Passing a method call to a facelet tag

Question

Hello,
I am trying to create a JSF confirmation box that replaces the Javascript confirm() function. I am using Seam and Rich Faces 3.2.1. The confirm box is a facelet tag that pops up a modal box with 'cancel' and a 'continue' buttons. Everything is working correctly except for one crucial piece; passing the method call for continue button.
Here is the set up for the facelets tag in the main xhtml page:
<at:confirm
    id="confirm"
    title="Confirm"
    message="Do you want to continue"
    buttonText="Continue"
    backingBean="#{confirmAction}"
    method="testMethodTwo"
/>Here is the code for the button inside the facelets tag:
<a4j:commandLink
    styleClass="rdSplGr1"
    href="#"
    action="#{backingBean[method]}">
    <s:span>#{buttonText}</s:span>
</a4j:commandLink>The method simply does nothing when the use clicks the button. I am assuming this is due to the lack of "()" however there does not seem to be a way to get those in there. I have tried the following:
1) placing the parens like this - method="testMethodTwo()"
2) placing the parens like this - action="#{backingBean[method]()}"
The first does nothing, the second causes an EL exception.
I know that it has nothing to do with the modal as I have also placed a button like this into the modal:
<a4j:commandLink
    styleClass="rdSplGr1"
    href="#"
    action="#{confirmAction.testMethodOne()}">
     <s:span>MethodOne</s:span>
</a4j:commandLink>That button as you can see has what I am trying to create dynamically and it works like a charm.
So how do I pass a method call correctly? Or if that is impossible how do I solve the problem of having a the continue button having a different method assigned to it?
Thanks for any insight into this.
Edited by: Rhythmicdevil on Aug 4, 2008 7:57 AM

Answer 1

I agree, reflection should be a last resort. An
interface would not be useful if you don't know what
method you want to invoke at compile time. Interfaces
are useful when you know the method you want to
invoke, but not the class.That's not true. This is a really lame-ass example but it shows the point.
public interface RuntimeMethod
   public void method();
class AClass {
   public static void main(Sting[] args)
      new AClass.handleAtRuntime(
         Factory.getRuntimeMethod(Integer.parse(args[0])));
   public void handleAtRuntime(RuntimeMethod runtime)
      runtime.method();
class Factory
   public static getRuntimeMethod(int method)
      switch(method)
         case 0: return new RuntimeMethod
            public void method()
               methodA();
         case 2: return new RuntimeMethod
            public void method()
               methodB();
         default:
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("bad input");
}