You can drag the Standard JavaServer Faces Hidden Field component 
from
the Palette to the Visual Designer to create a hidden text field.
A hidden field is a form field that is not visible, but can
be used to pass form data to the server. A typical use of a
hidden field is to pass parameters between pages in applications
that use multiple pages. Hidden Field components render as <input
type='hidden'> in HTML. The value of the field is the
data the field stores and passes back to the server when the
form is submitted.
- Note: This component is a JavaServer Faces reference implementation. The Hidden Field component in the Basic category is similar, but has support for features that improve ease of use.
Since the field is hidden, the component does not appear on the page, but it does appear in the Outline window. You can select the hidden field in the Outline window and right-click it to open its pop-up menu.
After adding a hidden field to a page, you can do a number of things with it:
- Select the component and edit its properties. Some typical
properties to edit are:
- id. The name of the component. In the JSP file,
this name is the value of the component's id
attribute. In the page bean, this property's value is
the name of the HtmlInputHidden object.
- value. The value that will be sent to the server.
- id. The name of the component. In the JSP file,
this name is the value of the component's id
attribute. In the page bean, this property's value is
the name of the HtmlInputHidden object.
- Right-click the component and choose one of the following
pop-up menu items:
- Edit Event Handler. Write code for one of the
following event handlers.
- validate. Opens the Java Editor with the
cursor positioned in the component's validate
method so you can insert code to validate the value
of the component.
- processValueChange. Opens the Java Editor
with the cursor positioned in the component's processValueChange
method so you can insert code that executes when the
value of this component changes (for example, the user
changes the value of another component that is controlling
the value of this component).
- validate. Opens the Java Editor with the
cursor positioned in the component's validate
method so you can insert code to validate the value
of the component.
- Bind to Data. Opens a dialog box that enables you to bind the component's
valueproperty to a data provider or an object so your application can evaluate it when the page is submitted. For more information, see Bind to Data Dialog Box.
- Auto-submit on Change. Causes the form to be automatically submitted if the value of the component changes. Sets the component's JavaScript onclick property to
common_timeoutSubmitForm(this.form, 'component-id');. At runtime, this code causes the form to be automatically submitted if the component value changes. Once the form is submitted, conversion and validation occur on the server and any value change listener methods execute, and then the page is redisplayed.
A component configured to Auto-submit on Change can use virtual forms to limit the input fields that are processed when the form is submitted. If the auto-submit component is defined to submit a virtual form, only the participants in that virtual form will be processed when the auto-submit occurs.
- Configure Virtual Forms. Enables you to add the component to a virtual form.
- Property Bindings. Opens a dialog box that enables
you to bind the properties of the component to other objects
or properties that supply data for the values of this
component's properties.
- Edit Event Handler. Write code for one of the
following event handlers.
Close