Has the <html:control> you mention below been implemented already or is it in the works at all?
Not as such. The idea's come up a few times. I've been using FormProc for validation lately, and might try to extend that sometime to support more of the attributes you'd need for something like html:control. Once the appropriate attributes were available, the rest starts to fall into place. Tags, like Mentats, need data. :)
The essential idea would be to abstract a UI component into a generic UI object and let the object tell the tag what control to write. So, it's the other-way around from how we usually do it now. The object (or JavaBean) is running the show, and the tag just does like its told.
One perspective is that we need to define an "field dictionary" for an application. We should be able to define a field's label, target type, default control, hint, validator, error message, and so forth in a single place, and then reuse those field attributes throughout the application. A form could then become a collection of reusable fields.
And, this isn't just a UI thing, the business tier uses these fields too. In the Commons Chain work (and DynaBean before that), we're finding it convenient to use named attributes rather than strict JavaBean properties. This is another place where a concrete dictionary that says this field uses this attribute key would be useful.
So, essentially, it would be helpful if there a meta-class that combined the properties required by Swing, SWT, and HTML 4.1 controls with selected properties from ResultMetaData. For extra credit, it could also support the Java Metadata Interface <http://java.sun.com/products/jmi/>. :)
The point of this class would not be to *store* the data, but to *describe* the data we're storing.
Once in place, packages like Hibernate and iBATIS might offer support for the metaclass, and so you'd have something to help glue the User Interface layer of your choice with the Data Persistence layer of your choice.
It's quite possible several packages offer such a thing already, but buried within a larger implementation, making it difficult to share. (Hark! I hear the Commons calling.)
This could be an interesting space to explore with Jelly, which is already doing things with Swing and SWT, along the the usual taglib stuff.
Of course, I'm sure there's overlap with JSF in this space, but I'm waiting for the dust to settle before spending too much time with that gorilla. :)
Hmmm, how long before we see JellyFaces, I wonder.
-Ted.
-- Ted Husted, Junit in Action - <http://www.manning.com/massol/>, Struts in Action - <http://husted.com/struts/book.html>, JSP Site Design - <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1861005512>.
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