Setters don't get called when I use view parameters - jsf

Question

I am using JSF 2.1.1. I have a sample JSF page that is used to post country comments. I use the f:viewparam tag to select country pages. Here is the code:
country.xhtml:
<f:metadata>
<f:viewParam name="country" value="#{countryBean2.selectedCountry}" converter="countryConverter" />
</f:metadata>
<h:head>
<title>Country</title>
</h:head>
<h:body>
<h:form id="form">
<h:outputText value="#{countryBean2.selectedCountry.countryName}" />
<br/><br/>
<h:outputText value="Comment:" />
<h:inputText value="#{countryBean2.comment}" />
<br/>
<h:commandButton value="Send">
<f:ajax listener="#{countryBean2.sendComment}" render="form" />
</h:commandButton>
</h:form>
</h:body>
CountryBean2.java:
#Named("countryBean2")
#SessionScoped
public class CountryBean2 implements Serializable {
private EntityCountry selectedCountry;
private String comment;
public EntityCountry getSelectedCountry() { return selectedCountry; }
public void setSelectedCountry(EntityCountry newValue) { selectedCountry = newValue; }
public String getComment() { return comment; }
public void setComment(String newValue) { comment = newValue; }
EntityManagerFactory emf = Persistence.createEntityManagerFactory("testPU");
public void sendComment() {
EntityManager em = emf.createEntityManager();
try {
FacesMessage msg = null;
EntityTransaction entr = em.getTransaction();
boolean committed = false;
entr.begin();
try {
EntityCountryComment c = new EntityCountryComment();
c.setCountry(selectedCountry);
c.setComment(comment);
em.persist(c);
committed = true;
msg = new FacesMessage();
msg.setSeverity(FacesMessage.SEVERITY_INFO);
msg.setSummary("Comment was sended");
} finally {
if (!committed) entr.rollback();
}
} finally {
em.close();
}
}
}
CountryConverter.java:
public class CountryConverter implements Converter {
public static EntityCountry country = new EntityCountry();
EntityManagerFactory emf = Persistence.createEntityManagerFactory("testPU");
#Override
public EntityCountry getAsObject(FacesContext context, UIComponent component, String value) {
EntityManager em = emf.createEntityManager();
Query query = em.createQuery("SELECT c FROM EntityCountry c WHERE c.countryName = :countryName")
.setParameter("countryName", value);
country = (EntityCountry) query.getSingleResult();
return country;
}
#Override
public String getAsString(FacesContext context, UIComponent component, Object value) {
EntityCountry c = (EntityCountry) value;
return c.getCountryName();
}
}
I can open a country pages successfully (for example http://localhost:8080/test/faces/country.xhtml?country=england), but when I try to post a comment using the commandButton, the setComment setter is not called and the comment variable remains null. I tried to set immediate="true" on both inputText and commandButton, it does not work.

Answer 1

The execute attribute of <f:ajax> defaults to #this, the current component. If you want to submit the entire form, then you need #form instead. Use this in the render as well.
<h:commandButton value="Send">
<f:ajax execute="#form" listener="#{countryBean2.sendComment}" render="#form" />
</h:commandButton>