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Wiki source code of ERPrototaculous

Version 284.1 by Ravi Mendis on 2009/07/17 02:03
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1 == Introduction ==
2
3 ERPrototaculous was developed to provide the ajax functionality in ERDivaLook.
4
5 === What is ERPrototaculous? ===
6
7 Features include:
8
9 * 'Organic' support for Prototype and Scriptaculous in WebObjects.
10 ** Light-weight dynamic elements to support Prototype
11 ** No custom patches to Prototype
12 ** Sans the need to extend Prototype
13 * Use of [[Unobtrusive Javascript>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unobtrusive_JavaScript]].
14 * Pseudo-stateless ajax responses
15 * A set of widgets in the Prototype + Scriptaculous family.
16
17 ==== Unobtrusive Javascript in ERPrototaculous ====
18
19 Unobtrusive javascript is used in contrast to on-demand style of ajax programming.
20 By including Javascript as well as CSS globally in the page wrapper, CSS and Javascript don't have to load inside each and every ajax requests.
21 This keeps the ajax responses compact and granular.
22
23 The result is **faster** and more **reliable** ajax in WebObjects.
24
25 ==== Prototype WebObjects Elements ====
26
27 ##Ajax.Updater## and ##Ajax.Request## have been implemented as WebObjects dynamic elements.
28
29 ===== Ajax.Updater =====
30
31 Support for Prototype's [[Ajax.Updater>>http://www.prototypejs.org/api/ajax/updater]] is in the form of three components:
32
33 * AjaxUpdaterLink
34 * AjaxUpdaterButton
35 * AjaxUpdaterForm (with ##onsubmit## for ajax form submission)
36
37 These components will update a **container** on the page:
38
39 {{code value="javascript"}}
40
41 new Ajax.Updater('container', url, {options});
42
43 {{/code}}
44
45 ===== Ajax.Request =====
46
47 Prototype's [[Ajax.Request>>http://www.prototypejs.org/api/ajax/request]] is in the form of:
48
49 * AjaxRequestLink
50 * AjaxRequestButton
51
52 These are used for strictly **background** ajax communication:
53
54 {{code value="javascript"}}
55
56 new Ajax.Request(url, {options});
57
58 {{/code}}
59
60 ==== Prototype + Scriptaculous Widgets ====
61
62 * Accordion
63 * LightWindow
64 * ModalBox
65 * CalendarDateSelect
66 * FileUpload
67
68 == Forms in ERPrototaculous ==
69
70 Differences from using forms in WebObjects. i.e ##WOForm##:
71
72 1. All form controls must be named. This includes text fields, selects and buttons.
73 (WebObjects dynamically assigned names are not compatible with ERPrototaculous).
74 1. All forms in an ERPrototaculous app are instances of ##AjaxUpdaterForm##.
75 1. Form submit buttons can be the form of a:
76
77 *
78 ** Static ##<button>##.
79 ** WOSubmitButton (if the result is to update whole page/app).
80 ** AjaxUpdaterButton (to update a **container**). Or
81 ** AjaxRequestButton (for a **background** ajax request).
82
83 == Ajax Page Caching in ERPrototaculous ==
84
85 One notable difference in the ERPrototaculous and Ajax.framework is in the ajax responses.
86 In ERPrototaculous, updates and actions break with "The WebObjects Way" by being pseudo-stateless.
87
88 Instead of returning a fresh response, an ajax update just returns the same (instance of the) page fragment.
89
90 The reason returning a fresh response is not necessary is because a client never travels back or forwards through the ajax application history - unlike in a typical WebObjects app.
91 Here the current state of the page fragment is all that is necessary.
92
93 == Actions in ERPrototaculous ==
94
95 Typically, in a WebObjects application, an action would return the contents of the entire page.
96
97 Ajax responses are typically page fragments or part of a page.
98 So you should make sure the actions in ERPrototaculous (or AjaxUpdaterButton and AjaxRequestButton) return the proper page fragment as opposed to the entire page.
99 This breaks with WO-tradition, so this is where you need to be careful.
100
101 {{note title="Actions"}}
102
103 ERPrototaculous actions *differ* from Ajax.framework actions - _They must return only the page fragment_.
104
105 {{/note}}
106
107 To assist with page fragments inside **forms**, you can make your ajax action responses a subclass of **WXPageFragment** (a utility to handle the forms processing between Prototype and WebObjects).