getPreferenceKey() {
		String preferenceKey = table.getPreferenceKey();
		if (preferenceKey != null) {
			return preferenceKey;
		}
		TableModel tableModel = table.getModel();

		int columnCount = getDefaultColumnCount();
		StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer();
		buffer.append(getTableModelName());
		buffer.append(":");
		for (int i = 0; i < columnCount; i++) {
			String columnName = tableModel.getColumnName(i);
			buffer.append(columnName).append(":");
		}
		return buffer.toString();
	}
This method will return a string key that uniquely describes a table model and its
*default* columns (those initially added by the model) so that settings for column state
can be persisted and retrieved.
Ghidra/Framework/Docking/src/main/java/docking/widgets/table/TableColumnModelState.java