Bit #33 - Using custom client attributes

To use a custom client attribute for an ADF Faces component use an af:clientAttribute component as a child component of that component and specify the name and value of the custom attribute. Then use the JavaScript AdfUIComponent.getProperty() method to retrieve the property value at runtime on the client.

Note that custom client attributes are not delivered to the server automatically. To do so you must create a custom event from the client to the server using an af:serverListener component and queue the event by calling AdfCustomEvent.queue().

Here is an example of adding a custom client attribute to an af:inputText component. We have added an af:clientListener to demonstrate calling the AdfUIComponent.getProperty() method.

Example:

            <af:inputText label="Label 1" id="it1">
                <af:clientAttribute name="customAttribute" value="Hello, world"/>
                <af:clientListener type="valueChange" method="onInputTextValueChange"/>
            </af:inputText>

....
            <af:resource type="javascript">
            function onInputTextValueChange(event) {
                var inputText = event.getSource();
                // retrieve and display the custom client attribute
                alert(inputText.getProperty("customAttribute"));
            }
            </af:resource>


Context:

ADF Faces

Bit #32 - Locating a component on the client

To locate a component on the client side of an ADF Faces application use any of the AdfUIComponent.findComponent() or AdfPage.PAGE.findComponentByAbsoluteId() methods. Both of these methods accept the component's identifier. The difference between the two is that while AdfUIComponent.findComponent() accepts a relative expression representing the component identifier, AdfPage.PAGE.findComponentByAbsoluteId() expects an absolute expression for the component's identifier. Absolute expressions use a fully qualified client identifier with a leading separator character, for example :container1:container2:componentId.

To guaranty that a client side instance of the component exists, ensure that you have set the component's clientComponent property to true. Alternatively, you can add a clientListener to the component instead.

Finally, do not use the AdfPage.PAGE.findComponent() method because its implementation may change from release to release.

Example:

function exampleFunc(actionEvent) { 
    var someComponent=actionEvent.getSource();
    // use findComponent() to locate a component relative to 'someComponent'
    var someOtherComponent=someComponent.findComponent("componentId");
    someOtherComponent.setValue("Hello") 
} 

Context:

ADF Faces

Bit #31 - Making an Entity object read-only

There are a few different ways to make an Entity object read-only, both declaratively in JDeveloper or programmatically via the ADF Business Components API. One that is suggested in OTN thread http://forums.oracle.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=2247578&tstart=0 is to change in the Entity's General section the Entity's Updatable property from true (the default) to false. This property can be found under the Type section in the Property Inspector.

By changing it to false, the Entity will not be updatable for all Entity-based View objects that use it. Note however that JDeveloper will still show the Entity reference as being Updatable in the View object Entity Objects page. This seems to be a bug in JDeveloper.

Some of the other ways to make the Entity read only would be to uncheck the Updatable checkbox for each View object that uses the Entity object (in the Entity Objects section), to use the isAttributeUpdatable() API to return false for all attributes or even at the attribute level to set each attribute's Updatable property to Never.

Context:
Entity Objects

Bit #30 - Displaying the current row on an af:table

You can display the current record number as you navigate an af:table by using certain information available on the table's iterator binding, namely the currentRowIndexInRange and rangeStart attributes. The current row can be calculated by the following EL expression: #{bindings.Iterator.rangeStart+bindings.Iterator.currentRowIndexInRange+1}, where Iterator is the table's bound iterator identifier. We add one because the row index is 0-based. You will need to surround the af:table with an af:panelCollection and use one of its facets - I suggest using the secondaryToolbar facet - to add an af:toolbar with an af:outputText inside it. For the current record count to be updated as you navigate the table, you will need to setup a partialTrigger on the af:outputText to the af:table. The example below shows this implementation.

Example:

<af:panelcollection ... >
<af:table id="tbl1" ... >
  </af:table>
    <f:facet name="secondaryToolbar">
      <af:toolbar id="t1">
        <af:group id="g1">
          <af:outputtext id="ot24" value="#{bindings.Employees1Iterator.rangeStart+bindings.Employees1Iterator.currentRowIndexInRange+1}/#{bindings.Employees1Iterator.estimatedRowCount} records">
                                         visible="#{bindings.Employees1Iterator.currentRow ne null}"
                                         partialTriggers="tbl1 ::qryId1"/>
        </af:group>
      </af:toolbar>
    </f:facet>
  </af:panelcollection>

Here is what the output looks like:

Context:

JSF page

Bit #29 - Dynamically configure ADF trace logs in WebLogic

ADF-specific logging can be dynamically configured in WebLogic via the wlst script. Ensure that you run the wlst script that is located in oracle common directory (and not the one in the WebLogic server home). Then connect to the administration server and use the setLogLevel() command to change the appropriate logger's level. To configure Business Components logs specify oracle.jbo as the logger. Similarly to configure the ADF Controller and ADF Faces logs use the oracle.adf.controller and oracle.adf.faces loggers respectively. For the example below, the ADF application is deployed on ManagedServer1. As mentioned, these changes to the logging configuration can be done at run-time without the need to re-start the server.


Example:

wlst
connect('weblogic','weblogic1', 't3://192.168.5.134:7001')
setLogLevel(target='ManagedServer1', logger='oracle.jbo', level='FINEST')


Context:

ADF BC
ADF Faces
ADF Controller


References:

http://jdeveloperfaq.blogspot.com/2011/03/faq-33-how-to-configure-adf-diagnostics.html