Integrate XForms with the Google Web Toolkit, Part 3

The Google Web Tookit (GWT) has become a very popular way to develop
Ajax applications. It allows Java developers to rapidly create Ajax
applications by leveraging their knowledge of Java technology without
requiring any knowledge of JavaScript. XForms represents an evolution
in the HTML standard, and allows for simple constructs to create
complex, dynamic behavior. Both GWT and XForms are powerful enough
to provide complete solutions to many problems. This four-part series
demonstrates how to use the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) and XForms
together to create a dynamic Web application. Part 1 looked at the
two technologies and how both had JavaScript underpinnings. Part 2
shows how to create a small application with two pages. One page uses
GWT to show a list of artists managed by a record company. The second
page uses XForms to display the albums recorded by a particular artist.
Part 3 uses GWT and XForms on the same page. It shows how to take
advantage of each technology's bindings to JavaScript by using
JavaScript to achieve interactivity between GWT and XForms. In this
installment, Part 3, we refactor the rock star application built in
Part 2. That application allows for record executives to manage
artists and their albums. We don't change any of the functionality
from Part 2; instead we change the implementation of that functionality
by mixing GWT and XForms together. You'll see how GWT can be easily
introduced to any existing Web page. We use a GWT-style Ajax call to
load the data dynamically and then use GWT's JSNI to dynamically
create the XForms model. This will allow you to simplify your page,
and you'll simplify it even more by using GWT JSNI to dynamically
create your XForms controls. Mixing GWT elements will not only
simplify the server-side code, it will create smaller initial pages,
with faster downloads and rendering. More Information

Integrate XForms with the Google Web Toolkit

The Google Web Tookit (GWT) has become a very popular way to develop
Ajax applications. It allows Java developers to rapidly create Ajax
applications by leveraging their knowledge of Java technology without
requiring any knowledge of JavaScript. XForms represents an evolution
in the HTML standard, and allows for simple constructs to create
complex, dynamic behavior. Both GWT and XForms are powerful enough to
provide complete solutions to many problems. This four-part series
demonstrates how to use the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) and XForms
together to create a dynamic Web application. Part 1 starts with a
bottom-up approach to the problem of using GWT and XForms together.
It takes a look at some of the underpinnings of each technology,
examining the common ground between them that will allow for their
peaceful coexistence. This will lay the foundation for developing a
Web application that uses both GWT and XForms together. XForms is a
standards-based technology that will be central in the next generation
of the HTML specification. XForms uses the familiar
Model-View-Controller paradigm. The key to XForms is separating
data from the physical view of the data. Sound like a familiar
concept? With the data separated, it can be viewed in any HTML-way
you can imagine. It can also be bound to form elements to allow for
a seamless way to enter data and to edit existing data. With a model
declared, you can easily create views from the data encapsulated by
the model. XForms contains numerous common controls for working with
model instance data. Each control can reference data from the model's
instance data. The instance data is in an XML format, so we can easily
navigate and reference it arbitrarily using XPath. XForms supports
the full XPath 2.0 specification. More Information