Choosing a builder that uses Ajax and related techniques

Portlet Factory, Version 6.1.2

Choosing a builder that uses Ajax and related techniques

Several builders use Ajax and related techniques.

Table 1. Builders to use Ajax and related techniques
Task Builder you should use
Have just one part of a page refresh when the user does an action.
The page action builders have an option for Post-Action Behavior that can trigger a partial-page refresh instead of refreshing the entire page. The builders with this support include Link, Button, Image Button, HTML Event Action, and Form Submit Action builders.
The Ajax Region builder can be used to mark an area of the page, an entire page, or an entire model for partial refresh. With this builder, any actions triggered from within the selected area cause a refresh of that area only.
Create a popup window without the containing portal or other surrounding pages. Use a page action builder such as Button, Link, and HTML Event Action to invoke the page or action for the popup. Then in the Post-Action Behavior section, select Show Advanced Options and choose Show action results standalone: display no containing pages.
Support drag and drop in the application. The Dojo Drag Source and Dojo Drop Target builders are used together to provide drag and drop features on a page. Use the Dojo Drag Source builder to designate a location on a page as the drag source and to specify a single piece of data to be passed to the target action. Use the Dojo Drop Target builder to designate a location on the page as the drop area and to specify a method action to invoke when the drop occurs. The method will be passed the data from the drag source. The drag drop can operate on a single page or span across multiple pages, for example, in a portal environment.
Support dynamic editing of the tabular data that the application displays. Use the Dojo Inline Edit Builder to add editing capabilities to a Data Page field so that it initially appears as read-only text. The text can be edited by clicking a pencil edit icon next to the text field. Once editing is complete, the user has the option to cancel the changes or save the results either to the page (as a hidden input) or submit the outer form.
Create a text input field with Ajax-based type-ahead so that when a user types, they immediately see a drop-down list of suggestions. Use the Ajax Type-Ahead builder to attach to an HTML text input field, and provide what is generally known as "type ahead" functionality for that input. The list of choices for the drop-down can come from any XML in the model or from a Lookup Table.
Validate a form before the user submits it. Use the Dynamic Validation builder to validate a user's input to fields on a form as the user is working with the form. This builder enables incremental client/server validation. It validates the form data and displays any error messages whenever an input value is edited.
Display a tooltip when the user hovers over a certain part of the page. The Dojo Tooltip builder allows the application to display a popup text box when the user's mouse hovers over a specified target on a page. The tooltip text can be a simple caption string, or an entire page in your model.
You want the row the user hovers over to be highlighted in a different color. The Highlighter builder highlights a row in a table (or a field in a form) as the user's mouse moves over it.
Use client-side events between applications or within an application. In the Event Declaration builder, select Use client side delivery. Then use the Client Event Handler builder to handle the event that has been marked for client-side delivery.
Access HTML, XML, or JSON data for use in client JavaScript™. You can generate a standalone URL to any model page or action by using the WebAppAccess method getBackChannelUrl.
To automatically generate JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) data from XML data, you can use the XML/JavaScript Converter builder. The JSON data can then be consumed by existing or custom UI elements on the client. This builder can be used in conjunction with the Link, Button, Image Button, HTML Event Action, and Form Submit Action builders, when Evaluate action results as JavaScript is set as the Post-Action Behavior in those builders.

Library | Support |

Task	Builder you should use
Have just one part of a page refresh when the user does an action.	The page action builders have an option for Post-Action Behavior that can trigger a partial-page refresh instead of refreshing the entire page. The builders with this support include Link, Button, Image Button, HTML Event Action, and Form Submit Action builders. The Ajax Region builder can be used to mark an area of the page, an entire page, or an entire model for partial refresh. With this builder, any actions triggered from within the selected area cause a refresh of that area only.
Create a popup window without the containing portal or other surrounding pages.	Use a page action builder such as Button, Link, and HTML Event Action to invoke the page or action for the popup. Then in the Post-Action Behavior section, select Show Advanced Options and choose Show action results standalone: display no containing pages.
Support drag and drop in the application.	The Dojo Drag Source and Dojo Drop Target builders are used together to provide drag and drop features on a page. Use the Dojo Drag Source builder to designate a location on a page as the drag source and to specify a single piece of data to be passed to the target action. Use the Dojo Drop Target builder to designate a location on the page as the drop area and to specify a method action to invoke when the drop occurs. The method will be passed the data from the drag source. The drag drop can operate on a single page or span across multiple pages, for example, in a portal environment.
Support dynamic editing of the tabular data that the application displays.	Use the Dojo Inline Edit Builder to add editing capabilities to a Data Page field so that it initially appears as read-only text. The text can be edited by clicking a pencil edit icon next to the text field. Once editing is complete, the user has the option to cancel the changes or save the results either to the page (as a hidden input) or submit the outer form.
Create a text input field with Ajax-based type-ahead so that when a user types, they immediately see a drop-down list of suggestions.	Use the Ajax Type-Ahead builder to attach to an HTML text input field, and provide what is generally known as "type ahead" functionality for that input. The list of choices for the drop-down can come from any XML in the model or from a Lookup Table.
Validate a form before the user submits it.	Use the Dynamic Validation builder to validate a user's input to fields on a form as the user is working with the form. This builder enables incremental client/server validation. It validates the form data and displays any error messages whenever an input value is edited.
Display a tooltip when the user hovers over a certain part of the page.	The Dojo Tooltip builder allows the application to display a popup text box when the user's mouse hovers over a specified target on a page. The tooltip text can be a simple caption string, or an entire page in your model.
You want the row the user hovers over to be highlighted in a different color.	The Highlighter builder highlights a row in a table (or a field in a form) as the user's mouse moves over it.
Use client-side events between applications or within an application.	In the Event Declaration builder, select Use client side delivery. Then use the Client Event Handler builder to handle the event that has been marked for client-side delivery.
Access HTML, XML, or JSON data for use in client JavaScript™.	You can generate a standalone URL to any model page or action by using the WebAppAccess method getBackChannelUrl. To automatically generate JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) data from XML data, you can use the XML/JavaScript Converter builder. The JSON data can then be consumed by existing or custom UI elements on the client. This builder can be used in conjunction with the Link, Button, Image Button, HTML Event Action, and Form Submit Action builders, when Evaluate action results as JavaScript is set as the Post-Action Behavior in those builders.