Viewing the Database Structure

To see the if the tables were created correctly, expand the Tables node under the database connection node. You can expand a table node to see the table columns, indexes and any foreign keys. You can right-click a column and choose Properties to view additional information about the column.

Note. If you do not see any tables under the Tables node, right-click the Tables node and choose Refresh.

If you look at the structure of the consult database you can see that the database contains tables that have a variety of relationships and various field types. When creating entity classes from a database, the IDE automatically generates the appropriate code for the various field types.

The following table describes the tables found in the consult database.

The consult database includes a variety of relationships. When creating entity classes from a database, the IDE automatically generates the properties of the appropriate Java type based on the SQL type of the columns. The following table describes the entity relationships for the consult database. (The inverse relationships are not shown.)

Now that the database is created, you can create the web application and use the Entity Classes from Database wizard to generate entity classes based on the database tables.

Editing Address.java

Open the Address entity class and make the following changes.

1. Modify the return statement of the toString method to return the full address:

   return line1 + ", " + line2 + ", " + city + ", " + region + ", " + country + ", " + postalCode;

   You can use the IDE's code completion to help you add the fields.

   
2. Fix your imports, if necessary, and save your changes.

Editing Billable.java

Open the Billable entity class and make the following changes.

1. Modify the return statement of the toString method to return the description, consultant id and project:

   public String toString() {
           return description + ", " + consultantId + ", " + project;

2. Fix your imports, if necessary, and save your changes.

Editing Client.java

1. Modify the @OneToMany annotation on the recruiterCollection field to make the relationship one-to-one and change the field from a Collection to Recruiter recruiter.

   @OneToOne(mappedBy = "client")
   private Recruiter recruiter;

2. Modify the getters and setters for Collection<Recruiter> recruiterCollection according to the changes in the name of the field. The new getter and setter will look like the following:

   public Recruiter getRecruiter() {
       return recruiter;
   }
   
   public void setRecruiter(Recruiter recruiter) {
       this.recruiter = recruiter;
   }

   It might be simpler to delete the getter and setter for Collection<Recruiter> recruiterCollection and then generate a new getter and setter for Recruiter recruiter using the Insert Code dialog. To create a new getter and setter, right-click in the source code and choose Insert Code (Alt-Insert) and then select Getter and Setter. Select recruiter in the Generate Getter and Setter dialog box and click Generate.

   
3. Modify the return statement of the toString method to return String.valueOf(clientPK).

   public String toString() {
       return String.valueOf(clientPK);
   }

4. Fix your imports, if necessary, and save your changes.

Editing ClientPK.java

1. Modify the return statement of the toString method to return the client name and department number.

   public String toString() {
       return clientName + ", " + "Dept. " + clientDepartmentNumber;
   }

2. Fix your imports, if necessary, and save your changes.

Editing Consultant.java

1. Modify the return statement of the toString method to return the email.

   public String toString() {
       return email;
   }

2. Fix your imports, if necessary, and save your changes.

Editing ConsultantStatus.java

1. Modify the return statement of the toString method to return the status ID and description.

   public String toString() {
       return statusId + ", " + description;
   }

2. Fix your imports, if necessary, and save your changes.

Editing Project

1. Modify the return statement of the toString method to return the following:

   public String toString() {
       return (projectPK == null ? "(unnamed project)" : projectPK.getProjectName()) + ", " + client;
   }

2. Fix your imports, if necessary, and save your changes.

Editing Recruiter.java

1. Modify the @ManyToOne annotation on the client field to mark the relationship as one-to-one.

   @OneToOne
   private Client client;

2. Modify the return statement of the toString method to return the email.

   public String toString() {
       return email;
   }

3. Fix your imports, if necessary, and save your changes.

Enabling Ajax in the Application

The final pane of the JSF Pages from Entity Classes wizard gives you the option to select Ajax-enable generated pages to enable Ajax functionality in the application through the Dynamic Faces extension to the JSF framework. The wizard adds the required JSF Extensions libraries to the project and configures the application's deployment descriptor to enable the Ajax lifecycle. For more about Dynamic Faces JSF Extensions see the JavaServer Faces Technology Extensions site.

If you select the option the wizard performs the following actions.

• Adds JSF Extensions libraries to the project (jsf-extensions-common, jsf-extensions-dynamic-faces, commons-logging, and shale-remoting) that are required for using Dynamic Faces technology in the project.
  
• Modifies web.xml to configure FacesServlet to use the Ajax lifecycle by adding an entry for the javax.faces.LIFECYCLE_ID initialization parameter and setting the value to com.sun.faces.lifecycle.PARTIAL.
  
• Generates the JSP fragment file AjaxScripts.jspf in the WEB-INF/jspf directory. AjaxScripts.jspf renders script tags for JavaScript files contained in the Dynamic Faces libraries.

The application contains a JavaScript file jsfcrud.js in the Web Pages directory. The jsfcrud.js file checks if Dynamic Faces is enabled by checking if the script tags for the Dynamic Faces JavaScript files were rendered. If Dynamic Faces is enabled then the form is configured to send Ajax requests.

After enabling Ajax in the application with Dynamic Faces extensions, you can modify the application to add further functionality provided by Dynamic Faces extensions.

Note. If you want to disable Ajax in the application later, you can comment out the contents of AjaxScripts.jspf by adding <%-- to the beginning of the file and --%> to the end of the file.

Generating JPA Controller Classes From Entity Classes

In the generated web application the JPA controller methods are accessed by methods in the JSF controller class. When you use the JSF Pages from Entity Classes wizard the IDE automatically generates JPA controller classes for each of the selected entities. But the use of JPA controller classes is not restricted to JSF web applications. You can use JPA controller classes in other applications that use the Java Persistence API (for example, in desktop applications) to work with entity classes and manage entity persistence.

The JPA Controller Classes from Entity Classes wizard enables you to easily create JPA controller classes in projects. To create JPA controller classes, open the New File wizard and choose JPA Controller Classes from Entity Classes in the Persistence category. In the wizard you specify the entity classes for which you want the JPA controller classes and then specify where you want the IDE to create the files. The wizard also automatically creates exception classes used by the JPA controller classes.

If you update your database schema you can run the Entity Classes from Database and JPA Controllers from Entity Classes wizards again to regenerate the classes. If desired, after you create the JPA controller classes, you can run the JSF Pages from Entity Classes wizard and specify the package of the existing JPA controller classes, in which case the existing JPA controller classes will be leveraged rather than regenerated.

Adding Data With an SQL Script

If you do not want to add the data through the web forms, you can run the derby_insert_data_consult_v2.sql script included in the derby-consult.zip archive.

1. Open derby_insert_data_consult_v2.sql by choosing File > Open File from the main menu.

   The file automatically opens in the the SQL editor.

   Note. If you are using the MySQL database server, open the mysql_insert_data_consult_v2.sql file included in the mysql-consult.zip archive.

2. Make sure that the consult database is selected in the Connection drop-down list in the SQL editor toolbar and click the Run SQL button in the toolbar.
   

   You can see the result of the script execution in the Output window.

3. Click Run Main Project in the main toolbar.

   Your default web browser opens to the local address http://localhost:8080/ConsultingAgency/.

Adding Data With the Web Interface

You can add data to the database by launching the application in your browser and then adding data through the web forms.

1. Click Run Main Project in the main toolbar.

   The IDE saves all changed files, rebuilds the application, and deploys the application to the server. Your default web browser opens to the local address http://localhost:8080/ConsultingAgency/.

   
2. Click Show All Address Items and click New Address.
3. Add the following data in the New Address form.

   Field	Value
   Line1	100 Data Street
   Line2	Suite 432
   City	San Francisco
   Region	California
   Country	USA
   PostalCode	94103

4. Click Create.
5. Click Index to return to the index page.
6. Click Show All Client Items and click New Client.
7. Add the following data in the New Client form.

   Field	Value
   ClientDepartmentNumber	2000
   ClientName	Big Data Corp.
   ContactEmail
   ContactPassword	accounting
   BillingAddress	100 Data Street

8. Click Create and then Index to return to the index page.
9. Click Show All Project Items and click New Project.
10. Add the following data in the New Project form.

    Field	Value
    ProjectName	Secret Project
    ContactEmail
    ContactPassword	project.manager

11. Click Create and then Index to return to the index page.
12. Click Show All ConsultantStatus Items and then click New ConsultantStatus.
13. Add the following data in the New ConsultantStatus form.

    Field	Value
    StatusId	A
    Description	Active

14. Click Create and then Index to return to the index page.
15. Click Show All Consultant Items and then click New Consultant.
16. Add the following data in the New Consultant form.

    Field	Value
    Email
    Password	janet.smart
    HourlyRate	80
    BillableHourlyRate	120
    ProjectCollection	Secret Project
    StatusId	A, Active

    Note. Make sure you select Secret Project in the list box for ProjectCollection.

17. Click Create and then Index to return to the index page.
18. Click Show All Billable Items and then click New Billable.
19. Add the following data in the New Billable form.

    Field	Value
    StartDate	2008-10-13 00:00:00.0
    EndDate	2008-10-17 00:00:00.0
    Hours	40
    HourlyRate	80
    BillableHourlyRate	120
    Description	begin gathering requirements
    ConsultantId
    Project	Secret Project

20. Click Create and then click New Billable.
21. Add the following data in the New Billable form.

    This time you will type finish gathering requirements in the Description field.

    Field	Value
    StartDate	2008-10-20 00:00:00.0
    EndDate	2008-10-24 00:00:00.0
    Hours	40
    HourlyRate	80
    BillableHourlyRate	120
    Description	finish gathering requirements
    ConsultantId
    Project	Secret Project

22. Click Create and return to the index page.
23. Click Show All Recruiter Items and click New Recruiter.
24. Add the following data in the New Recruiter form.

    Field	Value
    Email
    Password	bob
    ConsultantCollection

Note. Make sure you select in the list box for ConsultantCollection. Leave the Client drop down list empty.

25. Click Create and then Index to return to the index page.

After adding data to the database you can navigate through the generated pages to see the relationships between the tables.

Read-only Primary Key Fields

If a field in the database is a primary key, the wizard generates code to prevent the user from editing the field in the generated forms. The following examples illustrate instances where the primary key field is read-only.

• If you navigate to the New Client page you can see that the ProjectCollection field is read-only. If the application permitted an attempt to change the Client associated with an existing Project, the operation would fail because the Client associated with a Project is part of the Project's primary key. You can verify this in the SQL script by examining the project_pk primary key and the project_fk_client foreign key.
• If you navigate to the Editing Project Page you can see that the Client field is read-only. Again, the field is read-only because the Client associated with a Project is part of the Project's primary key.

Generated Error Checks

The generated code can check if a user action would result in an error. For example, if a table has a column that cannot be null, the code can check if an action would result in a non-null violation for the column and instead display an error message. After you populate the database you can see examples of the generated checks by trying to edit the data in the forms. You will receive an error message if you attempt to do the following actions.

• Create another Project item, again specifying Secret Project as the ProjectName, and completing the ContactEmail and Client fields.

  An error message appears indicating that the item already exists.

• Create another Address item, but leave all the fields blank.

  Error messages appear indicating the required fields.

• Edit the "" Consultant item by deselecting "finish gathering requirements" in the BillableCollection list.

  An error message appears indicating that the Billable item that you deselected must be retained because its consultantId field cannot be null.

• Destroy the "Secret Project, Big Data Corp., Dept. 2000" Project item.

  An error message appears indicating that the Project item cannot be destroyed because the Project item's associated Billable items have a project field that cannot be null.

• Destroy an item that has already been destroyed by another user.

  An error message appears indicating that the item no longer exists, and the List.jsp page subsequently does not display the item.

  Note. You can do this if you use two different browsers (e.g., Firefox and Internet Explorer) and navigate to the same page (e.g., the Listing Billable Items page) in each browser. Destroy one of the Billable items in one of the browsers and then try to destroy the same item in the other browser.