selectBooleanCheckbox doesn't initiate viewstate id

Question

I have a backing bean which is ViewScoped. I have some ajax enabled SelectBooleanCheckboxes in a form. Example:

<p:selectBooleanCheckbox value="#{formBean.value2}">  
    <p:ajax update=":theform"/>  
</p:selectBooleanCheckbox>

Normally, some hidden input fields should be in the html to pass through the viewstate id. The problem is that those don't get initiated on the first page request. When I click one of the checkboxes, the form (and thus the checkboxes) get refreshed. From this moment the view state id is being sent with those checkboxes so the viewstate can be preserved.

The biggest problem in this is that on the first ajax call a set of new ViewScoped beans is initiated and so I lose data about the first action. From then on everything seems to work properly.

Can anyone give me any directions on what might be the problem?

The exact code:

        <p:panel header="Schedule" toggleable="true">
            <form>
                <p:outputPanel id="schedule">
                    <ui:repeat var="scheduleDay" value="#{jobBean.jobScheduleDays}">
                        <div>
                            <p:selectBooleanCheckbox value="#{scheduleDay.selected}" style="margin:4px">
                                <p:ajax update=":schedule" />
                            </p:selectBooleanCheckbox>
                            <h:outputText value="#{scheduleDay.readableDay}" style="text-transform:capitalize"/>
                        </div>
                    </ui:repeat>
                </p:outputPanel>
            </form>
        </p:panel>

Is a parent component of the form in question been rendered by another ajax request beforehand? If so, then your problem matches point 7 of http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2118656/hcommandlink-hcommandbutton-is-not-being-invoked/2120183#2120183 Please note that this concrete problem is completely unrelated to the checkbox, you'd have had exactly the same problem when using e.g. `` instead. — BalusC, May 28 '13 at 13:51
No, that's not the case. I've added my code to the initial post. The fix you were pointing to doesn't help me right away. I can't find how to set the render attribute (I think it's not available?). — ChristopherS, May 28 '13 at 14:29
Thus, you're using a plain HTML `
` instead of the JSF ``, contradicting point 1 of that list? — BalusC, May 28 '13 at 14:34
Oh yes, that caused the problem. Other parts of the page just worked perfectly so I went through everything what could possibly cause it. I just kept overlooking this. Many thanks! — ChristopherS, May 28 '13 at 14:45

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered May 28 '13 at 14:51

Your problem is caused by using plain HTML <form> instead of JSF <h:form>. The <h:form> will not only generate the right HTML <form> element with the proper method and action URL set, but it also takes care of generating two additional hidden fields identifying the form being submitted and the JSF view state identifier.

E.g.

<h:form id="foo">

generates

<form id="foo" name="foo" action="ViewHandler#getActionURL()" method="post">
    <input type="hidden" name="foo" value="foo" />
    <input type="hidden" name="javax.faces.ViewState" value="..." />

(the form action URL is filled with result of ViewHandler#getActionURL())

That the plain HTML <form> works with JSF ajax requests is because they don't exactly use the form element to send the HTTP POST request, but instead uses JavaScript's XMLHttpRequest object to send the HTTP POST request whose parameters are been populated by traversing the input elements in the parent form using JavaScript's form.elements. The JSF ajax response will automatically update the JSF view state hidden field, that's why JSF will be able to process the form submit from the 2nd request and on.

However, using plain HTML <form> would have failed hard when using non-ajax requests.

selectBooleanCheckbox doesn't initiate viewstate id

1 Answers1