Updating Toplink objects with JSF

Question

I want to edit and update a client object obtained from TopLink so I do the following to obtain a UnitofWork:
binding = Util.getValueBinding("#{ClientApp}");
ClientApp clientApp = (ClientApp)binding.getValue(fcontext);
uow = clientApp.getSession().acquireUnitOfWork();
clientClone = (Client) uow.registerExistingObject(clientApp.getSelectedClient());
In my JSF edit screen I have input fields with value bindings to clientClone like this:
<af:inputText value="#{ClientDetailPage.clientClone.name}"/>
At the bottom I have a save button with an action method like this:
public String save()
Integer i = clientClone.getRegistrationNumber();
uow.commitAndResume();
return "null";
By placing a break point on the first line of the above function I can see that the changes I made in the name input field have not yet been applied to the name field in clientClone. What do I need to do to have the commit invoked after the changes have been applied (or force the changes to be applied before I invoke the commit)?
I can't find any examples beyond the simple populating of a JSF screen from TopLink data (which I have working) and all of the TopLink documentation refers to explicitly calling the set methods of the clone which seems redundant.

Answer 1

I received some example code from JJ and eventually tracked down my problem. It is a little embarrassing but I was storing my UOW in the page backing bean which was in request scope. Once I moved the UOW out to a session scope application bean everything worked as I expected.
I am interested in discussing your "without any coding" comment and will contact you directly after you get back from the conference (I am working on a project for Industry Canada in Ottawa).