Sorry, really really basic question...
I've got a list of 'messageboard threads' that I display on a page. I want to be able to click on one of them and redirect to a page which displays the details for that thread. I'm struggling despite googling it for a while...
(I'm using PrimeFaces by the way)
Here's the relevant code from my 'list' page:
<p:commandLink value="#{thread.title}" action="#{messageboardBean.showThread()}">
<f:param name="threadId" value="#{thread.id}" />
</p:commandLink>
(it's in an h:form element)
This is part of my named bean (other methods work fine)
...
#ManagedProperty(value="#{param.threadId}")
private Long threadId;
...
public String showThread() {
System.out.println("id is " + getThreadId());
return "messageboard/list";
}
...
As you can see my method isn't implemented yet, but it's not even being called. Please can someone tell me why?
I tried with an h:link too by the way, same (or similar) problem.
Thanks!
UPDATE - Solved
Thanks to the help below, here is my solution (I've renamed 'messageboard' to 'discussion').
The link is generated using this code
value: what to display on the page, in my case the title of my discussion
outcome: refers to edit.xhtml, the faces file I want to go to
...and the [request] param is going to be called 'threadId' and has a value of the id attribute in my 'thread' object.
In the edit.xhtml page, I've got this
<f:metadata>
<f:viewParam name="threadId" value="#{viewDiscussionBean.threadId}" />
<f:event type="preRenderView" listener="#{viewDiscussionBean.loadDiscussion}" />
</f:metadata>
Note that 'threadId' is the same as the param name in the first page, and it is bound to my viewDiscussionBean's threadId property.
Then once the params are all set on my bean, I call the loadDiscussion method of my viewDiscussionBean. Since it now has the threadId property, it's able to do this (see below)
My viewDiscussionBean has the following managed property (I think the viewParam tag sets this, rather than the other way around).
#ManagedProperty(value="#{param.threadId}")
private Long threadId;
private Discussion thread;
So once that's set, this method is able to run (because it now has an ID)
public String loadDiscussion() {
thread = mbDao.find(threadId);
return "edit";
}
This just uses a DAO (using Hibernate) to look up the discussion thread with that ID, and set it in the bean. And then...
In my edit.xhtml page, I can access values in the discussion thread using things like
<h:outputText value="#{viewDiscussionBean.thread.message}" />
Voila! Thanks.
There are many possible caused for an UICommand action not being invoked. You can find them all here: commandButton/commandLink/ajax action/listener method not invoked or input value not updated Among others a missing form, a nested form, or a conversion/validation error elsewhere in the form, being in a datatable whose datamodel is not properly preserved, etcetera.
As to your particular functional requirement, better is to use a <h:link>. A command link issues a POST request which does in your particular case not end up with a bookmarkable URL with the thread ID in the URL. A <h:link> creates a fullworthy link which is bookmarkable and searchbot-indexable.
E.g.
<h:link value="#{thread.title}" outcome="messageboard/list">
<f:param name="threadId" value="#{thread.id}" />
</h:link>
This doesn't require a form nor an action method. You only need to move that #ManagedProperty to the bean associated with messageboard/list, or maybe replace it by <f:viewParam> in the messageboard/list view which allows for finer-grained validation/conversion.
See also:
Communication in JSF2 - Processing GET request parameters
When should I use h:outputLink instead of h:commandLink?
ViewParam vs #ManagedProperty(value = "#{param.id}")
Your best bet it probably to go with BalusC's answer and use <h:link>. However, I have some thoughts about the behavior you're seeing.
Primefaces <p:commandLink> (like <p:commandButton>) uses ajax by default. Therefore, there won't be any actual navigation resulting from returning an outcome from your action. This could make it look like your action isn't being invoked. Try adding ajax=false to your <p:commandLink>.
When using <h:link>, navigation is resolved when the link is rendered rather than when it's clicked. Modifying your example:
<h:link value="#{thread.title}" outcome="#{messageboardBean.showThread()}">
<f:param name="threadId" value="#{thread.id}" />
</h:link>
showThread() will be called (I think) when the view containing the link is being rendered. If you're not checking at the right time, this may also make it look like the method is being called.
In both cases, this doesn't explain why you wouldn't see the message to System.out at all, but I know I've tried that thinking it was fail-safe and still not seen the output, which all depends on your container, configuration, how you launched it, etc.
Related
My web application has two search pages - search1.jsf and search2.jsf - which share the same bean which in turn calls a result page - result.jsf.
So both search pages have a commandButton
<h:commandButton value="Commit" action="#{search.commit}" />
The "search" bean then processes the search and forwards to the result page using
target = "result?faces-redirect=true";
Now the result.jsf doesn't know which search page has been used. How can I pass the calling page so that the called page is able to render a link back to the calling page?
Using the browser back button (or Javascript code) to go back in the history has the disadvantage that the user, after browsing through the results, only would go back one page in the results instead of going 'up' to the search parameter form.
Options I see so far are:
pass the caller page name through the chain to the result page, using <f:param> or action="#{search.commit(name_of_calling_page)}
put all 'search parameter' forms in one JSF page and conditionally switch the content
Or is there a JSF functions which returns the name of the calling JSF page?
You're redirecting to the result page which suggests that you're using a session scoped bean to hold the results (a request/view scoped simply doesn't survive redirects). Ignoring the fact that this is a poor/odd approach, you could just store the search type in that bean as well?
Anyway, easiest and cleanest is to use a single master view with a single master view scoped bean and conditionally display search1.xhtml, search2.xhtml and results.xhtml using <ui:include> in the master view.
search.xhtml
<ui:fragment rendered="#{empty search.results}">
<ui:include src="/WEB-INF/search#{search.type}.xhtml" />
</ui:fragment>
<ui:fragment rendered="#{not empty search.results}">
<ui:include src="/WEB-INF/results.xhtml" />
</ui:fragment>
As long as you return void or null in action methods, the same view scoped bean will be retained on every subsequent (and non-redirected!) request. If you intend to make it a GET instead of POST (so that it's bookmarkable and back-button-navigable such as Google), then you should actually change the forms and view parameters to make it GET instead of POST.
I would like to basically do what Jason asked for here
In one sentence, I would like the url bar to represent the state of the AJAX application so that I can allow to bookmark it as well as allow the user to return to the previous state by using the back/forward buttons in the browser.
The difference for me (From what Jason asked) is that I am using JSF 2.0.
I've read that JSF 2.0 added the ability to use get, but I am not sure what the correct way to use this.
Thanks for the help.
Further Clarification
If I understand correctly, to be able to bookmark specific states in the AJAX webapp I will have to use the location.hash. Am I correct? I'm trying to achieve a gmail-like behaviour in the sense that, while the app is complete AJAXified and no redirects occur, I can still use Back/Forward and bookmark (And that's why I would like the URL bar to be updated from the AJAX app itself and not through redirection)
Update
Just found this similar question
The difference for me (From what Jason asked) is that I am using JSF 2.0. I've read that JSF 2.0 added the ability to use get, but I am not sure what the correct way to use this.
Please note that this is not the same as maintaining the Ajax state. It usually happens by fragment identifiers (the part starting with # in URL, also known as hashbang). JSF doesn't offer builtin components/functionality for this. As far I have also not seen a component library which does that. You may however find this answer useful to get started with a homegrown hash fragment processor in JSF.
As to using GET requests, just use <h:link>, <h:outputLink> or even <a> to create GET links. You can supply request parameters in the h: components by <f:param>. E.g.
<h:link value="Edit product" outcome="product/edit">
<f:param name="id" value="#{product.id}" />
</h:link>
In the product/edit.xhtml page you can define parameters to set and actions to execute upon a GET request
<f:metadata>
<f:viewParam name="id" value="#{productEditor.id}" />
<f:event type="preRenderView" listener="#{productEditor.init}" />
</f:metadata>
In the request or view scoped bean associated with product/edit.xhtml page -in this example #{productEditor}-, you just define the properties and the listener method. The listener method will be executed after all properties are been gathered, converted, validated and updated in the model.
private Long id;
private Product product;
public void init() {
product = productService.find(id);
}
Normally you'd use AJAX to prevent complete page refreshes. AFAIK all current browsers would issue a page refresh if you change the base uri. Thus you would have to use the hash part as suggested in the question you provided.
We had a similar problem and did something like this:
We settled for the fact that users cannot bookmark the url.
For URLs that should be unique/bookmarkable we used different links that issue a redirect. Those URLs are provided in a sitemap.
For browser back, we added an intermediate page after login. This page does navigation and a redirect to the application. The navigation is stored in the session and when the server gets a navigation request (which can be a history back) the corresponding state is restored. A browser back opens that intermediate page which issues a redirect along with a navigation request on the server side.
I'm getting deeper into JSF 2.0 at the moment and lacking a bit of understanding about the "transport" of managed bean properties from one view to the other. I searched a bit but haven't found a really good example, so if anyone could point me to a tutorial or explain the things a little bit I'd really grateful.
So here is my scenario:
I'm developing a small playground calendar application. The first view select.xhtml contains the calendar selector, where the user can pick a specific date:
<html>
...
<h:form>
<!-- Calendar selector from primefaces -->
<p:calendar value="#{calendarSelect.date}" mode="inline" navigator="true" />
<p:commandButton value="Show entries for date" action="day" />
...
My corresponding backing bean looks like this:
#ManagedBean(name="calendarSelect")
#RequestScoped
public class CalendarSelectComponent {
private Date date = null;
... // Getters and setters
Now when I submit the form from select.xhtml I'm forwarded to day.xhtml
<html>
...
<h:form>
The current day ist:
<h:outputText value="#{calendarEdit.date}">
<f:convertDateTime pattern="dd.MM.yyyy" />
</h:outputText>
The backing bean now looks like this:
#ManagedBean(name="calendarEdit")
#ViewScoped
public class CalendarEditComponent implements Serializable {
private Date date = null;
private CalendarEntryBean currentEntry = null;
private List<CalendarEntryBean> allEntries = null;
....
I am now trying to solve the problem: How do I transfer the date parameter from the selector to the editor?
I've tried a number of options, one was this:
<p:commandButton value="Show entries for date" action="day" />
<f:setPropertyActionListener target="#{calendarEdit.date}" value="#{calendarSelect.date}" />
</p:commandButton>
A debugger shows, that indeed, the date property of the calendarEdit is populated with the value from calendarSelect, but since day.xhtml is a new view, a new CalendarEditComponent backing bean is being created and not the one I've populated with the date from the selector in the select view.
I've read that one solution would be to create a SessionScoped backing bean that does retain all it's values. But this is not the way I think it's supposed to work, because I don't really need the information in the session, I simply want it to "travel" from A to B. Another downside with the session based approach is that I can only use one selector and one editor per session - which I think isn't acceptible if you think of multi window browsing and so on.
I really don't think I'm the first one encountering such a scenario and I'm sure that JSF provides an elegant solution for this but I haven't been able to find that solution.
So once again, if anyone knows how to approach this - I'm listening! ;-)
The <f:setPropertyActionListener> is executed during invoke action phase of the form submit. So it expects that the value is still there at that point. But since your select bean is request scoped, it isn't there during form submit anymore. You want instead to pass a request parameter which get inlined in the output during render response. You can do this with <f:param>.
<p:commandButton value="Show entries for date" action="day" />
<f:param name="date" value="#{calendarSelect.dateAsString}" />
</p:commandButton>
It'll be available as request parameter (note that it only understands Strings, due to the nature of HTTP). You could let JSF set request parameters as managed properties, but since your edit bean is view scoped, this isn't possible with #ManagedProperty. You've got to gather it yourself by ExternalContext.
String dateAsString = externalContext.getRequestParameterMap().get("date");
True, that's clumsy. I would just have used the same bean and view for this and toggle visibility of select/edit forms by rendered attribute. The edit view is after all not directly openable/bookmarkable by a simple GET, isn't it? ;)
I may be missing a couple of points, but I've hacked together a jsf/richfaces app and want to be able to do the simplest ajax-based nav:
main page contains ref to my backing bean's menu
<h:form>
<rich:dropDownMenu binding="#{PrismBacking.nodeMenu}" />
</h:form>
this refers to the code for the backing bean methods
this is my main page ajax panel
<rich:panel id="content">
<a4j:include viewId="#{PrismBacking.viewId}" />
</rich:panel>
i can't work out how to get the backing bean to use the selected item from the rich:dropDownMenu to update that which is returned by getViewId.
i guess:
1) i need to ensure the menu items in the getNodeMenu method have the right payload so setViewId is called with the correct String and my rich:panel id="content" is reRendered.
any pointers as to how to do this would be greatly appreciated.
mark
You are not setting the reRender attribute anywhere in your code (in the menu items) so the panel is not going to be updated after you select an item from the dropdown.
You also have to set the ajaxSubmit attribute en each menuItem to true in order to execute an ajax request. Also check that your listener is executed.
Take a look at the example http://livedemo.exadel.com/richfaces-demo/richfaces/dropDownMenu.jsf?c=dropDownMenu . You can download the code if you want from the richfaces site.
Using binding should be avoided if possible. Take a look at the RichFaces demo - there are source codes for each example, and see how it is achieved.
(This doesn't answer your question, and for better :) )
I'm somewhat confused about the lifecycle of ManagedBeans of type "request".
In this example i'm using one request bean "userBean" to fill this page and one request bean "userEditBean" to fill the following edit page.
<h:form>
<h:panelGrid border="1" columns="2">
<h:outputText value="Name" />
<h:outputText value="#{userBean.user.name}" />
...
</h:panelGrid>
<h:commandButton value="Edit" action="edit" actionListener="#{userEditBean.init}">
<f:attribute name="user" value="#{userBean.user}"/>
</h:commandButton>
</h:form>
When i press the Edit button a userEditBean is created but the attribute map resolves "user" to null.
Does this mean that the attribute EL is resolved after the userBean has already been destroyed? How can i pass values from incoming beans to outgoing beans?
You're setting the attribute value with an expression, not a static value. Whenever you request the value, the expression will be re-evaluated again. The userBean.user apparently isn't present in the subsequent request. You need to ensure that it is there (in other words, the constructor of the userBean should ensure that the user is been created and set.
There are however alternatives. One of the best is to use Tomahawk's <t:saveState> for that. Add it somewhere in the page:
<t:saveState value="#{userBean.user}" />
That said, I agree with Bozho that the whole approach is a bit strange, but that's another story. You may however get lot of useful ideas out either of the following articles: Communication in JSF and/or Using Datatables. Good luck.
request scope means the bean lives during one request. And you fill your edit page (1st request), and send the edited user (2nd request).
In addition to that, <f:attribute> sets tha attributes in the parent component, not in the request. So in your code the attributes will be found in the button.getAttributes() (if you have bound your button).
Furthermore, it is strange to have an actionListener method named init. Since you don't need the event, you can set the action to be the method which will do the editing operation, and make that method return the navigation-rule you want.