Databinder: a toolkit for data-driven Wicket applications

Please see the Databinder Web site for documentation and usage examples:
http://databinder.net/


Version History

1.2.1 Updates Databinder to the latest Wicket and Hibernate versions.

1.2 This release represents a significant refactor of the Databinder toolkit to allow it to work with any underlying persistence technology. Core functionality now resides in modules like databinder-models, while specific functionality is in databinder-models-hib for Hibernate, or databinder-models-ao for ActiveObjects. The "databinder" dependency that was used through 1.1 is now databinder-app and databinder-app-hib for Hibernate applications.

Migration to the new codebase is fairly straightforward. The first step is to refer to the appropriate new Maven artifact name, databinder-app-hib for most applications. Then update dependencies for your IDE, as there are number of class and page renames to work through. Some changes were made to accomodate the new persistence-agnostic structure, others are there just to bundle desired, breaking changes in one release. There aren't any major significant conceptual changes. The renames are as follows:

* DataStaticService -> Databinder
* ICriteriaBuilder -> CriteriaBuilder
* IQueryBuilder -> QueryBuilder
* IQueryBinder -> QueryBinder
* DatabinderProvider -> HibernateProvider (follows HibernateObjectModel, et al.)

A global search and replace for those terms, followed by an "organize imports" command (or whatever is appropriate for your IDE) to find classes in their new *.hib packages should fix most compilation errors. One change to look out for is that HibernateObjectModel will now return null when initialized with an identifier that doesn't match any entities, to conform to its existing behavior when initialized with queries or criteria. 

Note that this upgrade shouldn't be considered obligatory for Hibernate applications. The 1.1 line will continue to receive fixes and minor features as users require. Speak up on the forum you need anything.

Although Hibernate models are functionally the same in this release, there is one bonus: the new databinder-valid-hib module uses Hibernate Validator to automatically validate against annotated data classes. The recipe book example demonstrates the new module, which should an easy way to eliminate some code in forms with basic validation needs.

Other changes and additions:

* Bookmarks example switched to demonstrate ActiveObjects support
* "sign in for two weeks" checked by default for databinder-auth-components
* databinder-dispatch rewritten in Scala and using plain HTTP rather than XML-RPC
* PropertyQueryBinder binds all query parameters to properties or fields of a given object
* SearchPanel uses PropertyQueryPanel and internal model, may require code changes for client apps
* QueryBinderBuilder turns binders into builders, so that toolkit classes need only deal with builders

1.1.2 Depends on Wicket 1.3.3 and the latest Hibernate modules, to be obtained
	directly from the JBoss repository. This is the first Databinder
	release to depend on non-central repositories. As a result, this release
	may not itself be housed on the central repository. Existing Databinder
	applications will need to include add following to pom.xml:
	
	<repositories>
		<repository>
			<id>databinder</id>
			<name>Databinder repository</name>
			<url>http://databinder.net/repo/</url>
		</repository>
	</repositories>

*	New SortableDatabinderProvder contributed by Mark Southern, for
	to handle DataTable and other sorting with less client code; Baseball
	example updated to demonstrate.
*	Access to base panel's components in subclasses of sign in and register
	panels.
*	Fix for multiple session factory bug; could leave a session open
	if other sessions did not need to be closed.

1.1.1 Adds modelChanged() calls to DataForm to prevent stale UI state when
	clearing or changing model object, and checks model binding on detach
	(if unbound) so that a manual call after saving an entity is unnecessary.

	All-new DataTree class and companion components facilitate persistance
	of Wicket/Swing rendered trees.
	
	Databinder-draw is now distributed through the central Maven repository,
	as are the Batik libraries it depends upon.

1.1 Compatible with Wicket 1.3.0, this version improves upon Databinder's 
	interface with Hibernate such that an external session and transaction 
	manager (such as Spring) can be use with Databinder's model and component 
	classes. The runnable DataServer class provides a simple embedded Jetty 
	configuration that can be used in development and production. Several new 
	data-oriented components are available, such as the DataBrowser (contributed 
	by Xavier Hanin---merci !) and SourceList components.

*	Centralization of session-fetching in DataStaticService rather than 
	DataRequestCycle
*	Use of Hibernate's "current session" facility to support external session 
	and transaction management
*	Upgrade Hibernate dependency to 3.2.5.ga
*	Experimental support of conversational Hibernate sessions
*	Retain serialized unsaved objects by default
*	Databinder dispatch, an interface to Ruby-based text processing libraries
*	IterableEntityView, an analogue for to ListView for an Collection (not 
	position-dependent)
*	Refactoring of DatabinderProvider now that DataView is Wicket core
*	URIConverter, URIValidator, ColorConverter
*	Authorization refactor: localizable strings, extensible layout by "sockets 
	and plugs", UserBase as unmapped base user class
*	Authorization cookies bound to IP address, and specific to servlet context
*	Authorization password encrypted by javascript
*	HibernateObjectModel#isBound method reports if entity has identifiers to 
	be loaded from storage
*	Page versioning restored to Wicket default
*	Implementations of equals and hashcode for HibernateObjectModel that refer 
	to target object
*	DataBrowser mounting to /dbrowse in development mode
*	DataApplication init() refactor, calling super() no longer necessary


1.0	Uses Wicket's Application.getConfigurationType() rather than 
	tracking configuration independently, to gain compatibility with 
	other methods of specifying wicket.configuration.

	Removed deprecated addRegisterPanel method of DataSignInPage and 
	deprecated RedirectServlet.	Added odd/even style definitions to 
	DataPage.css to simplify DataTable use.

	Improved HTML validity of example application pages, and changed 
	delete link of bookmark application to a form button.

0.9	Improved transaction handling now rolls back any uncommitted 
	transactions before closing a Hibernate session. Unhandled 
	runtime exceptions will trigger an immediate rollback and 
	session closure.

	The new IQueryBuilder interface allows applications to construct 
	their own Hibernate (named/SQL) queries for Hibernate object 
	and list models. HibernateObjectModel is now writable, 
	facilitating use with DropDownChoice components needing 
	independent models.

	RenderedLabel has a shared resource setting that caches common 
	renderings within the application at a permanent URL. Empty 
	labels (with no text or blank text) are no longer rendered as 
	IMG tags at all. There are several improvements in the 
	authentication defaults, including a sign in link that remembers 
	the current page and centered sign in and registration screens.

	In examples, the message floater has a Cajo version of its 
	applet, and phone directory adds dropdown category filtering 
	(using a writable HibernateObjectModel).

0.8	Many base classes in the toolkit have been refactored to be more 
	flexible, including DataApplication, AuthDataApplication, 
	DataRequestCycle, and AuthDataRequestCycle. Existing applications 
	that override default functionality in base classes may need to 
	make minor changes to compile against this version.

	The Hibernate session factory is now easily accessible from
	outside a Wicket request cycle, in DatabinderStaticService. An
	exception is thrown if the session factory is not initialized,
	provoked by the common error of overriding DataApplication.init()
	without calling its super-implementation.
	
	The focusable form input from the recipe book example is now a
	toolkit component, FocusableTextField. SearchPanel now has a 
	submit button for better compatibility with older browsers (and 
	users). AjaxOnKeyPause handles backspace correctly with IE, 
	and it no longer needs to be the first Ajax behavior on a page.
	DataRegistrationPanel uses a PasswordInputValidator to avoid 
	exposing passwords.

	The JavaScript and stylesheet link components now extend 
	appropriate resource reference classes in the Wicket hierarchy. 
	DataPage's default stylesheet has been improved to follow form 
	label guidelines, and feedback messages have a new appearance.

	Wicket and Hibernate Annotations dependencies have been updated to
	1.2.2 and 3.2.0 RC2 respectively. MySQL connector (in data-app and
	examples) is at version 5.0.3.

0.7	Wicket DataView support arrives in this version. Though it has 
	always been possible to write your own IDataProvider, Databinder
	now includes one for you. See the baseball players example.

	The provided User class has been renamed DataUser to avoid that 
	reserved table name in some databases. You will need to update 
	any code referring to this class. Subclassing of DataSignInPage
	has been streamlined.

	The data-app archetype now includes a sample entity. In web.xml
	it uses the new RedirectFilter class to send context-root 
	requests to the Wicket servlet. All Databinder projects using 
	the now-deprecated RedirectServlet are encouraged to switch to 
	RedirectFilter as it permits static content under the 
	context-root.

	RenderedLabel now loads its image when its markup is rendered, 
	so that drawing the image when it is later requested will 
	not require a model to be reattached.

	PageStyleLink and PropertyListModel, which have been deprecated
	for some time, are now out of the library. The StyleLink and 
	ScriptLink classes have been rewritten to fall under the 
	PackagedResourceReference component, requiring the removal of 
	their constructors that took the Class object as an IModel. 
	Please use these classes with a simple Class object.

0.6	This version adds integration with the wicket-auth-roles package
	via the AuthDataApplication superclass. Default implementation
	classes for users and roles are built in, along with basic sign
	in, registration, and remember-me functionality. The recipe book
	example demonstrates selective authentication for data editing.

	A new SublistProjectionModel class breaks lists into chunked or
	transposed sublists for common rendering styles (see bookmarks). 
	A RenderedLabel component renders its model into an image using
	any font available to the JVM, as demonstrated in the new
	graffiti example. AjaxOnKeyPausedUpdater triggers Ajax updates
	when input pauses in a TextField or TextArea and replaces the
	old "every key" behavior of SearchPanel. Added support for
	Hibernate criteria queries to object and list models.

	Changed structure of data-app archetype to be compatible with
	Maven 2.0.4. HTML and property resources are now stored
	alongside Java sources by default. Incremented versions of
	several dependencies, including Wicket to 1.2.1 which now
	enforces that session-stored objects be Serializable by default. 

0.5	Trimming and meshing for Wicket 1.2, including deprecation of
	PropertyListView and removal of application.properties from
	the data-app archetype. Recognition of the wicket.configuration
	JVM parameter, in addition to net.databinder.configuration. Ajax
	convenience Wrapper class added.

	Hibernate dependency updated to 3.2.0 cr2 and Annotations 
	3.2.0 cr1. Fixed bug leading to unknown entity exceptions caused
	by Hibernate proxy classes. Added trigger for Hibernate 
	initialization on startup rather than the first page request.
	HibernateObjectModel now loads objects upon	instantiation so 
	that object not found (and other) exceptions can be easily 
	caught.

	New overridable isCookielessSupported() method of DataApplication
	allows URL rewriting to be disabled in Wicket so that search 
	engines can crawl bookmarkable links without jsessionid URL
	parameters.

	RedirectServlet provided for easily sending requests from the
	Web root to WicketServlet. Added configuration for this, as
	well as the databinder.net repository, to the data-app archetype.


0.4	Integration with Wicket 1.2 beta 2 and exploitation of its 
	built-in Ajax capabilities. Databinder's new SearchPanel component 
	provides ready-made live search functionality, and all three 
	example applications have been updated to use Ajax as 
	appropriate (or in some cases, just to show how it works).

	HibernateObjectModel can now be initialized with a query for the 
	not-so-special case of eager fetch joins and scalar results. 

	In existing Databinder applications, subclasses of DataApplication 
	must change the visibility of getHomePage() from protected to 
	public, as Wicket has added exactly that method to its base 
	Application class. Other changes to your applications may be 
	necessary; see Wicket's 1.2 migration guide for more information:

	http://wicket-wiki.org.uk/wiki/index.php/Migrate-1.2

0.3	New helper components: TextileLabel and DateLabel. The former 
	renders its content using JTextile (modified for Java's built-in 
	regular expression processor) and the latter using 
	SimpleDateFormat with a supplied format string. A new recipe book 
	example demonstrates the Textile support, as well as some basic	
	Panel use, embedded Hibernate objects, and JavaScript.

	Transparent version awareness added to DataForm, following a 
	method suggested in Martijn Dashorst's weblog. Attempting to 
	overwrite another user's unseen changes to an object now results 
	in a validation error.

	Dependencies have been updated to Hibernate 3.1.2 for the 
	library, and jetty6beta9 in the archetype. Fixed a bug in the 
	DataForm(id, model) constructor; it now wraps the model in a 
	compound model as indicated in the comments. PageStyleLink has 
	been renamed StyleLink to reflect its applicability to any 
	component, and a new ScriptLink component helps attach JavaScript.

0.2	Dependencies are updated to Hibernate 3.1.1, Annotations 
	3.1beta8,and Wicket 1.1.1. DataApplication.getSessionFactory() 
	is no longer final (nor overridden), and c3p0 pooling defaults to 
	testing for closed connections. Wicket's log4j dependency is now
	excluded; add it to your <<<pom.xml>>> if you use it.

	New component WebLink along with a URLConverter provide better 
	support for linking outside of Wicket. PageStyleLink makes it easy 
	to add a stylesheet specific to a page or component

	DataRequestCycle now begins a Hibernate transaction when creating 
	a Hibernate session, and DataForm commits that transaction in 
	onSubmit().

	Improved Phone directory example applies optimistic locking, 
	and its ListAndEdit page uses a compact SearchFilter 
	implementation. New Bookmark example application is very short, 
	simple, and intended for Wicket novices.

0.1	Support for Hibernate 3.1, Hibernate Annotations 3.1beta7, and
	Wicket 1.1. This is the first public release of Databinder. All
	that is known for sure is that it can support the small Phone
	directory example application (available on Web site).




--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nathan Hamblen / nathan@technically.us