binding dynamic number of text boxes
I have a requirement that seems to be an extension of binding checkboxes.
Let's say I have a list of possible phone number types (home, business, cell). This list is to be displayed on a jsp page (in a specific order) where a user can enter 0 or more phone number values using input boxes.
I've searched through similar posts and have pieced together an initial solution to my problem. I have the jsp displaying the phone number types in order and have values being associated with the correct types. If I submit the form, no errors occur but nothing happens as well since I haven't implemented any binding logic.
I've looked at posts related to custom PropertyEditors but can't seem to wrap my head around the way Spring binds data yet. Am I correct in assuming that implementation of a PropertyEditor will handle re-populating the text boxes with entered values after a validation failure?
Am I on the right track? What should be my next step in terms of binding the data to my object model?
Any help is appreciated.
Here's what I have so far:
A basic phone number class which I reuse for both the available and current list:
Code:
public class PhoneNumber {
String type = null;
String description = null;
String value = null;
... getters and setters
}
In my command object I store the current phone numbers using a List:
Code:
public class User {
List phoneNumbers = null;
... getters and setters
}
In my controller's referenceData() I hardcode the available list:
Code:
List phoneNumbers = new ArrayList();
PhoneNumber f = new PhoneNumber();
f.setType("C");
f.setDescription("Cellular");
phoneNumbers.add(f);
PhoneNumber d = new PhoneNumber();
d.setType("H");
d.setDescription("Home");
phoneNumbers.add(d);
PhoneNumber e = new PhoneNumber();
e.setType("B");
e.setDescription("Business");
phoneNumbers.add(e);
data.put("phoneNumberList", phoneNumbers);
In my controller's formBackingObject, I hardcode phone number values:
Code:
List phoneNumbers = new ArrayList();
PhoneNumber a = new PhoneNumber();
a.setType("H");
a.setValue("111 111-1111");
phoneNumbers.add(a);
PhoneNumber b = new PhoneNumber();
b.setType("B");
b.setValue("222 222-2222");
phoneNumbers.add(b);
form.setPhoneNumbers(phoneNumbers);
In my jsp I combine everything together. Not sure how the <spring:bind> tag is used in this case:
Code:
<c:forEach items="${phoneNumberList}" var="phoneNumber">
<tr>
<td>${phoneNumber.description}</td>
<td>
<spring:bind path="command.phoneNumbers">
<c:set var="found" value="false"/>
<c:forEach items="${command.phoneNumbers}" var="phoneNumberValue">
<c:if test="${phoneNumberValue.type == phoneNumber.type}">
<c:set var="found" value="true"/>
<input type="text" name="phone${phoneNumber.type}" value="${phoneNumberValue.value}" />
</c:if>
</c:forEach>
<c:if test="${found == 'false'}">
<input type="text" name="phone${phoneNumber.type}" value="" />
</c:if>
</spring:bind>
</td>
</tr>
</c:forEach>
and finally when I view page source, i get what I expected:
Code:
<tr>
<td>Cellular</td>
<td>
<input type="text" name="phoneC" value="" />
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Home</td>
<td>
<input type="text" name="phoneH" value="111 111-1111" />
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Business</td>
<td>
<input type="text" name="phoneB" value="222 222-2222" />
</td>
</tr>
