Get selected cell object in datatable using different lists for each column

Question

I'm trying to build a time schedule using <p:datatable>. At the moment I was testing it using <f:setPropertyActionListener> and trying to make use of the rowIndexVar from the datatable as you can see in the following code in my column tuesday. Unfortunately it wasn't working. The problem is that the underlying model holds 5 lists (for each weekday 1) so I'm addressing a different list on each column.

I don't know if I'm approaching really wrong. But so far it was okay, and now I am only having the problem, that I want to extract the data from the respective cell I clicked. This is my table so far:

<p:dataTable id="schedule" var="rows" value="#{scheduleBean.emptyRowDefault}"  
             editMode="cell" 
             rowIndexVar="index"                                   
             widgetVar="cellCars" >
    <f:facet name="header">
        #{msg['schedule']}
    </f:facet>
    <p:column headerText="#{msg['hour']}">
        <h:outputText value="#{index+1}" />
    </p:column>

    <p:column headerText="#{msg['time']}">
       <h:outputText value="#{scheduleBean.schedule.times[index]}" />
    </p:column>

    <p:column headerText="#{msg['monday']}">
         <p:commandLink value="#{scheduleBean.schedule.monday[index].name}" onclick="PF('subjectDialog').show();" />  
    </p:column>

    <p:column headerText="#{msg['tuesday']}">
          <p:commandLink update=":form:eventDetails" onclick="PF('subjectDialog').show();" >   
              <f:setPropertyActionListener value="#{scheduleBean.schedule.tuesday.get(index)}" target="#{scheduleBean.subject}" />
              <h:outputText value="#{scheduleBean.schedule.tuesday[index].name}" />
          </p:commandLink>
     </p:column>

     <p:column headerText="#{msg['wednesday']}" >
         <p:commandLink value="#{scheduleBean.schedule.wednesday[index].name}" onclick="PF('subjectDialog').show();" />  
     </p:column>

     <p:column headerText="#{msg['thursday']}">
         <p:commandLink value="#{scheduleBean.schedule.thursday[index].name}" onclick="PF('subjectDialog').show();" />                       
     </p:column>

     <p:column headerText="#{msg['friday']}">
         <p:commandLink value="#{scheduleBean.schedule.friday[index].name}" onclick="PF('subjectDialog').show();" />  
     </p:column>
</p:dataTable>

This the dialog:

<p:dialog widgetVar="subjectDialog" header="Neues Fach anlegen" showEffect="clip" hideEffect="clip" resizable="false">
     <h:panelGrid id="eventDetails" columns="2">
          <p:outputLabel for="name" value="#{msg['subject']}" />
          <p:inputText id="name" value="#{scheduleBean.subject.name}" required="true" />

          <p:outputLabel for="hour" value="#{msg['hour']}" />
              <h:selectOneMenu id="hour" value="#{scheduleBean.subject.hourTime}" style="width:100%">
                  <f:selectItems value="#{scheduleBean.schedule.hours}" var="day" itemLabel="#{hour}" itemValue="#{hour}" />
              </h:selectOneMenu>

          <p:outputLabel for="weekday" value="#{msg['weekday']}" />
              <h:selectOneMenu id="weekday" value="#{scheduleBean.subject.weekday}" style="width:100%">
                  <f:selectItems value="#{scheduleBean.schedule.weekdays}" var="day" itemLabel="#{day}" itemValue="#{day}" />
              </h:selectOneMenu>

           <p:outputLabel for="teacher" value="#{msg['teacher']}" />
                            <p:inputText id="teacher" value="#{scheduleBean.subject.teacher}" required="true" />

           <p:outputLabel for="room" value="#{msg['room']}" />
                            <p:inputText id="room" value="#{scheduleBean.subject.room}" required="true" />

       </h:panelGrid>
       <h:panelGroup style="text-align: center; width: 340px; float: left">
           <p:commandButton id="addButton" styleClass="button button2" value="#{msg['save']}"   action="#{scheduleBean.save}" update="schedule :form:eventDetails" oncomplete="PF('subjectDialog').hide();" />
           <p:commandButton id="delete" styleClass="button button2"   value="#{msg['delete']}"     action="#{scheduleBean.remove(scheduleBean.subject)}" update="schedule msgs" oncomplete="PF('subjectDialog').hide();" />
           <p:commandButton id="cancel"  styleClass="button button2"  value="#{msg['cancel']}"   immediate="true"                                    oncomplete="PF('subjectDialog').hide();" /> 
       </h:panelGroup>
   </p:dialog>

No, not at all. The data is just empty. So when I click on it the dialog shows but without any data — Noli, Feb 04 '17 at 10:57
Ok.. does this get called when u debug #{scheduleBean.schedule.tuesday.get(index)}? And is the dialog in different form that the table? — Maciej Kowalski, Feb 04 '17 at 11:00
Hmm, apparently it really doesn't get called when clicking on it. It is in the same form, yes. Do you have any suggestions what different approach I could try? — Noli, Feb 04 '17 at 11:12
try to place dialog ourside of main form .. and put a different form inside it..
... — Maciej Kowalski, Feb 04 '17 at 11:16
Thank you so much, it seemed to have worked!! I was sitting there for hours :D You can explain to me why it didn't work the other way round? — Noli, Feb 04 '17 at 11:29
Great to hear that.. i have posted the answer. Hope it explains things. — Maciej Kowalski, Feb 04 '17 at 11:40

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 04 '17 at 11:39

Not sure why your managedBeans attributes are not called for that tuesday row but regarding the refreshing of the dialog, its a common practice to place the dialog outside of the main form and add an inner form inside the dialog itself:

<p:dialog widgetVar="subjectDialog" header="Neues Fach anlegen" showEffect="clip" hideEffect="clip" resizable="false">
  <h:form id="dialogForm">
     ...
  </h:form>
</p:dialog>

Then you just do update=":dialogForm" from within your datatable.

The reason for this practice is that the content of the p:dialog might be relocated by the browser to some other element of DOM tree (usually at the end and outside of any form element). This causes all your buttons and form elements to stop working.

Get selected cell object in datatable using different lists for each column

1 Answers1