How to update a field using a converter and ajax in JSF - jsf

Question

I basically have two input field I display if the value is currently empty or null. if it is not, I display an outputText. Those two values are currency values stored in a Long object and I use a converter to display the data properly (I can't use PrimeFaces' inputNumber since I am using PrimeFaces 5.3). My problem is the following :
<c:set var="edtVal1" value="#{bean.val1 ne null and bean.val1 ne 0}" scope="request" />
<c:set var="edtVal2" value="#{bean.val2 ne null and bean.val2 ne 0}" scope="request" />
<p:panelGrid>
<p:row>
<p:column colspan="2">
<p:messages id="mainMessages" globalOnly="false" autoUpdate="true" showDetail="true" />
</p:column>
</p:row>
<!-- [...] -->
<p:row>
<p:column styleClass="col-quarter col-label2">
<h:outputText value="value 1" />
</p:column>
<p:column styleClass="col-quarter col-value2" rendered="#{edtVal1}">
<h:outputText id="val1Output" value="#{bean.val1}" converter="myConverter" />
</p:column>
<p:column styleClass="col-quarter" rendered="#{not edtVal1}">
<p:inputText id="val1Input" value="#{bean.val1}" converter="myConverter">
<p:ajax update="mainMessages val1Input" event="change" />
</p:inputText>
</p:column>
</p:row>
<p:row>
<p:column styleClass="col-quarter col-label2">
<h:outputText value="value 2" />
</p:column>
<p:column styleClass="col-quarter col-value2" rendered="#{edtVal2}">
<h:outputText id="val1Output" value="#{bean.val2}" converter="myConverter" />
</p:column>
<p:column styleClass="col-quarter" rendered="#{not edtVal2}">
<p:inputText id="val1Input" value="#{bean.val2}" converter="myConverter">
<p:ajax update="mainMessages val1Input" event="change" />
</p:inputText>
</p:column>
</p:row>
</p:panelGrid>
when I put it like this, the messages thrown by the converter are displayed, but none of the fields are updated. However, if I use the same boolean variable for both input/output options (changed the variable used in rendered attribute of the 1rst data row to use edtVal2 in both) like so :
<p:row>
<p:column styleClass="col-quarter col-label2">
<h:outputText value="value 1" />
</p:column>
<p:column styleClass="col-quarter col-value2" rendered="#{edtVal1}">
<h:outputText id="val1Output" value="#{bean.val1}" converter="myConverter" />
</p:column>
<p:column styleClass="col-quarter" rendered="#{not edtVal1}">
<p:inputText id="val1Input" value="#{bean.val1}" converter="myConverter">
<p:ajax update="mainMessages val1Input" event="change" />
</p:inputText>
</p:column>
</p:row>
The first field updates successfully and the second once still does not work.
Using a converter to display a formated data is a workaround I already done and it works just as expected and I use the same converter than before. But this time, I don't understand why it's not working.
The converter is important to reproduce the issue, but any custom converter seems to do the job.

Answer 1

Any other solutions are still welcome on this post, but I managed to find a working solution :
when I changed the rendered attribute to a constant string, the issue was absent. So I think the problem comes from a misunderstanding of <c:set>.
My solution was to use a the bean as a controller. I changed the variables from the xhtml file to properties in the controller and now everything works fine. So I removed all <c:set> from my xhtml and use a proper MVC pattern on that page now.
Note :
For those who don't know what MVC is : it's a neat architectural pattern that divides clearly the user interface and manipulated data. Learn more on wikipedia.