Switch from a basic Controller to SimpleFormController

[biguniverse]

I currently have this code (see below) but I would like to switch this to extend SimpleFormController since I also need to use the view/form for saving the data on the screen. How do I get the same amount data (i.e. Hashmap) via a formBackingObject and access it using spring:bind and c:foreach?

public class PortfoliosController implements Controller
{
    public ModelAndView handleRequest(HttpServletRequest request,
            HttpServletResponse response)
    {
        Map model = new HashMap();
        model.put("portfolios", portfolioManager.getPortfolios());
        model.put("programs", programReferenceManager.getPrograms());

[robh]

If you are not editing this data, if it is just used for displaying the form, then you should override the referenceData() method instead and have that return the Map containing you data.

If you are editing this data, then create a JavaBean backing object to hold the data and bind the user input to.

Rob

[biguniverse]

Thanks, I believe the JavaBean as formBackingObject approach is what I need to take.

Tthe user will be editing the data (not text but all <select> drop-downs to manage a 3-column link table, i.e. mapping of 3 Keys to 3 data tables). The screen will look like this -- each bracketed field here is a drop-down; once the user picks their mapping, they click "SAVE ALL" and I need to save each row to the 3-column link table:

  1     [LAPTOP1]     [PERSON1]     [OFFICE1]
  2     [LAPTOP2]     [PERSON2]     [OFFICE2]
  .
  .
  n     [LAPTOPn]     [PERSONn]     [OFFICEn]

                    <SAVE ALL>

[biguniverse]

Sorry, one more question.

Since my screens will have multiple rows (as many as there are in the database + 1 blank for adding a new mapping), can use indexed properties to bind to a List object in the JavaBean approach you recommended.

For example:

setPortList(List l)
List getPortList()

Then bind in the JSP/view as:

spring:bind path="portfolios.portfoliolist[${loopIndex}]"

[robh]

You *can* do this but the objects need to exist in the List already before binding to them - Spring cannot create the objects - it doesn't know what type they should be.

Rob

[biguniverse]

I understand. Thanks a bunch; you have been very helpful.

[biguniverse]

I'm probably doing something silly here but I can't any rows back in the c:foreach even though the formBackingObject shows 2 rows being returned -- do I have to bind this in order to see the data? Here are the code excerpts:

MY CONTROLLER CLASS

    protected Object formBackingObject(HttpServletRequest request) throws Exception 
    {
        log.info("formBackingObject - List.size() = "
                + defaultPortfolioCommand.getDefaultPortfolioManager().getDefaultPortfolios().size());
        
        return defaultPortfolioCommand;
    }

MY JSP/VIEW

<c&#58;forEach items="$&#123;defaultPortfolioCommand.defaultPortfolioManager.defaultPortfolios&#125;" var="defaultportfolios" varStatus="loopStatus">

NOTE: defaultPortfolios is a java.util.List.

[robh]

Have you overriden the command name in your configuration? By default the command object is just called 'command' and here you are referring to 'defaultPortfolioCommand'.

Rob

[biguniverse]

Thanks, that was it :-)

You guys are good!

By the way, since this is an editable form but there could be an unknown number of rows returned from the database, do I bind using something like:

<spring&#58;bind path="defaultPortfolioCommand.defaultPortfolioManager.defaultPortfolios&#91;$&#123;loopStatus.index&#125;&#93;.portId">

[/code]

[biguniverse]

If you are not editing this data, if it is just used for displaying the form, then you should override the referenceData() method instead and have that return the Map containing you data.

If you are editing this data, then create a JavaBean backing object to hold the data and bind the user input to.

Rob

Hi, Rob. What if I'm not "editing" the data as in INPUT TYPE="text" fields but rather having SELECT drop-down (OPTIONs)? Here is a screenshot:
http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/bc/42eebd1e...VGs7CBocKX7V0Q

On each row, the user has 3 drop-downs (as shown above), essentially they map the link between 3 tables and I have to save this mapping to a 3-column (foreign keys) table.

For example, how do I get the "selectedIndex" of the options the user selected using Spring MVC/bind? Should I use referenceData + custom processing in onSubmit instead of doing both via in formBackingObject?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.