JavaServer Faces

Triggering an Event by Clicking a Button or a Link

In the first version of the extendable expense types feature, I use a button to switch between the standard and the extended list. Figure 8-3 shows what it looks like.

Figure 8-3. The report entry form area with a button for extending the type choices

The JSP page for this version of the entry form area is shown in Example 8-4.

Example 8-4. Entry form area JSP page with a button for extending the type choices (expense/stage3/entryFormArea.jsp)

<%@ page contentType="text/html" %>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsf/html" prefix="h" %>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsf/core" prefix="f" %>

<f:view>
  <h:form>
    Title: 
    <h:inputText id="title" size="30" required="true"
      value="#{reportHandler.currentReport.title}" />
    <h:message for="title" />
    <br>
    Entry:
    <br>
    Date:
    <h:inputText id="date" size="8" required="true"
      value="#{entryHandler.currentEntry.date}">
      <f:convertDateTime  dateStyle="short" />
    </h:inputText>
    <h:message for="date" />
    <br>
    Type:
    <h:selectOneMenu id="type" required="true"
      value="#{entryHandler.currentEntry.type}">
      <f:selectItems value="#{entryHandler.currentChoices}"/>
    </h:selectOneMenu>
    <h:commandButton value="Ext/Std" immediate="true"
                        action="#{entryHandler.toggleTypes}" /> <h:message for="type" /> <br> Amount: <h:inputText id="amount" size="8" required="true" value="#{entryHandler.currentEntry.amount}"> <f:convertNumber ...