Package rife.forms

Interface FormBuilder

All Superinterfaces:
Cloneable
All Known Implementing Classes:
AbstractFormBuilder, FormBuilderHtml, FormBuilderXml
public interface FormBuilder extends Cloneable
This interface defines the methods for bean-centric form generation.

All the fields in a form can be generated at once by using the generateForm methods, or individual fields can be generated through the generateField method. It's also possible to remove the form generation for all the fields or for one field in particular through the removeForm and removeField methods.

When generating a form of a Validated bean instance, and associated ValidationBuilder will be used to also generate the validation errors and markings.

The form building works with a Template instance that it will analyze for the presence of certain values. The names of these will be in the following format: form:prefix:name where form:prefix: identifies which type of field has to be generated and name indicates the name of the property for which the form field will be generated.

The form builder will generally use the constraints on the bean property to generate the form field with the appropriate metadata information. Many times it's appropriate to add custom information to the form fields. This can be done by providing text in between the form field value begin and end tags. For example, for the HTML form builder you can provide custom CSS style information: 

 <!--v form:input:firstname-->style="border: 1px solid black;"<!--/v-->
If the custom attributes are dynamic and contain value tags, then you should use a dedicated block template tag that has an attributes: middle part, for example: 
 <!--v form:input:firstname/-->
 <!--b form:input:attributes:firstname-->style="border: 1px solid {{v color/}};"<!--/b-->

By default, the generation of the form fields only includes the field itself. You can however customize this by specifying a block tag that has the same name as the value tag that will be filled in with the generated form field. This bock tag supports the following value tags: form:label, form:name, form:value and form:field. If one of these is present, it will be replaced respectively with: the label of the form field, the name of the property, the current value of the property, and the generated form fields. For example: 

 <!--b form:input:firstname-->
 <!--v form:name/-->-<!--v form:value/--> : <!--v form:field/-->
 <!--/b-->
could be rendered like this with the HTML form builder: 
 firstname-John : <input type="text" name="firstname" />

Additional template values are available for collection field, please look at selectParameter(rife.template.Template, java.lang.String, java.lang.String[]) for more information.

Since:
1.0
See Also:

  • Field Details

    • PREFIX_FORM_HIDDEN

      static final String PREFIX_FORM_HIDDEN
      Template values that start with form:hidden: will generate a hidden form field for the property name that follows the prefix.
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • PREFIX_FORM_INPUT

      static final String PREFIX_FORM_INPUT
      Template values that start with form:input: will generate a text input form field for the property name that follows the prefix. The maximum length of the allowed text will be obtained from the maxLength constraint.
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • PREFIX_FORM_SECRET

      static final String PREFIX_FORM_SECRET
      Template values that start with form:secret: will generate a password input form field for the property name that follows the prefix. The maximum length of the allowed text will be obtained from the maxLength constraint.
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • PREFIX_FORM_TEXTAREA

      static final String PREFIX_FORM_TEXTAREA
      Template values that start with form:textarea: will generate a multi-line text form field for the property name that follows the prefix.
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • PREFIX_FORM_RADIO

      static final String PREFIX_FORM_RADIO
      Template values that start with form:radio: will generate a radio button group for the property name that follows the prefix. The possible radio button values will be obtained from the inList constraint,
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • PREFIX_FORM_CHECKBOX

      static final String PREFIX_FORM_CHECKBOX
      Template values that start with form:checkbox: will generate a checkbox group for the property name that follows the prefix. The possible checkbox values will be obtained from the inList constraint,
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • PREFIX_FORM_SELECT

      static final String PREFIX_FORM_SELECT
      Template values that start with form:select: will generate a select list for the property name that follows the prefix. The possible select list options will be obtained from the inList constraint,
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • PREFIX_FORM_DISPLAY

      static final String PREFIX_FORM_DISPLAY
      Template values that start with form:display: will not actually generate a form field but simply display the current value as text.
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • PREFIX_FORM_LABEL

      static final String PREFIX_FORM_LABEL
      Template blocks that start with form:label: provide a textual label for a specific value for a property name. The format after the prefix is propertyname:propertyvalue.

      For example: 

       <!--b form:label:options:1-->the first option<!--/b-->
 <!--b form:label:options:2-->the second option<!--/b-->
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • MIDDLE_ATTRIBUTES

      static final String MIDDLE_ATTRIBUTES
      A template block with an ATTRIBUTES middle part after the standard form field prefix, allows for dynamic custom attributes specifications for the form field generation.
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • ID_FORM_LABEL

      static final String ID_FORM_LABEL
      Template value tags with the form:label name will be replaced by the label if they are present inside block tags that have the same name as the template value that will contain the generated form field. (More information in the FormBuilder interface Javadocs)
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • ID_FORM_FIELD

      static final String ID_FORM_FIELD
      Template value tags with the form:field name will be replaced by the actual generated form field if they are present inside block tags that have the same name as the template value that will contain the generated form field. (More information in the FormBuilder interface Javadocs)
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • ID_FORM_NAME

      static final String ID_FORM_NAME
      Template value tags with the form:name name will be replaced by the field name if they are present inside block tags that have the same name as the template value that will contain the generated form field. (More information in the FormBuilder interface Javadocs)
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • ID_FORM_VALUE

      static final String ID_FORM_VALUE
      Template value tags with the form:value name will be replaced by the current field value if they are present inside block tags that have the same name as the template value that will contain the generated form field. (More information in the FormBuilder interface Javadocs)
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • SUFFIX_SELECTED

      static final String SUFFIX_SELECTED
      See Also:

    • SUFFIX_CHECKED

      static final String SUFFIX_CHECKED
      See Also:

    • TAG_SELECTED

      static final String TAG_SELECTED
      See Also:

    • TAG_CHECKED

      static final String TAG_CHECKED
      See Also:

  • Method Details

    • generateForm

      Collection<String> generateForm(Template template, Class beanClass, Map<String,String[]> values, String prefix) throws BeanUtilsException
      Generates all the form fields for a bean class.

      If content has already been filled in for any of the template values that are normally replaced with generated form fields, no generation will happen for those and the existing content will simply remain present.

      Parameters:
      template - the template instance that will be used for the form generation
      beanClass - the bean class whose properties will be analyzed for the form generation
      values - a map of name-value pairs that indicate the currently active context for the form that will be generated, these are typically the values that have been submitted previously through a web page. The values will be used to pre-populate the form fields with content.
      prefix - the prefix of the bean property names that should be used while generating the form, this is handy to use when the several forms are present that use the same bean class or that has overlapping property names
      Returns:
      the collection of template value names that have been generated
      Throws:
      BeanUtilsException - when errors occurred during the form generation
      Since:
      1.0

    • generateForm

      Collection<String> generateForm(Template template, Object bean, Map<String,String[]> values, String prefix) throws BeanUtilsException
      Generates all the form fields for a bean instance.

      If content has already been filled in for any of the template values that are normally replaced with generated form fields, no generation will happen for those and the existing content will simply remain present.

      Parameters:
      template - the template instance that will be used for the form generation
      bean - the bean instance whose properties and validation errors will be analyzed for the form generation
      values - a map of name-value pairs that indicate the currently active context for the form that will be generated, these are typically the values that have been submitted previously through a web page. The values will be used to pre-populate the form fields with content.
      prefix - the prefix of the bean property names that should be used while generating the form, this is handy to use when the several forms are present that use the same bean class or that has overlapping property names
      Returns:
      the collection of template value names that have been generated
      Throws:
      BeanUtilsException - when errors occurred during the form generation
      Since:
      1.0

    • generateField

      Collection<String> generateField(Template template, ConstrainedProperty property, String[] values, String prefix)
      Generates a form field for one particular property.

      If content has already been filled in for any of the template values that are normally replaced with generated form fields, no generation will happen for those and the existing content will simply remain present.

      Parameters:
      template - the template instance that will be used for the form generation
      property - the constrained property that the form field will be generated for
      values - the current values of the property, these are typically the values that have been submitted previously through a web page. The values will be used to pre-populate the form field with content.
      prefix - the prefix of the bean property names that should be used while generating the form, this is handy to use when the several forms are present that use the same bean class or that has overlapping property names
      Returns:
      the collection of template value names that have been generated
      Since:
      1.0

    • generateField

      Collection<String> generateField(Template template, Class propertyType, ConstrainedProperty property, String[] values, String prefix)
      Generates a form field for one particular property.

      If content has already been filled in for any of the template values that are normally replaced with generated form fields, no generation will happen for those and the existing content will simply remain present.

      Parameters:
      template - the template instance that will be used for the form generation
      propertyType - the type of the property
      property - the constrained property that the form field will be generated for
      values - the current values of the property, these are typically the values that have been submitted previously through a web page. The values will be used to pre-populate the form field with content.
      prefix - the prefix of the bean property names that should be used while generating the form, this is handy to use when the several forms are present that use the same bean class or that has overlapping property names
      Returns:
      the collection of template value names that have been generated
      Since:
      1.0

    • generateField

      Collection<String> generateField(Template template, String name, String[] values, String prefix)
      Generates a form field for one particular property name.

      If content has already been filled in for any of the template values that are normally replaced with generated form fields, no generation will happen for those and the existing content will simply remain present.

      Parameters:
      template - the template instance that will be used for the form generation
      name - the name of the property that the form field will be generated for
      values - the current values of the property, these are typically the values that have been submitted previously through a web page. The values will be used to pre-populate the form field with content.
      prefix - the prefix of the bean property names that should be used while generating the form, this is handy to use when the several forms are present that use the same bean class or that has overlapping property names
      Returns:
      the collection of template value names that have been generated
      Since:
      1.0

    • generateField

      Collection<String> generateField(Template template, Class propertyType, String name, String[] values, String prefix)
      Generates a form field for one particular property name.

      If content has already been filled in for any of the template values that are normally replaced with generated form fields, no generation will happen for those and the existing content will simply remain present.

      Parameters:
      template - the template instance that will be used for the form generation
      propertyType - the type of the property
      name - the name of the property that the form field will be generated for
      values - the current values of the property, these are typically the values that have been submitted previously through a web page. The values will be used to pre-populate the form field with content.
      prefix - the prefix of the bean property names that should be used while generating the form, this is handy to use when the several forms are present that use the same bean class or that has overlapping property names
      Returns:
      the collection of template value names that have been generated
      Since:
      1.0

    • replaceField

      Collection<String> replaceField(Template template, String templateFieldName, ConstrainedProperty property, String[] values, String prefix)
      Generates a form field for one particular property and always replace the content of the template values that match the auto-generation name format.

      This method also adds a templateFieldName parameter. It allows you to use another property name for the template values than the one of the actual bean property. You will typically use this when you dynamically generate a form and iterate over the generation of certain fields. So, for example, when you have properties named answer1 and answer2, you can use this template snippet: 

       <!--v answers/-->
 <!--b answer-->
 <!--v form:input:answer/-->
 <!--/b-->
      By using the replaceField(template, "answer", property, null, null) method call for each answer property and appending the answer block to the answers value, you can benefit from the automatic form field generation but still dynamically aggregate the results into one area.
      Parameters:
      template - the template instance that will be used for the form generation
      templateFieldName - the name of the form field that will be used to look for supported value tags in the property template
      property - the constrained property that the form field will be generated for
      values - the current values of the property, these are typically the values that have been submitted previously through a web page. The values will be used to pre-populate the form field with content.
      prefix - the prefix of the bean property names that should be used while generating the form, this is handy to use when the several forms are present that use the same bean class or that has overlapping property names
      Returns:
      the collection of template value names that have been generated
      Since:
      1.0

    • replaceField

      Collection<String> replaceField(Template template, String templateFieldName, Class propertyType, ConstrainedProperty property, String[] values, String prefix)
      Generates a form field for one particular property and always replace the content of the template values that match the auto-generation name format.

      The documentation of the previous replaceField method contains more information about the functionality of this method.

      Parameters:
      template - the template instance that will be used for the form generation
      templateFieldName - the name of the form field that will be used to look for supported value tags in the property template
      propertyType - the type of the property
      property - the constrained property that the form field will be generated for
      values - the current values of the property, these are typically the values that have been submitted previously through a web page. The values will be used to pre-populate the form field with content.
      prefix - the prefix of the bean property names that should be used while generating the form, this is handy to use when the several forms are present that use the same bean class or that has overlapping property names
      Returns:
      the collection of template value names that have been generated
      Since:
      1.0

    • replaceField

      Collection<String> replaceField(Template template, String templateFieldName, String name, String[] values, String prefix)
      Generates a form field for one particular property name and always replace the content of the template values that match the auto-generation name format.

      The documentation of the previous replaceField method contains more information about the functionality of this method.

      Parameters:
      template - the template instance that will be used for the form generation
      templateFieldName - the name of the form field that will be used to look for supported value tags in the property template
      name - the name of the property that the form field will be generated for
      values - the current values of the property, these are typically the values that have been submitted previously through a web page. The values will be used to pre-populate the form field with content.
      prefix - the prefix of the bean property names that should be used while generating the form, this is handy to use when the several forms are present that use the same bean class or that has overlapping property names
      Returns:
      the collection of template value names that have been generated
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • replaceField

      Collection<String> replaceField(Template template, String templateFieldName, Class propertyType, String name, String[] values, String prefix)
      Generates a form field for one particular property name and always replace the content of the template values that match the auto-generation name format.

      The documentation of the previous replaceField method contains more information about the functionality of this method.

      Parameters:
      template - the template instance that will be used for the form generation
      templateFieldName - the name of the form field that will be used to look for supported value tags in the property template
      propertyType - the type of the property
      name - the name of the property that the form field will be generated for
      values - the current values of the property, these are typically the values that have been submitted previously through a web page. The values will be used to pre-populate the form field with content.
      prefix - the prefix of the bean property names that should be used while generating the form, this is handy to use when the several forms are present that use the same bean class or that has overlapping property names
      Returns:
      the collection of template value names that have been generated
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • removeForm

      void removeForm(Template template, Class beanClass, String prefix) throws BeanUtilsException
      Removes the content of all the template values that would otherwise be filled in with generated form fields through the generateForm(Template, Class, Map, String) method.
      Parameters:
      template - the template instance whose values will be cleared
      beanClass - the bean class whose properties will be analyzed for clearing the form field values
      prefix - the prefix of the bean property names that should be used while clearing the form, this is handy to use when the several forms are present that use the same bean class or that has overlapping property names
      Throws:
      BeanUtilsException - when errors occurred during the clearing of the form
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • removeField

      void removeField(Template template, String name, String prefix)
      Removes the content of the template value that would otherwise be filled in with a generated form field through a generateField(rife.template.Template, rife.validation.ConstrainedProperty, java.lang.String[], java.lang.String) method.
      Parameters:
      template - the template instance whose values will be cleared
      name - the name of the property for which the template value will be cleared
      prefix - the prefix of the bean property names that should be used while clearing the form, this is handy to use when the several forms are present that use the same bean class or that has overlapping property names
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • removeField

      void removeField(Template template, String templateFieldName)
      Removes the content of the template value that would otherwise be filled in with a generated form field through a replaceField(rife.template.Template, java.lang.String, rife.validation.ConstrainedProperty, java.lang.String[], java.lang.String) method.
      Parameters:
      template - the template instance whose values will be cleared
      templateFieldName - the that is use in the template values to identify the property that has to be cleared
      Since:
      1.0
      See Also:

    • selectParameter

      Collection<String> selectParameter(Template template, String name, String[] values)
      Generates the required attributes so that an existing form field indicates its checked or selected status.

      This method will check the template for certain value tags and set them to the correct attributes according to the name and the provided values in this method. This is dependent on the template type and currently only makes sense for html templates.

      For example for select boxes, consider the name 'colors', the values 'blue' and 'red', and the following HTML template excerpt: 

       <select name="colors">
   <option value="blue"{{v colors:blue:selected}}{{/v}}>Blue</option>
   <option value="orange"{{v colors:orange:selected}}{{/v}}>Orange</option>
   <option value="red"{{v colors:red:selected}}{{/v}}>Red</option>
   <option value="green"{{v colors:green:selected'}}{{/v}}>Green</option>
 </select>

      the result will then be: 

       <select name="colors">
   <option value="blue" selected="selected">Blue</option>
   <option value="orange">Orange</option>
   <option value="red" selected="selected">Red</option>
   <option value="green">Green</option>
 </select>

      For example for radio buttons, consider the name 'size', the value 'large' and the following HTML template excerpt: 

       <input type="radio" name="size" value="large"{{v size:large:checked}}{{/v}} />
 <input type="radio" name="size" value="small"{{v size:small:checked}}{{/v}} />

      the result will then be: 

       <input type="radio" name="size" value="large" checked="checked" />
 <input type="radio" name="size" value="small" />

      For example for checkboxes, consider the name 'active', the value 'true' and the following HTML template excerpt: 

       <input type="checkbox" name="active"{{v active:checked}}{{/v}} />
 <input type="checkbox" name="senditnow"{{v senditnow:checked}}{{/v}} />

      the result will then be: 

       <input type="checkbox" name="active" checked="checked" />
 <input type="checkbox" name="senditnow" />
      Parameters:
      template - the template instance that will be used for the generation
      name - the name of the parameter
      values - the values of the parameter
      Returns:
      the collection of template value names that have been generated

    • unselectParameter

      void unselectParameter(Template template, String name, String[] values)
      Removes the generated attributes that indicate that an existing form field is checked or selected
      Parameters:
      template - the template instance that will be used for the clearing
      name - the name of the parameter
      values - the values of the parameter

    • getValidationBuilder

      ValidationBuilder getValidationBuilder()
      Returns the ValidationBuilder that is used by this FormBuilder.
      Returns:
      this FormBuilder's ValidationBuilder
      Since:
      1.0

    • clone

      Object clone()