Differentiating HTTP Request through a URL and a value change listener

Question

Version Details:
Oracle JDeveloper 11g Release 1 11.1.1.4.0
Studio Edition Version 11.1.1.4.0
Build JDEVADF_11.1.1.4.0_GENERIC_101227.1736.5923
IDE Version: 11.1.1.4.37.59.23
Product ID: oracle.jdeveloper
Product Version: 11.1.1.4.37.59.23
ADF Business Components     11.1.1.59.23
Java(TM) Platform     1.6.0_21
Oracle IDE     11.1.1.4.37.59.23
Versioning Support     11.1.1.4.37.59.23
Base Details:
The Product, that a different team is working on (<i><b>which I cannot access, code, touch,...</b></i>), creates reports and essentially generates a URL with a bunch of parameters:
http://<host>:<port>/myApplication/main.jspx?parameter1=value1&parameter2=value2...When the user clicks on an "Edit" button, a modal popup window is displayed (using jQuery) with an embedded iFrame with its source pointing to the above URL.
The "myApplication" is an ADF application which brings up an ADF form based on the parameters. Once the user enters the data, validations occur and the data is written into a total of 3 different Tables in the Database. Once the operation is finished, the user closes the popup by clicking on the "X" button of the popup window, which essentially does "popup.*hide()*".
Limitations:
<li>Since there are varied combination of parameter values and associated ADF forms, taskflows is not* an option.
<li>Since the logic of generating the ADF form is not straightforward, ADF BC is not* an option.
<li>Since validations are based on the value change listeners, the managed bean has to be a session scope_ bean.
Problem:
When, for the first time, the user clicks on the Edit button with a particular set of parameter values, the corresponding ADF form is displayed and things work normal. Since the managed bean is under session scope, the form generated for the first popup window stays the same for any subsequent popup windows, even when the URL and its parameters are completely different. As I can not listen to the popup close event, I cannot invalidate my session either.
I tried using filters in the web.xml to grab the request and apply the business logic. Due to the presence of multiple value change listeners (too many <tt>autosubmit=true</tt>), every value change listener triggers a request and so the business logic gets applied with every value change.
After some tests, I deduced that the difference between the call from iFrame and the call from value change is the HTTP Request Method - GET for iFrame and POST for value change listener. So in my filter I apply the business logic when there is a GET request and not apply when its a POST request.
Turns out, that is not a valid enough differentiation between the two requests being made. Sometimes, even the value change listeners are issuing a GET request.
Question:
*<font color="red">1</font>*. Is there a way to force the value change listeners to always trigger a POST request?
*<font color="red">2</font>*. Is there a way to differentiate the requests originating from the other team's Product and those generated by my own value change listeners?
*<font color="red">3</font>*. Is there a different approach, incorporating the above-mentioned limitations, to clear out the session scope each time when a request is made through iFrame? That is, whenever a request is made through the other team's Product?
Edited by: user737922 on Apr 13, 2011 10:58 AM

Answer 1

_(Temporary) Solution_:
Summary:
I am using the request parameter <b><tt>_adf.ctrl-state</tt></b> to differentiate between the HTTP requests that my application receives.
Details:
When I receive the request from the other team's Product, I receive a <tt>GET</tt> and a <tt>adf.ctrl-state</tt> value which I store into a local variable in my session-scoped managed bean. The <tt>adf.ctrl-state</tt> value stays the same for all requests (<tt>GET</tt> or <tt>POST</tt>) made from within my own application. It changes only when there is a new request from the other team's Product.
Also, as my application is accessed through an iFrame, there is no possibility of the generated URL being modified by the end-user.
For now it seems that the solution is appropriate but I am not fully confident if relying on the <tt>_adf.ctrl-state</tt> value is the best approach.