How to maintain/save row values when generating a new row? - jsf

Question

i have the following bean:
public class MyBean {
public ArrayList<ReportRow> getReportRows()
{
return reportRows;
}
private final ArrayList<ReportRow> reportRows =
new ArrayList<ReportRow>(Arrays.asList(
new ReportRow("","")
));
public ArrayList<ReportRow> getOrderList() {
return reportRows;
}
public String addAction() {
ReportRow row = new ReportRow("", "");
reportRows.add(row);
return null;
}
public class ReportRow{
String reportColumnName;
String reportColumnDesc;
public ReportRow(String reportColumnName,String reportColumnDesc) {
this.reportColumnName=reportColumnName;
this.reportColumnDesc=reportColumnDesc;
}
public String getReportColumnName()
{
return reportColumnName;
}
public void setReportColumnName(String reportColumnName)
{
this.reportColumnName = reportColumnName;
}
public String getReportColumnDesc()
{
return reportColumnDesc;
}
public void setReportColumnDesc(String reportColumnDesc)
{
this.reportColumnDesc = reportColumnDesc;
}
}
}
jsf page:
<t:dataTable value="#{myBean.reportRows}" var="o"
id="reportColumnsTable" styleClass="standardTable" headerClass="standardTable_Header"
rowStyleClass="#{myBean.viewDelayedRsd}"
>
<h:column>
<t:outputLabel value="Column name:"></t:outputLabel>
<t:inputText id="ReportColumnName" value="#{o.reportColumnName}" required="true">
</t:inputText>
</h:column>
<h:column>
<t:outputLabel value="Column Desc:"></t:outputLabel>
<t:inputText id="ReportColumnDesc" value="#{o.reportColumnDesc}" >
</t:inputText>
</h:column>
<h:column>
<h:outputLink value="#add"><h:outputText value="Add"/>
<a4j:support ajaxSingle="true" event="onclick" action="#{rprtBean.addAction}"
reRender="reportColumnsTable,msgPanel" />
</h:outputLink>
</h:column>
</t:dataTable>
problem is that when i click on add, it generates a new row, and clear the old one, and i want to maintain the values of old row, any ideas ?

Answer 1

You're using a <h:outputLink> instead of a <h:commandLink>. The <h:outputLink> doesn't submit the form at all, it fires a plain GET request. The <a4j:support> won't work properly inside a <h:outputLink>. Replace it by a <h:commandLink>:
<h:commandLink value="Add" action="#{rprtBean.addAction}">
<a4j:support reRender="reportColumnsTable,msgPanel" ajaxSingle="true" />
</h:commandLink>
Then, you need to ensure that you preserve the data model for subsequent request in case that your bean is request scoped. There are several ways to achieve this:
Set either Tomahawk datatable's preserveDataModel to true:
<t:dataTable preserveDataModel="true">
Or save the bean state in the view scope. Add the following tag somewhere in the page:
<t:saveState value="#{myBean}" />
or since you're also using RichFaces/Ajax4jsf:
<a4j:keepAlive beanName="myBean" />

Answer 2

i just used the a4j command link and everything worked fine.