Tables and non-POJO lists

[Brawn Do]

Hi,

I've got a handle on dealing with POJO beans within my tables, but am unclear how to handle "simple" lists of primitive elements like strings. I  must be missing the boat on this.  With the code below I'm attempting to simply display the name "foo", but instead end up with a com.sun.webui.jsf.faces.DataProviderELResolver$ValueData toString()'d  Can anyone lend a hand (code below)?  Similar code works fine with POJO lists; e.g., where the name is a getter on a bean  #{mybeanwithanamegetter.value.name}

Thanks!

Table table = new Table();
table.setId("tbl");
TableRowGroup rowGroup = new TableRowGroup();
rowGroup.setId("rowGroup");
rowGroup.setSourceVar("name");
List<String> names = new LinkedList<String>();
names.add("foo");
ListDataProvider provider = new ListDataProvider (names);
rowGroup.setSourceData(provider);
TableColumn column = new TableColumn();
column.setId("col");
column.setHeaderText("Value");
StaticText nameText = new StaticText();
nameText.setId("nameText");
FacesContext context = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
nameText.setValueExpression("value",
  context.getApplication().getExpressionFactory().createValueExpression(context.getELContext(), "#{name.value}",String.class)

column.getChildren().add(nameText);
rowGroup.getChildren().add(column);
table.getChildren().add(rowGroup);

[Dan Labrecque]

"#{name.value}" is not the correct syntax for the StaticText component. The "name" keyword should not be a getter in your backing bean. It is a variable given to the sourceVar property of the TableRowGroup component. (It is used only in an EL expression as a pointer to the DataProvider.) In order for your EL expression to work property, you must also include a field key (e.g., "#{name.value.last}").

If you want examples of how to create a table dynamically, check out the TLD docs below. Specifically, example #2 of tableRowGroup.

    http://webdev2.sun.com/woodstock-tlddocs

The same "Dynamic Table" example can also be found in the Woodstock example app.

    http://webdev2.sun.com/example/faces/index.jsp

Dan

Brawn Do wrote:

Hi,

I've got a handle on dealing with POJO beans within my tables, but am unclear how to handle "simple" lists of primitive elements like strings. I  must be missing the boat on this.  With the code below I'm attempting to simply display the name "foo", but instead end up with a com.sun.webui.jsf.faces.DataProviderELResolver$ValueData toString()'d  Can anyone lend a hand (code below)?  Similar code works fine with POJO lists; e.g., where the name is a getter on a bean  #{mybeanwithanamegetter.value.name}

Thanks!

Table table = new Table();
table.setId("tbl");
TableRowGroup rowGroup = new TableRowGroup();
rowGroup.setId("rowGroup");
rowGroup.setSourceVar("name");
List<String> names = new LinkedList<String>();
names.add("foo");
ListDataProvider provider = new ListDataProvider (names);
rowGroup.setSourceData(provider);
TableColumn column = new TableColumn();
column.setId("col");
column.setHeaderText("Value");
StaticText nameText = new StaticText();
nameText.setId("nameText");
FacesContext context = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
nameText.setValueExpression("value",
  context.getApplication().getExpressionFactory().createValueExpression(context.getELContext(), "#{name.value}",String.class)

column.getChildren().add(nameText);
rowGroup.getChildren().add(column);
table.getChildren().add(rowGroup);

[Brawn Do]

Thanks for the response Dan.  I understand the name var is just a variable.  In my example, name is not a getter in the backing bean - it is simply the cursor/ref/var as shown in the code below.  The data contained within the list is a simple list of strings.  The fact that the data provider is just a list of strings as opposed to POJOs with accessors that can be referenced is the problem.  Since the value is just a string there's no field key - #{sourceVarName.value.????} therefore I am unable to get at the underlying value.  I'm guessing from your response that "simple" values have to be wrapped with a bean that exposes an accessor?


Example #2 creates a table with pojos in the provider i.e., Name objects with accessors (field keys) such as "first" and "last" and as such you can reference the dataprovider values with a fieldkey; e.g., #{sourceVarName.value.first}.  This works fine for me and I use the pattern regularly.  Again, the problem I have encountered is how to deal with "simple" values i.e., a ListDataProvider populated with Strings.  In the example I provided, the "names" list is just a list of strings.  I trust this clarifies my intent.


Thanks for your help!

On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 12:30 PM, Dan Labrecque <Dan.Labrecque@...> wrote:

"#{name.value}" is not the correct syntax for the StaticText component. The "name" keyword should not be a getter in your backing bean. It is a variable given to the sourceVar property of the TableRowGroup component. (It is used only in an EL expression as a pointer to the DataProvider.) In order for your EL expression to work property, you must also include a field key (e.g., "#{name.value.last}").

If you want examples of how to create a table dynamically, check out the TLD docs below. Specifically, example #2 of tableRowGroup.

    http://webdev2.sun.com/woodstock-tlddocs

The same "Dynamic Table" example can also be found in the Woodstock example app.

    http://webdev2.sun.com/example/faces/index.jsp

Dan

Brawn Do wrote:

Hi,

I've got a handle on dealing with POJO beans within my tables, but am unclear how to handle "simple" lists of primitive elements like strings. I  must be missing the boat on this.  With the code below I'm attempting to simply display the name "foo", but instead end up with a com.sun.webui.jsf.faces.DataProviderELResolver$ValueData toString()'d  Can anyone lend a hand (code below)?  Similar code works fine with POJO lists; e.g., where the name is a getter on a bean  #{mybeanwithanamegetter.value.name}

Thanks!

Table table = new Table();
table.setId("tbl");
TableRowGroup rowGroup = new TableRowGroup();
rowGroup.setId("rowGroup");
rowGroup.setSourceVar("name");
List<String> names = new LinkedList<String>();
names.add("foo");
ListDataProvider provider = new ListDataProvider (names);
rowGroup.setSourceData(provider);
TableColumn column = new TableColumn();
column.setId("col");
column.setHeaderText("Value");
StaticText nameText = new StaticText();
nameText.setId("nameText");
FacesContext context = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
nameText.setValueExpression("value",
  context.getApplication().getExpressionFactory().createValueExpression(context.getELContext(), "#{name.value}",String.class)

column.getChildren().add(nameText);
rowGroup.getChildren().add(column);
table.getChildren().add(rowGroup);

[Dan Labrecque]

If you do not provide a DataProvider, the table will create one underneath the covers. Although the table can accept an array, it must contain objects with getter methods. You cannot simply provide an array of strings because the property resolver expects a certain EL expression syntax.

Brawn Do wrote:

Thanks for the response Dan.  I understand the name var is just a variable.  In my example, name is not a getter in the backing bean - it is simply the cursor/ref/var as shown in the code below.  The data contained within the list is a simple list of strings.  The fact that the data provider is just a list of strings as opposed to POJOs with accessors that can be referenced is the problem.  Since the value is just a string there's no field key - #{sourceVarName.value.????} therefore I am unable to get at the underlying value.  I'm guessing from your response that "simple" values have to be wrapped with a bean that exposes an accessor?


Example #2 creates a table with pojos in the provider i.e., Name objects with accessors (field keys) such as "first" and "last" and as such you can reference the dataprovider values with a fieldkey; e.g., #{sourceVarName.value.first}.  This works fine for me and I use the pattern regularly.  Again, the problem I have encountered is how to deal with "simple" values i.e., a ListDataProvider populated with Strings.  In the example I provided, the "names" list is just a list of strings.  I trust this clarifies my intent.


Thanks for your help!

On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 12:30 PM, Dan Labrecque <Dan.Labrecque@...> wrote:

"#{name.value}" is not the correct syntax for the StaticText component. The "name" keyword should not be a getter in your backing bean. It is a variable given to the sourceVar property of the TableRowGroup component. (It is used only in an EL expression as a pointer to the DataProvider.) In order for your EL expression to work property, you must also include a field key (e.g., "#{name.value.last}").

If you want examples of how to create a table dynamically, check out the TLD docs below. Specifically, example #2 of tableRowGroup.

    http://webdev2.sun.com/woodstock-tlddocs

The same "Dynamic Table" example can also be found in the Woodstock example app.

    http://webdev2.sun.com/example/faces/index.jsp

Dan

Brawn Do wrote:

Hi,

I've got a handle on dealing with POJO beans within my tables, but am unclear how to handle "simple" lists of primitive elements like strings. I  must be missing the boat on this.  With the code below I'm attempting to simply display the name "foo", but instead end up with a com.sun.webui.jsf.faces.DataProviderELResolver$ValueData toString()'d  Can anyone lend a hand (code below)?  Similar code works fine with POJO lists; e.g., where the name is a getter on a bean  #{mybeanwithanamegetter.value.name}

Thanks!

Table table = new Table();
table.setId("tbl");
TableRowGroup rowGroup = new TableRowGroup();
rowGroup.setId("rowGroup");
rowGroup.setSourceVar("name");
List<String> names = new LinkedList<String>();
names.add("foo");
ListDataProvider provider = new ListDataProvider (names);
rowGroup.setSourceData(provider);
TableColumn column = new TableColumn();
column.setId("col");
column.setHeaderText("Value");
StaticText nameText = new StaticText();
nameText.setId("nameText");
FacesContext context = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();
nameText.setValueExpression("value",
  context.getApplication().getExpressionFactory().createValueExpression(context.getELContext(), "#{name.value}",String.class)

column.getChildren().add(nameText);
rowGroup.getChildren().add(column);
table.getChildren().add(rowGroup);