Nesting multiple h:dataTables with bindings

Question

Hi,
I'm trying to nest multiple dataTables with nested bindings. I'm not sure if it's possible, but here are the error and associated code:
Aug 3, 2010 12:10:30 PM com.sun.faces.lifecycle.Phase doPhase
SEVERE: JSF1054: (Phase ID: RENDER_RESPONSE 6, View ID: /news/create.jsp) Exception thrown during phase execution: javax.faces.event.PhaseEvent[source=com.sun.faces.lifecycle.LifecycleImpl@1b4e829]
Aug 3, 2010 12:10:30 PM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve invoke
SEVERE: Servlet.service() for servlet Faces Servlet threw exception
org.apache.jasper.el.JspPropertyNotFoundException: /news/create.jsp(411,21) '#{otherBean.thirdBeanData}' Target Unreachable, identifier 'otherBean' resolved to null
     at org.apache.jasper.el.JspValueExpression.setValue(JspValueExpression.java:91)
     at com.sun.faces.application.ApplicationImpl.createComponent(ApplicationImpl.java:254)
<h:dataTable value="#{MyBean.otherBeanList}" var="otherBean"
                   binding="#{MyBean.otherBeanData}" id="otherBeans">
      <h:outputText value="#{otherBean.name}"/>
      <h:dataTable value="#{otherBean.thirdBeanList}" var="thirdBean"
                         binding="#{otherBean.thirdBeanData}" id="thirdBeans">
            <h:outputText value="#{thirdBean.name}" />
            <h:outputText value="#{thirdBean.value}" />
      </h:dataTable>
</h:dataTable>I use the data bindings to maintain dynamic lists which can be expanded and deleted from by the user. I need to have a dynamic list within a dynamic list. Any ideas what I am doing wrong, or if it's not possible - how I can achieve this in another manner? If I don't have the nested data tables, it works great but when I nest one I get the error.
Thanks!
EDIT: So I thought I had solved this.  I added another UIData field to MyBean and tried to bind the inner data table to that instead of to otherBean.thirdBeanData.  I thought it was working, but it turns out that it is not.  I can only access the data from the inner data table where the button is clicked.  I believe this would work fine if I only needed to be able to add/delete from the lists.
However, I am also using the data bindings to update the model values from the form on every click. This is to maintain data between page refreshes so that the user will not lose any data they entered.  Since I cannot access the other inner datatables, I cannot update and maintain these values.  I guess I am back to square one, so any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.
John
Edited by: jrock on Aug 3, 2010 2:41 PM

Answer 1

I found an ugly hack which is probably not the way to go, but it works:
private void fixValueChangeListeners() {
     if(this.selectedWorkCenter.getValueChangeListeners().length > 1) {
          this.selectedWorkCenter.removeValueChangeListener(this.selectedWorkCenter.getValueChangeListeners()[1]);
          logger.debug("Workcenter dropdown contained too many ValueChangeListeners");
}This method is called each time a ValueChangedListener is fired... :-|
Please, if anyone has a better method of fixing this I'm still listening!