Ajax style loading with IceFaces

Question

I have a page on which I show a list of objects which are loaded from a webservice. This may take a while. Now I'd like to do it the Ajax way and first show the page and then load the list. While the list is loading a animated should be shown. Can anybody give me an example how to do that with JSF/ICEFaces? Thanks.

Answer 1

Ok, solved it myself.

Here's how I'm doing it:

in the Managed Bean's constructor I'm calling a method which creates and starts a new thread. This thread loads the objects. As soon as the objects are there the 'loading' flag of my bean is set to false and

PersistentFacesState.getInstance().renderLater();   

is called. 'loading' is initially set to false.

That's the method for loading the objects in async mode:

 private void asyncLoading() {
            final MyBackingBean bean = this;
            final String userName = CallerContextUtil.getCurrentUserCompany();
            new Thread() {
                @Override
                public void run() {
                    bean.setLoading(true); 
                    PersistentFacesState.getInstance().renderLater();       
                    load(userName );                
                    bean.setLoading(false);             
                    PersistentFacesState.getInstance().renderLater();                   
                }
            }.start();      
        }

On the view I'm showing or hiding an animated loading images on the state of the loading flag.

I don't know if that is the best or even a good solution. Comments are welcome.

Answer 2

It would be better to use the SessionRenderer. Have a look at my ICEfaces book examples (http://icecube-on-icefusion.googlecode.com/) and search for the progressDialog tag for an example. Or page 244ff in the book.

Answer 3

It is strongly discouraged to create new threads in a J2EE server. It's server's job to manage threads.

You can ask for the submission of an icefaces form using ajax when your page is loaded, that should do the trick.