ATG Page Developer's Guide

In most ATG operations, you update a Map property by updating a specific key value as if it were a servlet bean property:

<dsp:input type="text" bean="MyBean.value.addresses.city"/>

While addresses is a Map property and city is a key, this tag represents addresses and city as properties. Making a change to a key’s value requires entering text into a text box and submitting the operation.

The RepositoryFormHandler default setting lets you manipulate Maps as lists, providing additional flexibility. To make changes to the keys and values in a Map or set a series of repository IDs as values dynamically, use the RepositoryFormHandler properties editMapAsLists and keysAndRepositoryIds respectively. The keysAndValues property can also assist in these processes by letting you dynamically update a series of primitive values.

editMapsAsLists

You typically interact with Maps by treating them as servlet beans. For example, to expose a value, you specify the key as an input parameter. You cannot add new key/value pairs when you work with Maps in this way.

Alternatively, you can treat a Map as a list with the RepositoryFormHandler. If the editMapsAsLists property is set to true, you can use dsp:input and dsp:setvalue tags to expose or update a Map’s, as with any list property.

To use this feature:

For example, a Shipping Address page where users can enter additional shipping addresses might include this code:

<dsp:input type="hidden"
bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.addresses.numNewValues" value="2"/>
<dsp:input type="hidden" bean=MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.addresses.updateMode"
value="append"/>

Enter Home Address:
     <dsp:input bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.addresses.keys[0]"
     type="hidden" value="home"/><br/>Street:&nbsp;
     <dsp:input bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.addresses[0].street"
     type="text" value=""/><br/>City:&nbsp;
     <dsp:input bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.addresses[0].city" type="text"
     value=""/><br/>State:&nbsp;
     <dsp:input bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.addresses[0].state"
     type="text" value=""/><br/>Postal Code:&nbsp;
     <dsp:input bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.addresses[0].postalCode"
      type="text" value=""/>

Enter Work Address:
     <dsp:input bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.addresses.keys[1]"
     type="hidden" value="work"/><br/>Street:&nbsp;
     <dsp:input bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.addresses[1].street"
     type="text" value=""/><br/>City:&nbsp;
     <dsp:input bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.addresses[1].city" type="text"
     value=""/><br/>State:&nbsp;
     <dsp:input bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.addresses[1].state"
     type="text" value=""/><br/>Postal Code:&nbsp;
     <dsp:input bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.addresses[1].postalCode"
     type="text" value=""/>

This page supplies a set of four text boxes for each of the two addresses: one is identified by the key home and the other by the key work. Because updateMode is set to append, the addresses are added to the existing addresses Map. By setting the numNewValues property to 2, the ATG platform creates two key/value pairs for the addresses Map, which are populated by the values that the user provides through the form. On form submission, the new keys and values are appended to the current values to addresses.

Note: A Map must have unique keys. If home and work already exist as keys in the addresses property, their values are replaced by the new ones supplied in the form, despite the updateMode setting.

keysAndRepositoryIds

The keysAndRepositoryIds property lets you simultaneously set a Map key and value, where the Map value is a multi-valued property that holds a collection of repository IDs. Without keysAndRepositoryIds, performing this operation requires two input tags.

<dsp:input type="text" 
  bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.favorites.keys[0] value=""/>
<dsp:input type="text"
  bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.favorites.repositoryIds[0] value=""/>

The keysAndRepositoryIds property lets you accomplish this task with greater flexibility and power. Values saved to the keysAndRepositoryIds property must follow this format:

key=repositoryId

Note:The separator used in this example is the default value assigned to the mapKeyValueSeparator property. You can change the recognized separator by updating the value in this property.

You can use page parameters to set dynamic key repository ID values and configure a Format bean to provide the syntax. For example, you might want to track the brands each customer prefers. Each brand is associated with a business, and one business can maintain several brands; so you want to organize the brands by parent business. Therefore, you display the brands as text boxes. When checked, you want the favorites Map to save a business name and brand ID as the key and repositoryId respectively. You might design your code like this:

<dsp:form action="keysandids.jsp" method="post">
   <dsp:input bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.favorites.updateMode"
   type="text" value="prepend"/>
   <br/>
   <dsp:droplet name="/atg/dynamo/droplet/RQLQueryForEach">
     <dsp:param bean="/atg/userprofiling/ProfileAdapterRepository"
     name="repository"/>
     <dsp:param name="itemDescriptor" value="business"/>
     <dsp:param name="queryRQL" value="all"/>
     <dsp:oparam name="output">
       <dsp:droplet name="/atg/dynamo/droplet/Format">
         <dsp:param name="key" param="index"/>
         <dsp:param name="repositoryId" param="element.repositoryId"/>
         <dsp:param name="format" value="{key}={repositoryId}"/>
         <dsp:oparam name="output">
            <dsp:input
            bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.value.favorites.keysAndRepositoryIds"
            paramvalue="message" type="checkbox"/><dsp:valueof param="message">not
            set</dsp:valueof>
           <br/>
         </dsp:oparam>
       </dsp:droplet>
     </dsp:oparam>
   </dsp:droplet>
   <dsp:input bean="MyRepositoryFormHandler.update" type="submit" value="Update"/>
</dsp:form>

The RQLQueryForEach and the ProfileAdapterRepository retrieve the brands saved as business items in the repository. Assume that each brand displays in a text box in the page and when it is modified, the Format bean associates each business name and brand ID to the key and repositoryId properties of a Profile component favorites Map.

keysAndValues

You can configure keys and values that are primitive data types for Maps with the keysAndValues property. As with the keysAndRepositoryIds property, you do so in the context of a JSP, with a similar format:

key=value

For a detailed example and explanation, see keysAndRepositoryIds.