Best solution to pass objects between two ViewScoped ManagedBeans - jsf

I'm wondering what the best practices are to pass data (an object) between two ViewScoped beans.
They need to be view scoped because of the problem that's brilliantly explained here (to put it short: In both views I'm using a h:commandLink from within a h:dataTable which requires the data model to still be present when submitting).
My problem now is that clicking the link also navigates to a new view, so using the following code, my object gets passed but the DetailViewController instance gets killed right after that and a new one is created when the view changes (as you would expect).
View:
<h:dataTable value="#{searchController.dataModel}" var="item">
...
<h:column>
<f:facet name="header">Action</f:facet>
<h:commandLink id="open" value="open" action="#{searchController.showDetail(item)}" />
</h:column>
</h:dataTable>
Bean:
#ManagedBean
#ViewScoped
public class SearchController {
#ManagedProperty(value="#{detailViewController}")
private DetailViewController detailViewController;
// getters, setters, etc. ...
public String showDetail(Item i) {
detailViewController.setItem(i);
return "view_detail.xhtml";
}
}
How would you solve this? I thought about putting the object inside Flash: FacesContext.getExternalContext.getFlash()... Is there an easier or more elegant solution?

You can use view parameters. (See How do you pass view parameters when navigating from an action in JSF2?)
Typically, your method return the url with query parameters:
public String showDetail(Item i) {
return "view_detail.xhtml?id="+i.getId();
}
And in your view_detail.xhtml file, you add a f:viewParam tag evaluating to on of your bean field:
<f:metadata>
<f:viewParam name="id" value="#{myBean.id}" />
</f:metadata>
Then from your backing bean, you use that field to get your Item instance in your #postConstruct method.
If you don't use the f:viewparam tag, you can also fetch the request parameters to obtain the id.
private String id;
private Item item;
#PostConstruct
public void init() {
if (id != null) {
item = fetchItem(id);
} else {
FacesContext facesContext = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
ExternalContext externalContext = facesContext.getExternalContext();
Map<String, String> requestParameterMap = externalContext.getRequestParameterMap();
if (requestParameters.containsKey("id")) {
id = requestParameters.get("id");
item = fetchItem(id);
} else {
throw new WebServiceException("No item id in request parameters");
}
}
}

Related

how to get the value of h:outputtext inside ui repeat using command button jsf primefaces? [duplicate]

I have started learning JSF, but sadly most tutorials out there present only a log in or a register section.
Can you point me to some more in depth examples? One thing I'm interested in is a page presenting a list of products. I'm on page home and I press on page products so that I can see the latest products added. And every time I visit the page, the product list will be created from the latest entries in the database. How can I handle this?
One way to solve this would be to create a session scoped managed bean in which I would place different entities updated through other managed beans. I found this kind of approach in some tutorials, but it seems quite difficult and clumsy.
Which would be the best approach to solve a thing like this? What is the correct usage of session scope in two-page master-detail user interface?
What is the correct usage of session scope
Use it for session scoped data only, nothing else. For example, the logged-in user, its settings, the chosen language, etcetera.
See also:
How to choose the right bean scope?
And every time I visit the page, the product list will be created from the latest entries in the database. How can I handle this?
Typically you use the request or view scope for it. Loading of the list should happen in a #PostConstruct method. If the page doesn't contain any <h:form>, then the request scope is fine. A view scoped bean would behave like a request scoped when there's no <h:form> anyway.
All "view product" and "edit product" links/buttons which just retrieve information (i.e. idempotent) whould be just plain GET <h:link> / <h:button> wherein you pass the entity identifier as a request parameter by <f:param>.
All "delete product" and "save product" links/buttons which will manipulate information (i.e. non-idempotent) should perform POST by <h:commandLink>/<h:commandButton> (you don't want them to be bookmarkable/searchbot-indexable!). This in turn requires a <h:form>. In order to preserve the data for validations and ajax requests (so that you don't need to reload/preinitialize the entity on every request), the bean should preferably be view scoped.
Note that you should basically have a separate bean for each view and also note that those beans doesn't necessarily need to reference each other.
So, given this "product" entity:
#Entity
public class Product {
#Id
private Long id;
private String name;
private String description;
// ...
}
And this "product service" EJB:
#Stateless
public class ProductService {
#PersistenceContext
private EntityManager em;
public Product find(Long id) {
return em.find(Product.class, id);
}
public List<Product> list() {
return em.createQuery("SELECT p FROM Product p", Product.class).getResultList();
}
public void create(Product product) {
em.persist(product);
}
public void update(Product product) {
em.merge(product);
}
public void delete(Product product) {
em.remove(em.contains(product) ? product : em.merge(product));
}
// ...
}
You can have this "view products" on /products.xhtml:
<h:dataTable value="#{viewProducts.products}" var="product">
<h:column>#{product.id}</h:column>
<h:column>#{product.name}</h:column>
<h:column>#{product.description}</h:column>
<h:column>
<h:link value="Edit" outcome="/products/edit">
<f:param name="id" value="#{product.id}" />
</h:link>
</h:column>
</h:dataTable>
#Named
#RequestScoped
public class ViewProducts {
private List<Product> products; // +getter
#EJB
private ProductService productService;
#PostConstruct
public void init() {
products = productService.list();
}
// ...
}
And you can have this "edit product" on /products/edit.xhtml:
<f:metadata>
<f:viewParam name="id" value="#{editProduct.product}"
converter="#{productConverter}" converterMessage="Unknown product, please use a link from within the system."
required="true" requiredMessage="Bad request, please use a link from within the system."
/>
</f:metadata>
<h:messages />
<h:form rendered="#{not empty editProduct.product}>
<h:inputText value="#{editProduct.product.name}" />
<h:inputTextarea value="#{editProduct.product.description}" />
...
<h:commandButton value="save" action="#{editProduct.save}" />
</h:form>
#Named
#ViewScoped
public class EditProduct {
private Product product; // +getter +setter
#EJB
private ProductService productService;
public String save() {
productService.update(product);
return "/products?faces-redirect=true";
}
// ...
}
And this converter for <f:viewParam> of "edit product":
#Named
#RequestScoped
public class ProductConverter implements Converter {
#EJB
private ProductService productService;
#Override
public Object getAsObject(FacesContext context, UIComponent component, String value) {
if (value == null || value.isEmpty()) {
return null;
}
try {
Long id = Long.valueOf(value);
return productService.find(id);
} catch (NumberFormatException e) {
throw new ConverterException("The value is not a valid Product ID: " + value, e);
}
}
#Override
public String getAsString(FacesContext context, UIComponent component, Object value) {
if (value == null) {
return "";
}
if (value instanceof Product) {
Long id = ((Product) value).getId();
return (id != null) ? String.valueOf(id) : null;
} else {
throw new ConverterException("The value is not a valid Product instance: " + value);
}
}
}
You can even use a generic converter, this is explained in Implement converters for entities with Java Generics.
See also:
How to navigate in JSF? How to make URL reflect current page (and not previous one)
JSF Controller, Service and DAO
JSF Service Layer
How to inject #EJB, #PersistenceContext, #Inject, #Autowired, etc in #FacesConverter?
Communication in JSF 2.0 - Contains several examples/hints
As a small improvement to what BalusC recommended, sometimes you can remove the required / requiredMessage part from the <f:viewParam> of your "details" screen and instead use the conditional rendering of the editing form (as BalusC did) with a reverse condition for recommending a specific link for the "list/master" screen or, even use a viewAction that would test the param and force a redirect to that list.

maintain session between two pages in jsf using viewscoped [duplicate]

I have started learning JSF, but sadly most tutorials out there present only a log in or a register section.
Can you point me to some more in depth examples? One thing I'm interested in is a page presenting a list of products. I'm on page home and I press on page products so that I can see the latest products added. And every time I visit the page, the product list will be created from the latest entries in the database. How can I handle this?
One way to solve this would be to create a session scoped managed bean in which I would place different entities updated through other managed beans. I found this kind of approach in some tutorials, but it seems quite difficult and clumsy.
Which would be the best approach to solve a thing like this? What is the correct usage of session scope in two-page master-detail user interface?
What is the correct usage of session scope
Use it for session scoped data only, nothing else. For example, the logged-in user, its settings, the chosen language, etcetera.
See also:
How to choose the right bean scope?
And every time I visit the page, the product list will be created from the latest entries in the database. How can I handle this?
Typically you use the request or view scope for it. Loading of the list should happen in a #PostConstruct method. If the page doesn't contain any <h:form>, then the request scope is fine. A view scoped bean would behave like a request scoped when there's no <h:form> anyway.
All "view product" and "edit product" links/buttons which just retrieve information (i.e. idempotent) whould be just plain GET <h:link> / <h:button> wherein you pass the entity identifier as a request parameter by <f:param>.
All "delete product" and "save product" links/buttons which will manipulate information (i.e. non-idempotent) should perform POST by <h:commandLink>/<h:commandButton> (you don't want them to be bookmarkable/searchbot-indexable!). This in turn requires a <h:form>. In order to preserve the data for validations and ajax requests (so that you don't need to reload/preinitialize the entity on every request), the bean should preferably be view scoped.
Note that you should basically have a separate bean for each view and also note that those beans doesn't necessarily need to reference each other.
So, given this "product" entity:
#Entity
public class Product {
#Id
private Long id;
private String name;
private String description;
// ...
}
And this "product service" EJB:
#Stateless
public class ProductService {
#PersistenceContext
private EntityManager em;
public Product find(Long id) {
return em.find(Product.class, id);
}
public List<Product> list() {
return em.createQuery("SELECT p FROM Product p", Product.class).getResultList();
}
public void create(Product product) {
em.persist(product);
}
public void update(Product product) {
em.merge(product);
}
public void delete(Product product) {
em.remove(em.contains(product) ? product : em.merge(product));
}
// ...
}
You can have this "view products" on /products.xhtml:
<h:dataTable value="#{viewProducts.products}" var="product">
<h:column>#{product.id}</h:column>
<h:column>#{product.name}</h:column>
<h:column>#{product.description}</h:column>
<h:column>
<h:link value="Edit" outcome="/products/edit">
<f:param name="id" value="#{product.id}" />
</h:link>
</h:column>
</h:dataTable>
#Named
#RequestScoped
public class ViewProducts {
private List<Product> products; // +getter
#EJB
private ProductService productService;
#PostConstruct
public void init() {
products = productService.list();
}
// ...
}
And you can have this "edit product" on /products/edit.xhtml:
<f:metadata>
<f:viewParam name="id" value="#{editProduct.product}"
converter="#{productConverter}" converterMessage="Unknown product, please use a link from within the system."
required="true" requiredMessage="Bad request, please use a link from within the system."
/>
</f:metadata>
<h:messages />
<h:form rendered="#{not empty editProduct.product}>
<h:inputText value="#{editProduct.product.name}" />
<h:inputTextarea value="#{editProduct.product.description}" />
...
<h:commandButton value="save" action="#{editProduct.save}" />
</h:form>
#Named
#ViewScoped
public class EditProduct {
private Product product; // +getter +setter
#EJB
private ProductService productService;
public String save() {
productService.update(product);
return "/products?faces-redirect=true";
}
// ...
}
And this converter for <f:viewParam> of "edit product":
#Named
#RequestScoped
public class ProductConverter implements Converter {
#EJB
private ProductService productService;
#Override
public Object getAsObject(FacesContext context, UIComponent component, String value) {
if (value == null || value.isEmpty()) {
return null;
}
try {
Long id = Long.valueOf(value);
return productService.find(id);
} catch (NumberFormatException e) {
throw new ConverterException("The value is not a valid Product ID: " + value, e);
}
}
#Override
public String getAsString(FacesContext context, UIComponent component, Object value) {
if (value == null) {
return "";
}
if (value instanceof Product) {
Long id = ((Product) value).getId();
return (id != null) ? String.valueOf(id) : null;
} else {
throw new ConverterException("The value is not a valid Product instance: " + value);
}
}
}
You can even use a generic converter, this is explained in Implement converters for entities with Java Generics.
See also:
How to navigate in JSF? How to make URL reflect current page (and not previous one)
JSF Controller, Service and DAO
JSF Service Layer
How to inject #EJB, #PersistenceContext, #Inject, #Autowired, etc in #FacesConverter?
Communication in JSF 2.0 - Contains several examples/hints
As a small improvement to what BalusC recommended, sometimes you can remove the required / requiredMessage part from the <f:viewParam> of your "details" screen and instead use the conditional rendering of the editing form (as BalusC did) with a reverse condition for recommending a specific link for the "list/master" screen or, even use a viewAction that would test the param and force a redirect to that list.

How to keep entity up to date after saving changes in managed bean

Let's assume a simple Jsf example with a xhtml page, a ManagedBean, a service and an JPA entityClass. I have a lot of usecases with the following structure:
Hold an entity in my bean
Do actions on the entity
Do rendering on the updated entity
Some easy example, so everyone will understand
Entity:
public class Entity {
private long id;
private boolean value;
...
// Getter and Setter
}
Dao:
public class EntityService {
// Entity Manger em and other stuff
public void enableEntity(long id) {
Entity e = em.find(id);
e.value = true;
em.persist(e);
}
}
Managed Bean:
#ManagedBean
#RequestScoped/ViewScoped
public class EntityBean() {
#EJB
private EntityService entityService;
private Entity entity;
#PostConstruct
public void init() {
// here i fetch the data, to provide it for the getters and setters
entity = entityService.fetchEntity();
}
public void enableEntity() {
entityService.enableEntity(entity.getId);
}
// Getter and Setter
}
and finally a simple xhtml:
<html>
// bla bla bla
<h:panelGroup id="parent">
<h:panelGroup id="disabled" rendered="#{not EntityBean.entity.value}>
<p:commandButton value="action" action="#{EntityBean.enableEntity}" update="parent" />
</h:panelGroup>
<h:panelGroup id="enabled" rendered="#{EntityBean.entity.value}>
// other stuff that should become visible
</h:panelGroup>
</h:panelGroup>
</html>
What i want to achieve:
Always show the up to date entity in every request!
What i already tried
I tried with a dao-fetch in my getter. But you can read everywhere that this is bad practice, because jsf will call the getter more than once (but for now the only way i can keep them really up to date).
I tried RequestScoped Beans. But the Bean will be created before the action is done, and is not recreated on the update call and the value will be outdated (Makes sense, since this is one request, and the request starts with the click on the button).
I tried ViewScoped Beans and added an empty String return value to my method. My hope was, that this redirection will recreate the Bean after the action was processed. But this was not the case.
I tried to call the refetch function manually after every method i used. But I have some cross bean actions on the same entity (My real entities are way more complex than this example). So the different Beans do not always know, if and when the entity has changed.
My Questions:
Can this be done with any kind of Scope? Let's say that every request will fetch the data from my PostConstruct again.
There must be a better solution than the dao-fetch in the getter method
This seems to be a fundamental problem for me, because getting the up to date data is essential for my app (data is changed often).
Using Primefaces 6.1 and Wildfly 10.x
What do you think about this?
A request scoped bean which will be created for update, too and does only one fetchEntity() per request.
<f:metadata>
<f:viewAction action="#{entityBean.load()}" onPostback="true"/>
</f:metadata>
#ManagedBean
#RequestScoped
public class EntityBean() {
#EJB
private EntityService entityService;
private Entity entity = null;
public void load() {}
public Entity getEntity() {
if(entity == null) {
entity = entityService.fetchEntity();
}
return entity;
}
public void enableEntity() {
entityService.enableEntity(getEntity().getId);
}
// Getter and Setter
}

JSF pass parameters between pages without backend bean [duplicate]

I have started learning JSF, but sadly most tutorials out there present only a log in or a register section.
Can you point me to some more in depth examples? One thing I'm interested in is a page presenting a list of products. I'm on page home and I press on page products so that I can see the latest products added. And every time I visit the page, the product list will be created from the latest entries in the database. How can I handle this?
One way to solve this would be to create a session scoped managed bean in which I would place different entities updated through other managed beans. I found this kind of approach in some tutorials, but it seems quite difficult and clumsy.
Which would be the best approach to solve a thing like this? What is the correct usage of session scope in two-page master-detail user interface?
What is the correct usage of session scope
Use it for session scoped data only, nothing else. For example, the logged-in user, its settings, the chosen language, etcetera.
See also:
How to choose the right bean scope?
And every time I visit the page, the product list will be created from the latest entries in the database. How can I handle this?
Typically you use the request or view scope for it. Loading of the list should happen in a #PostConstruct method. If the page doesn't contain any <h:form>, then the request scope is fine. A view scoped bean would behave like a request scoped when there's no <h:form> anyway.
All "view product" and "edit product" links/buttons which just retrieve information (i.e. idempotent) whould be just plain GET <h:link> / <h:button> wherein you pass the entity identifier as a request parameter by <f:param>.
All "delete product" and "save product" links/buttons which will manipulate information (i.e. non-idempotent) should perform POST by <h:commandLink>/<h:commandButton> (you don't want them to be bookmarkable/searchbot-indexable!). This in turn requires a <h:form>. In order to preserve the data for validations and ajax requests (so that you don't need to reload/preinitialize the entity on every request), the bean should preferably be view scoped.
Note that you should basically have a separate bean for each view and also note that those beans doesn't necessarily need to reference each other.
So, given this "product" entity:
#Entity
public class Product {
#Id
private Long id;
private String name;
private String description;
// ...
}
And this "product service" EJB:
#Stateless
public class ProductService {
#PersistenceContext
private EntityManager em;
public Product find(Long id) {
return em.find(Product.class, id);
}
public List<Product> list() {
return em.createQuery("SELECT p FROM Product p", Product.class).getResultList();
}
public void create(Product product) {
em.persist(product);
}
public void update(Product product) {
em.merge(product);
}
public void delete(Product product) {
em.remove(em.contains(product) ? product : em.merge(product));
}
// ...
}
You can have this "view products" on /products.xhtml:
<h:dataTable value="#{viewProducts.products}" var="product">
<h:column>#{product.id}</h:column>
<h:column>#{product.name}</h:column>
<h:column>#{product.description}</h:column>
<h:column>
<h:link value="Edit" outcome="/products/edit">
<f:param name="id" value="#{product.id}" />
</h:link>
</h:column>
</h:dataTable>
#Named
#RequestScoped
public class ViewProducts {
private List<Product> products; // +getter
#EJB
private ProductService productService;
#PostConstruct
public void init() {
products = productService.list();
}
// ...
}
And you can have this "edit product" on /products/edit.xhtml:
<f:metadata>
<f:viewParam name="id" value="#{editProduct.product}"
converter="#{productConverter}" converterMessage="Unknown product, please use a link from within the system."
required="true" requiredMessage="Bad request, please use a link from within the system."
/>
</f:metadata>
<h:messages />
<h:form rendered="#{not empty editProduct.product}>
<h:inputText value="#{editProduct.product.name}" />
<h:inputTextarea value="#{editProduct.product.description}" />
...
<h:commandButton value="save" action="#{editProduct.save}" />
</h:form>
#Named
#ViewScoped
public class EditProduct {
private Product product; // +getter +setter
#EJB
private ProductService productService;
public String save() {
productService.update(product);
return "/products?faces-redirect=true";
}
// ...
}
And this converter for <f:viewParam> of "edit product":
#Named
#RequestScoped
public class ProductConverter implements Converter {
#EJB
private ProductService productService;
#Override
public Object getAsObject(FacesContext context, UIComponent component, String value) {
if (value == null || value.isEmpty()) {
return null;
}
try {
Long id = Long.valueOf(value);
return productService.find(id);
} catch (NumberFormatException e) {
throw new ConverterException("The value is not a valid Product ID: " + value, e);
}
}
#Override
public String getAsString(FacesContext context, UIComponent component, Object value) {
if (value == null) {
return "";
}
if (value instanceof Product) {
Long id = ((Product) value).getId();
return (id != null) ? String.valueOf(id) : null;
} else {
throw new ConverterException("The value is not a valid Product instance: " + value);
}
}
}
You can even use a generic converter, this is explained in Implement converters for entities with Java Generics.
See also:
How to navigate in JSF? How to make URL reflect current page (and not previous one)
JSF Controller, Service and DAO
JSF Service Layer
How to inject #EJB, #PersistenceContext, #Inject, #Autowired, etc in #FacesConverter?
Communication in JSF 2.0 - Contains several examples/hints
As a small improvement to what BalusC recommended, sometimes you can remove the required / requiredMessage part from the <f:viewParam> of your "details" screen and instead use the conditional rendering of the editing form (as BalusC did) with a reverse condition for recommending a specific link for the "list/master" screen or, even use a viewAction that would test the param and force a redirect to that list.

Values of h:inputText inside ui:repeat are not processed

I want to process this form (valueChangueListener is not valid in real case).
This is the back bean:
public class TestBean extends PrivateBaseBean implements Serializable {
private List<String> strings;
#PostConstruct
public void init() {
strings = new ArrayList<String>();
strings.add("");
strings.add("");
strings.add("");
}
public void saveAction(ActionEvent event) {
StringBuilder textToShowInMessage = new StringBuilder();
for (String string : strings) {
textToShowInMessage.append(string);
textToShowInMessage.append("; ");
}
FacesMessage msg = new FacesMessage(super.getBundle().getString(
textToShowInMessage.toString()), "");
FacesContext.getCurrentInstance().addMessage(null, msg);
}
getters... setters...
An the view:
....
<h:form>
<ui:repeat var="string" value="#{testBean.strings}">
<h:inputText value="#{string}" />
<br />
</ui:repeat>
<p:commandButton value="#{msg.save}"
actionListener="#{testBean.saveAction}" icon="ui-icon-disk"
update="#form" />
</h:form>
...
When the form is processed in the back bean string list always is blank.
How to process form intput's inside iteration, without any value changue listener?
There are some screenshots:
The same problem occurs with action or actionListener on
Your problem is not connected with PrimeFaces <p:commandButton>'s behaviour, but rather with a scoping problem that is implicilty created when using the <ui:repeat> tag.
First of all, let's depart from your example. Basically, you've got
<ui:repeat value="#{bean.strings}" var="s">
<h:inputText value="#{s}"/>
</ui:repeat>
with the backing List<String> strings.
The culprit is here: value="#{s}". The exported by <ui:repeat> variable s is visible only within its loop and it is not bound to any managed bean's property, but instead only to a local variable. Put it differently, s is not bound/equal to bean.strings[index] as one would expect and has no knowledge, as we see, where it originated from. So basically, you're off with a unilateral relationship: value from the bean is printed in your input properly, but the reverse is not happening.
The workarounds
Workaround #1: wrapper classes / model objects
The situation can be overcome by using a wrapper object for your class. In case of a string it could be a 'simple mutable string', like below:
public class MString {
private String string;//getter+setter+constructor
}
In this case the iteration will be working as predicted:
<ui:repeat value="#{bean.mstrings}" var="ms">
<h:inputText value="#{ms.string}"/>
</ui:repeat>
with the backing List<MString> mstrings.
Note that if you have your model class, like User, and will change its properties within <ui:repeat> the class itself will be effectively a wrapper, so that the properties will be set appropriately.
Workaround #2: chained property access
Another workaround consists of accessing an element of your collection directly from within a <h:inputText> tag. This way, any such property will be set by accessing the bean, then collection, then setting the property at the desired index. Excessively long, but that's how it is. As to the how question, <ui:repeat> provides for an exported current iteration status variable, varStatus, that will be used to access the array/collection in the managed bean.
In this case the iteration will also be working as predicted:
<ui:repeat value="#{bean.strings}" var="s" varStatus="status">
<h:inputText value="#{bean.strings[status.index]}"/>
</ui:repeat>
with the ordinary backing List<String> strings.
My workaround solution take the value directly from the page:
<ui:repeat id="repeat" value="#{bean.strings}" var="s" varStatus="status">
<h:inputText id="x" value="#{s.field}"/>
<h:commandLink style="margin: .5em 0" styleClass="commandLink" actionListener="#{bean.save(status.index)}" value="#{bundle.Send}"/>
</ui:repeat>
The save method:
public void save(String rowid) {
String jsParam = Util.getJsParam("repeat:" + rowid + ":x");
System.out.println("jsParam: " + jsParam); //persist...
}
The getJsParam method:
public static String getJsParam(String paramName) {
javax.faces.context.FacesContext jsf = javax.faces.context.FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
Map<String, String> requestParameterMap = jsf.getExternalContext().getRequestParameterMap();
String paramValue = requestParameterMap.get(paramName);
if (paramValue != null) {
paramValue = paramValue.trim();
if (paramValue.length() == 0) {
paramValue = null;
}
}
return paramValue;
}

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