Binding UI Components to Data

Adding UI Components to the Page You can create components on a page by: Dragging a component from the Component Palette Using the context menu in editor or Structure window Dragging a data element from the Data Controls panel

Using the Component Palette Drag the component from the Component Palette:

Using the Context Menu

Using the Data Controls Panel The Data Controls panel: Is a visual representation of your business service that contains: – Methods – Parameters and results – Attributes – Collections – Built-in operations Provides automatic data binding for any business service; for example, there automatically is a data control for every ADF BC application module

Describing the ADF Model Layer Data controls describe the public interface of a business service. Bindings connect UI components to data or actions. Data controls and bindings are defined by using XML metadata.

Types of Data Bindings Iterator Binding: Keeps track of the current row in a data collection Value Binding: Connects UI components to attributes in a data collection; examples: attribute binding, tree binding, list binding, table binding Action Binding: Invokes a method or operation

Using Expression Language (EL)

Expression Language and Bindings Data binding expressions are written using EL. They are evaluated at run time to determine what data to display. ADF EL expressions typically have the form: #{bindingVariable.BindingObject.propertyName} – Example of an inputText component in a JSF page: <af:inputText value="#{bindings.Ename.inputValue}” label="#{bindings.Ename.label}” required="#{bindings.Ename.mandatory}">

Opening a Page Definition File The page definition file PageDef.xml (for example, browseOrdersPageDef.xml ): Is created automatically when you add a databound component to a page Contains all the binding definitions for a page To open a page definition, perform the following steps: 1.Right-click the page in the editor or Application Navigator. 2. Select Go to Page Definition.

Editing Bindings in a Page Definition File

Tracing Data Binding: From Database to Databound Components