6.5.  < a4j:commandLink >

6.5.1. Description

The <a4j:commandLink> component is very similar to the <h:commandLink> component, the only difference is that an Ajax form submit is generated on a click and it allows dynamic rerendering after a response comes back. It's not necessary to plug any support into the component, as Ajax support is already built in.

Table 6.9. a4j : commandLink attributes

Attribute NameDescription
accesskeyThis attribute assigns an access key to an element. An access key is a single character from the document character set. Note: Authors should consider the input method of the expected reader when specifying an accesskey
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
charsetThe character encoding of a resource designated by this hyperlink
coordsThis attribute specifies the position and shape on the screen. The number and order of values depends on the shape being defined. Possible combinations: * rect: left-x, top-y, right-x, bottom-y. * circle: center-x, center-y, radius. Note. When the radius value is percentage value, user agents should calculate the final radius value based on the associated object's width and height. The radius should be the smaller value of the two. * poly: x1, y1, x2, y2, ..., xN, yN. The first x and y coordinate pair and the last should be the same to close the polygon. When these coordinate values are not the same, user agents should infer an additional coordinate pair to close the polygon. Coordinates are relative to the top, left corner of the object. All values are lengths. All values are separated by commas
dataSerialized (on default with JSON) data passed on the client by a developer on AJAX request. It's accessible via "data.foo" syntax
dirDirection indication for text that does not inherit directionality. Valid values are "LTR" (left-to-right) and "RTL" (right-to-left)
disabledIf true, disable this component on page.
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
hreflangBase language of a resource specified with the href attribute; hreflang may only be used with href
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
langCode describing the language used in the generated markup for this component
limitToListIf "true", updates on client side ONLY elements from this 'reRender' property. If "false" (default) updates all rendered by ajax region components
onbeforedomupdateJavaScript code for call before DOM has been updated on client side
onblurJavaScript code. The onblur event occurs when an element loses focus either by the pointing device or by tabbing navigation. It may be used with the same elements as onfocus
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
onfocusJavaScript code. The onfocus event occurs when an element gets focus
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
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
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
relThe relationship from the current document to the anchor specified by this hyperlink. The value of this attribute is a space-separated list of link types
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
revA reverse link from the anchor specified by this hyperlink to the current document. The value of this attribute is a space-separated list of link types
shapedefault|rect|circle|poly [CI] This attribute specifies the shape of a region. Possible values: * default: Specifies the entire region. * rect: Define a rectangular region. * circle: Define a circular region. * poly: Define a polygonal region.
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
tabindexThis attribute specifies the position of the current element in the tabbing order for the current document. This value must be a number between 0 and 32767. User agents should ignore leading zeros
targetThis attribute specifies the name of a frame where a document is to be opened. By assigning a name to a frame via the name attribute, authors can refer to it as the "target" of links defined by other elements
timeoutTimeout ( in ms ) for request.
titleAdvisory title information about markup elements generated for this component
typeThe content type of the resource designated by this hyperlink
valueThe current value for this component

Table 6.10. Component identification parameters

NameValue
component-typeorg.ajax4jsf.CommandLink
component-familyjavax.faces.Command
component-classorg.ajax4jsf.component.html.HtmlAjaxCommandLink
renderer-typeorg.ajax4jsf.components.AjaxCommandLinkRenderer

6.5.2. Creating on a page

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

Example:


...
   <a4j:commandLink reRender="someData" action="#{bean.action1}" value="Link"/>
...

6.5.3. Creating the Component Dynamically Using Java

Example:


import org.ajax4jsf.component.html.HtmlAjaxCommandLink;
...
HtmlAjaxCommandLink myLink = new HtmlAjaxCommandLink();
...

6.5.4. Key attributes and ways of usage

<a4j:commandLink> is used in the same way as <h:commandLink> , but with definition of the area that is updated after the response comes back from the server.

This definition of the component provides a link, and a click on the link causes an Ajax form submit on the server, action1 method performance, and rendering of the component with someData id after the response comes back from the server.

The component <a4j:commandLink> placed on a page generates the following HTML code:


...
<a href="#" onclick="A4J.AJAX.Submit(?"request parameters"); return false;">
      <span>Link Value</span>
</a>
...

Hence, the utility method A4J.AJAX.Submit is called on a click, the method performs Ajax request as the <a4j:support> component

Note:

AJAX support is built in and it's not necessary to add nested <a4j:support> to the component.

Common JSF navigation could be performed after Ajax submit and partial rendering, but Navigation Case must be defined as <redirect/> in order to avoid problems with some browsers.

As any Core Ajax component sending Ajax requests and processing server responses <a4j:commandLink> has all attributes described above (see <a4j:support> chapter) that provide the required behavior of requests sending (delay, limitation of submit area and rendering, etc.)

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

6.5.5. Relevant resources links

Here you can see the example of <a4j:commandLink> usage and sources for the given example