Hello all...
I've been using Tapestry for a while...first 3, then 4. My main app is
still in 4, but I'm willing to move it to 5...so...we can talk about T5,
and apologies for what might be basic T5 questions, because I haven't
delved too deeply into T5 yet. I keep waiting for a book. :)
I have found Jumpstart and have looked around there.
Anyways...most of my app has static forms and fits right in to the whole
"static structure, dynamic behavior" thing. But I'm running smack dab
into the one thing that I think I'm going to have trouble with.
I need to generate a configuration file for another system. That config
file is XML, although that's pretty inconsequential. The point is, I
need to run a text file through some processing and substitute specific
values for parameters.
I have template config files. A given device will combine a template
with values and produce a filled-in file. An example at the top of the
template config file looks like this:
<parameters>
<parameter name="internal_ip_address"
description="IP Address for internal network"/>
<parameter name="external_ip_address"
description="IP Address for external network"/>
</parameters>
You can guess where this is going.
I want to build a Web GUI to provide the parameter values. It will need
to open up the specified template, read through the list of parameters,
and make a form.
The only way I can see to do something like that is by using a Grid,
where each parameter would be a row in the grid. I can't use a
BeanEdit, because I can't define the Bean itself at compile time...it
comes from the XML template at run time.
The problem I see with using Grid is losing the ability to do field
validators...each particular row in the Grid would have a "value" field
that might require a different validation for each parameter.
I'm just looking for a suggestion as to what to look at to solve this.
The general response to questions like this seems to be "redefine your
problem and nail down your data model". I could...I could require that
each template have an associated JavaBean associated with it. This
means a Java developer would have to be involved whenever a new template
is needed, which I wanted to avoid. OTOH, I can see that I could
quickly end up reimplementing a T4 looking description language in the
<parameter> section there if I get any more complicated (ie, validators).
I've been writing web apps for a while, primarily by hand in Perl, then
stumbling through it by hand in JSP, then with Tapestry. I can conceive
of how to do this by hand using the scary old methods. I'd like to try
to stay "in model" with Tapestry...but I fear that my requirements are
at odds with Tapestry's base assumptions. I'm willing to reconsider my
requirements, but I'd like to try to avoid requiring new Java code for a
new template.
Anyways, thanks for any help or suggestions.
Kevin
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