ReRender using client-side dom id

Question

Is it possible to use client-side DOM ids for rerendering. I have noted that JSF/Richfaces only accepts server-side DOM names.
e.g.
<h:form id="myForm">
    <h:outputText id="testData" value="#{testAction.testData}" >
    <a4j:commandButton id="updateData" value="Update Data"
                             action="#{testAction.updateData}" reRender="testData"/>
</h:form>client-side DOM id: testData
server-side DOM id: myForm:testData
Is there some method on the server (maybe in rerender phase) that I call to achieve this i.e. reRender="myForm:testData"
Thanks,
Philip

Answer 1

The problem that I've posted is just an example. The real jsf page is extremely complex which is made up repeating data that is nested multiple levels deep. I'm trying to minimize the amount of data being rerendered as the page is over 1.5MB in size as it stands, but still needs to be extremely interactive and responsive.
The form lives within the repeating rich:dataGrid to minimize the amount of data being submitted to the server. In the real application this repeat is nested within a few other repeats multiple levels deep. I also use ajax regions to minimize the amount of processing on the server side.
The problem I'm trying to solve is as follows:
1) I have page with lots of repeating data multiple levels deep. At each data level content is represented in a set of panels/forms.
2) Changing one value in one of the forms can initiate a complex set of events, where data needs to be rerendered in other areas outside the current form (but on the same page).
3) The data across all these tables can be sorted by the end user, which means that I have lost the original link between the backing data and the client-DOM component i.e. if you sort data, the data changes its position, but the DOM components remain unchanged. This is problematic as I need to know down to a single field what needs to rerendered.
The solution that I am trying to employ:
1) As the page loads (or is subsequently rerendered on a post-back) I store a unique identifier (based on pk of the backing component - ejb entity) and the client dom id of the component back in a map on the server (pk to client dom map). I only need to do this for a select set of fields that I know might change during step 2 above. If one element is changed that causes a data change in another area of the screen, I can get to the client ID by doing a look up on pk/client dom map.
2) I am using the ajaxKeys property combined with the field name to calculate the exact component that needs to be renrendered. However, to get at this I need to parse the client ID to figure out the ajaxKeys and field name. I then need to set these keys for every table that is a parent of the current field that I am trying to rerender. One issue that I am faced with using this approach is: if I need to update more than one field within the same rerender but is based on different ajaxKeys - still trying to figure this one out.
This process would be so much easier if I could just tell JSF to rerender based on the set of client IDs that I know need to be rerendered.
Thanks for the advice.
Philip