Details
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Improvement
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Status: Resolved
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Minor
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Resolution: Won't Do
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None
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None
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None
Description
We propose that Wicket would have the capability to instantiate type-specific FormComponents (CheckBox, DropDownChoice, etc.) automatically in a somewhat similar way that it now automatically handles type conversions (components such as Labels, Links, and Buttons to be generated also with suitable parametrization). It automatically also generates markup based on a template (input, select, link, button, label, etc. have somewhat different markup and there can be a custom standard structure like prefixes and suffixes etc.). There would be a default out-of-the-box mapping which user can override as necessary. The components are instantiated in a way that gives the components access to the context in which they are in, for example a model instantiator can access other components in the same context or an ajax event can access other components as necessary.
We have madea a custom implementation for this in our project using a component factory (we can maybe post here later as it gets more refined, whichever comes first). The benefits of this approach is that we can make a "defined-once-used-many-times" definition of an api (validation rules, component interdependencies, authorization) by listing properties user is allowed to interact with in a static manner, and using the same definition to generate both wicket ui and rest api. For example. Furthermore, it encourages best practices html/css layout generation when all components are generated in a standard way (for example, each FormComponent is automatically accompanied by a Label). We can make a static definition for a View and its contents could be Sections which contain Tables, Labels or FormComponents that are defined in a generic "table of contents" which is used to generate the ui. The "table of contents" can also be used for search based on either data values or field label (or even tooltip) properties.
Something similar (but maybe not as generic) has been discussed way back in thread http://apache-wicket.1842946.n4.nabble.com/Component-Factory-and-code-against-interface-td1846370.html