6.79.  < rich:tab >

6.79.1. Description

A tab section within a tab panel.

<rich:tab> component

Figure 6.228.  <rich:tab> component


6.79.2. Key Features

  • Fully skinnable tabs content

  • Disabled/enabled tab options

  • Groups any content inside a tab

  • Each tab has a unique name for a direct access (e.g. for switching between tabs)

  • Switch methods can be easily customized for every tab separately with attribute to:

    • Server

    • Client

    • AJAX

Table 6.438. rich : tab attributes

Attribute NameDescription
actionMethodBinding pointing at the application action to be invoked, if this UIComponent is activated by you, during the Apply Request Values or Invoke Application phase of the request processing lifecycle, depending on the value of the immediate property
actionListenerMethodBinding pointing at method accepting an ActionEvent with return type void
ajaxSingleif "true", submits ONLY one field/link, instead of all form controls
bindingThe attribute takes a value-binding expression for a component property of a backing bean
bypassUpdatesIf "true", after process validations phase it skips updates of model beans on a force render response. It can be used for validating components input
dataSerialized (on default with JSON) data passed on the client by a developer on AJAX request. It's accessible via "data.foo" syntax
disabledDisables a tab in a tab panel
eventsQueueName of requests queue to avoid send next request before complete other from same event. Can be used to reduce number of requests of frequently events (key press, mouse move etc.)
focusid of element to set focus after request completed on client side
idEvery component may have a unique id that is automatically created if omitted
ignoreDupResponsesAttribute allows to ignore an Ajax Response produced by a request if the newest 'similar' request is in a queue already. ignoreDupResponses="true" does not cancel the request while it is processed on the server, but just allows to avoid unnecessary updates on the client side if the response isn't actual now
immediateTrue means, that the default ActionListener should be executed immediately (i.e. during Apply Request Values phase of the request processing lifecycle), rather than waiting until the Invoke Application phase
labelText for the actual "tab" in a tab section
labelWidthLength for the actual "tab" in a tab section defined in pixels. If it is not defined, the length is calculated basing on a tab label text length
limitToListIf "true", updates on client side ONLY elements from this 'reRender' property. If "false" (default) updates all rendered by ajax region components
nameAttribute defines tab name
onbeforedomupdateJavaScript code for call before DOM has been updated on client side
onclickHTML: a script expression; a pointer button is clicked
oncompleteJavaScript code for call after request completed on client side
ondblclickHTML: a script expression; a pointer button is double-clicked
onkeydownHTML: a script expression; a key is pressed down
onkeypressHTML: a script expression; a key is pressed and released
onkeyupHTML: a script expression; a key is released
onlabelclickA JavaScript event handler; a label of the tab is clicked
onlabeldblclickA JavaScript event handler; a pointer within label is double-clicked
onlabelkeydownA JavaScript event handler; a key within label is pressed down
onlabelkeypressA JavaScript event handler; a key within label is pressed and released
onlabelkeyupA JavaScript event handler; a key within label is released
onlabelmousedownA JavaScript event handler; a pointer within label is pressed down
onlabelmousemoveA JavaScript event handler; a pointer is moved within label
onlabelmouseupA JavaScript event handler; a pointer within label is released
onmousedownHTML: script expression; a pointer button is pressed down
onmousemoveHTML: a script expression; a pointer is moved within
onmouseoutHTML: a script expression; a pointer is moved away
onmouseoverHTML: a script expression; a pointer is moved onto
onmouseupHTML: script expression; a pointer button is released
ontabenterEvent must occurs on the tab which has been entered
ontableaveEvent must occurs on the tab which has been left
processId['s] (in format of call UIComponent.findComponent()) of components, processed at the phases 2-5 in case of AjaxRequest caused by this component. Can be single id, comma-separated list of Id's, or EL Expression with array or Collection
renderedIf "false", this component is not rendered
requestDelayAttribute defines the time (in ms.) that the request will be wait in the queue before it is ready to send. When the delay time is over, the request will be sent to the server or removed if the newest 'similar' request is in a queue already
reRenderId['s] (in format of call UIComponent.findComponent()) of components, rendered in case of AjaxRequest caused by this component. Can be single id, comma-separated list of Id's, or EL Expression with array or Collection
statusID (in format of call UIComponent.findComponent()) of Request status component
styleCSS style(s) is/are to be applied when this component is rendered
styleClassCorresponds to the HTML class attribute
switchTypeTab switch algorithm: "client", "server", "ajax", "page"
timeoutResponse waiting time on a particular request. If a response is not received during this time, the request is aborted
titleHTML: An advisory title for this element. Often displayed as a tooltip

Table 6.439. Component identification parameters

NameValue
component-typeorg.richfaces.Tab
component-classorg.richfaces.component.html.HtmlTab
component-familyorg.richfaces.Tab
renderer-typeorg.richfaces.TabRenderer
tag-classorg.richfaces.taglib.TabTag

6.79.3. Creating the Component with a Page Tag

To create the simplest variant on a page use the following syntax:

Example:


...
    <rich:tabPanel>
        <!--Set of Tabs inside-->
            <rich:tab>
                ...
            </rich:tab>
    </rich:tabPanel>
...

6.79.4. Creating the Component Dynamically Using Java

Example:


import org.richfaces.component.html.HtmlTab;
... 
HtmlTab myTab = new HtmlTab();
...

6.79.5. Details of Usage

The main component function is to define a content group that is rendered and processed when the tab is active, i.e. click on a tab causes switching onto a tab containing content corresponded to this tab.

The "label" attribute defines text to be represented. If you can use the "label" facet, you can even not use the "label" attribute.

Example:


...
    <rich:tab>
        <f:facet name="label">  
            <h:graphicImage value="/images/img1.png"/>
        </f:facet>
        ...
        <!--Any Content inside-->
        ...
    </rich:tab>
...

A marker on a tab header defined with the "label" attribute. Moreover, each tab could be disabled (switching on this tab is impossible) with the "disable" attribute.

Example:


...
    <rich:tabPanel width="20%"> 
        <rich:tab label="Tab">
            <h:outputText value="Active Tab content"/>
        </rich:tab>
        <rich:tab label="Disabled Tab" disabled="true">
            ...
        </rich:tab>
        <rich:tab label="Next Enabled Tab">
            ...
        </rich:tab>
    </rich:tabPanel>
...

With this example it's possible to generate the tab panel with the second disabled and two active tabs (see the picture).

<rich:tabPanel> with disabled <rich:tab>

Figure 6.229.  <rich:tabPanel> with disabled <rich:tab>


Switching mode could be defined not only for the whole panel tab, but also for each particular tab, i.e. switching onto one tab could be performed right on the client with the corresponding JavaScript and onto another tab with an Ajax request on the server. Tab switching modes are the same as tabPanel ones.

Each tab also has an attribute name (alias for "id" attribute). Using this attribute value it's possible e.g. to set an active tab on a model level specifying this name in the corresponding attribute of the whole tab.

Except the specific component attributes it has all necessary attributes for JavaScript event definition.

  • onmouseover

  • onmouseout

  • etc.

Some event could be performed on the tab which has been entered/left using "ontabenter" / "ontableave" attributes. See the example below.

Example:


...
    <rich:tabPanel>
        <rich:tab label="Tab1" ontabenter="alert()">
            ...
        </rich:tab>
        ...
    </rich:tabPanel>
...

The following example shows how on the client side to get the names of entered/left tabs.


ontabenter="alert(leftTabName)"

Information about the "process" attribute usage you can find here.

6.79.6. Look-and-Feel Customization

For skinnability implementation, the components use a style class redefinition method. Default style classes are mapped on skin parameters.

Note:

A panel appearance and content is defined with a tab panel i.e. on the tab level it's possible to define only an appearance of this tab header.

There are two ways to redefine the appearance of all <rich:tab> components at once:

  • Redefine the corresponding skin parameters

  • Add to your style sheets style classes used by a <rich:tab> component

6.79.7. Skin Parameters Redefinition

Table 6.440. Skin parameters redefinition for a tab header

Skin parametersCSS properties
generalTextColorcolor
generalSizeFontfont-size
generalFamilyFontfont-family

Table 6.441. Skin parameters redefinition for an active tab

Skin parametersCSS properties
generalTextColorcolor
subBorderColorborder-color
generalBackgroundColorbackground-color

Table 6.442. Skin parameters redefinition for an inactive tab

Skin parametersCSS properties
tabBackgroundColorbackground-color
subBorderColorborder-color

Table 6.443. Skin parameters redefinition for a disabled tab

Skin parametersCSS properties
tabBackgroundColorbackground-color
subBorderColorborder-color
tabDisabledTextColorcolor

6.79.8. Definition of Custom Style Classes

Classes names

Figure 6.230. Classes names


Table 6.444. Classes names that define a tab

Class nameDescription
rich-tab-headerDefines styles for a tab header
rich-tab-labelDefines styles for a tab label

Table 6.445. Classes names that define a tab states

Class nameDescription
rich-tab-activeDefines styles for an active tab
rich-tab-inactiveDefines styles for an inactive tab
rich-tab-disabledDefines styles for a disabled tab

In order to redefine styles for all <rich:tab> components on a page using CSS, it's enough to create classes with the same names and define necessary properties in them.

To change styles of particular <rich:tab> components define your own style classes in the corresponding <rich:tab> attribute.