3 Component Support

3.1.1 Supported Features

ADF Mobile browser supports the following renderer-specific features:

• Partial Page Rendering

• Dialogs

3.1.2 Partial Page Rendering

The high-latency and low-bandwidth of networks in mobile environments decrease application responsiveness for mobile users. Screens refresh slowly, diminishing the mobile user experience. ADF Mobile browser's support of Partial Page Rendering (PPR) compensates for the negative impact that slow connections have on screen updates by minimizing the amount of data requested from the server; using PPR, mobile device screen updates do not require a full refresh. Browsers that do not support AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) use full-page rendering instead of PPR. For example, a page submission on basic HTML browsers (which do not support JavaScript) results in the refresh of a full page.

3.1.3 Dialogs

ADF Mobile browser supports dialogs, pages used by applications to obtain user input. Because mobile browsers cannot open a new window that contains a dialog (a pop-up window), they present dialogs as new pages within the main browser window after they automatically preserve the state of the current page.

3.1.4 Rendering Specific to the BlackBerry Browser 4.5 and Earlier Versions

On browsers for BlackBerry 4.5 and earlier versions, the bullets in a list sublevel (such as those in a tr:panelList component) appear large and are not indented. BlackBerry's table handling may affect complex layouts, as its browser does not allow horizontal scrolling. Instead, it wraps a table row onto multiple display lines which may disturb the layout. For more information, see Chapter 6, "Design Guidelines for BlackBerry 4.2 to 4.5."

3.2.1 Creating Input Text Fields

You can create input fields using the following components:

• tr:inputColor

  Note:

  Mobile browsers do not support an inline chooseColor or a color dialog for the tr:inputColor component.

• tr:inputDate

• tr:inputHidden

• tr:inputText

  Note:

  Basic HTML browsers do not support the autosubmit attribute of the tr:inputText component.

  Note:

  Trinidad optimizes the tr:inputText component for narrow-screen devices (that is, devices with screen width measuring less than 240 pixels). For more information see Chapter 7, "Narrow Screen Support and User Agent Details Support."

3.2.2 Creating Lists

You can create lists using the following components:

• tr:panelChoice

• tr:panelList

• tr:selectBooleanCheckBox

• tr:selectBooleanRadio

• tr:selectItem

  Note:

  Mobile browsers do not support the disabled attribute for the tr:selectItem component.

• tr:selectManyCheckBox

• tr:selectManyListBox

• tr:selectOneChoice

• tr:selectOneListBox

• tr:selectOneRadio

• tr:resetButton

3.3.1 Displaying Text

The following components enable you to display text:

• tr:iterator

• tr:message

• tr:messages

  Note:

  Component-specific messages do not display on a mobile browser in the same manner as they do in a desktop browser. Instead, they display in the region where the message component (tr:message or tr:messages) is placed on the web page.

• tr:outputDocument

• tr:outputForwarded

• tr:outputLabel

• tr:outputText

3.3.2 Displaying Images

The following components enable you to display images:

• tr:icon

• tr:image

• tr:panelTip

3.3.3 Showing (or Hiding) Components

The following components enable showing or hiding items:

• tr:panelAccordion

  Note:

  Mobile browsers only support a full-page update; they do not support the partialTriggers attribute of the tr:panelAccordion component.

• tr:panelTabbed

  Note:

  To conserve space within mobile browsers, the renderer intentionally prevents the display of tab bars on both the top and bottom of the tr:panelTabbed component. Valid values for the attribute positions are top and bottom. If both is specified, then the renderer displays the tabs on top.

• tr:showDetail

  Note:

  For the tr:showDetail component, the disclosure arrow does not display; the [+] and [-] symbols display instead.

• tr:showDetailHeader

  Note:

  For the tr:showDetailHeader component, the disclosure arrow does not appear on mobile browsers.

• tr:showDetailItem

  Note:

  For the tr:showDetailItem component, the disclosure arrow does not appear on mobile browsers its flex attribute is not supported.

3.4.1 Managing the Page

The following components enable you to manage the page:

• tr:document

• tr:form

  Note:

  ADF Mobile browser does not support the defaultCommand attribute of the tr:form component.

• tr:page

3.4.2 Laying Out Sections of the Page

The following ADF Faces core tags support page layout for mobile device applications:

• tr:group

• tr:panelBorderLayout

  Note:

  Only the top and bottom facets are supported for the tr:panelBorderLayout component. ADF Mobile browser does not support the following facets:

  • left

  • right

  • start

  • end

  • innerLeft

  • innerRight

  • innerStart

  • innerEnd

  The tr:panelBorderLayout component does not render if you use any of these unsupported facets.

• tr:panelBox

• tr:panelFormLayout

• tr:panelGroupLayout

• tr:panelHeader

• tr:panelHorizontalLayout

  Note:

  ADF Mobile browser does not support the halign=end attribute definition for the tr:panelHorizontalLayout component.

• tr:panelLabelAndMessage

  Note:

  Trinidad optimizes the tr:panelLabelAndMessage component for narrow-screen devices (that is, devices with a screen width measuring less than 240 pixels). For more information see Section 7.1, "Determining Narrow Screen Support."

• tr:panelPage

• tr:panelPageHeader

  Note:

  ADF Mobile browser only supports the following facets of the tr:panelPageHeader component:

  • branding

  • brandingApp

  • navigation1

  • navigation2

• tr:panelRadio

  Note:

  Trinidad optimizes the tr:panelRadio component for narrow-screen devices (that is, devices with a screen width measuring less than 240 pixels). For more information see Section 7.1, "Determining Narrow Screen Support."

• tr:panelCaptionGroup

3.4.3 Inserting Spaces

The following components control the space allocation on pages:

• tr:separator

• tr:spacer

• tr:subform

3.5.1 Creating Buttons

ADF Mobile browser supports the following button types:

• tr:commandButton

  Note:

  Because the text attribute cannot display if the icon attribute has been set, you can define buttons as text or as an image, but not both. If you set the disabled attribute to true, then a tr:commandButton component with an icon attribute renders as a static image with no links.

• tr:goButton

See Chapter 8, "Extending ADF Mobile Browser Applications" for information on how to use the tr:goButton component to integrate e-mail, telephony, and Google maps into an application.

3.5.2 Creating Links

ADF Mobile browser supports the following components for creating hyper-links:

• tr:commandLink

  Note:

  Because the tr:commandLink component renders as an input element in basic mobile HTML browsers, its child components cannot render. For more information on input elements in basic mobile HTML browsers, see Section 5.2, "Developing Applications for Basic HTML Mobile Browsers."

• tr:goLink

See Chapter 8, "Extending ADF Mobile Browser Applications" for information on how to use the tr:goLink component to integrate e-mail, telephony, and Google maps into an application.

3.5.3 Navigation Components

ADF Mobile browser supports the following navigation components:

• tr:breadcrumbs

  Note:

  Trinidad optimizes the tr:breadcrumbs component for narrow-screen devices (that is, devices with a screen width measuring less than 240 pixels). For more information see Chapter 7, "Determining Narrow Screen Support."

• tr:commandNavigationItem

  Note:

  tr:commandNavigationItem does not render when you set the disabled attribute to true for the following:

  • tr:selectOneListBox

  • tr:selectOneChoice

  • tr:processChoiceBar

  • tr:navigationPane with hint, "choice"

  • tr:selectRangeChoiceBar

• tr:navigationPane

  Note:

  tr:navigationPane hint = "choice" with a destination value is not supported for basic HTML browsers.

  Note:

  Trinidad optimizes the tr:navigationPane component for narrow-screen devices (that is, devices with a screen width measuring less than 240 pixels). For more information see Chapter 7, "Determining Narrow Screen Support."

• tr:train

  Note:

  The tr:train component appears as x of y instead of listing each item. This is a display-only component for ADF Mobile browser; users cannot navigate through the application by clicking the x of y component. To enable navigation, you must add a separate link or button.

• tr:processChoiceBar

  Note:

  Trinidad optimizes the tr:processChoiceBar component for narrow-screen devices (that is, devices with a screen width measuring less than 240 pixels). For more information see Section 7.1, "Determining Narrow Screen Support."

• tr:selectRangeChoiceBar

  Note:

  Trinidad optimizes the tr:selectRangeChoiceBar component for narrow-screen devices (that is, devices with a screen width measuring less than 240 pixels). For more information see Chapter 7, "Determining Narrow Screen Support."

3.7.1 Creating Tables

ADF Mobile browser supports tables comprised of the following components:

• tr:table

  Note:

  ADF Mobile browser does not support the allDetailsEnabled attribute for the tr:table component; this attribute is always set to false.

• tr:column

  Note:

  When you nest tr:column tags to create column groups, the header facets do not render for the column groups.

Creating a single-column table optimizes how tables display on mobile devices.

3.7.2 Creating Trees

ADF Mobile browser supports the tr:tree component.

3.8.1 Using <trh:meta> to Generate HTML <meta> Tags

The <trh:meta> component tag generates an HTML <meta> tag. Example 3-2 shows using this component to:

• Configure the viewport dimensions on mobile devices.

• Disable user resizing of the viewport on mobile devices.

• Enable the home screen bookmark of the web page to launch it in its own process rather than in Safari on iOS devices.

• Configure the page to navigate to another page after two seconds.

<af:document ...>
  <f:facet name="metaContainer">
    <af:group id="metaContainer">
      <trh:meta name="viewport" 
                content="width=device-width, user-scalable=no"/>
      <trh:meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" 
                content="yes"/>
      <trh:meta type="httpEquiv" 
                name="refresh"
                content="2;url=./test/index.jspx"/>
    </af:group>
   </f:facet>
</af:document>

<af:document ...>
   <f:facet name="metaContainer">
     <trh:meta name="viewport" 
               content="width=device-width"/>
   </f:facet>
   ...
 </af:document>

3.9.1 Unsupported Components

ADF Mobile browser does not support the following components:

• tr:chart

• tr:chooseColor

• tr:chooseDate

• tr:inputFile

• tr:inputListOFVariables

• tr:inputNumberSpinbox

• tr:legend

• tr:media

• tr:navigationTree

• tr:panelButtonBar

• tr:panelPopup

• tr:panelSideBar

• tr:poll

• tr:progressIndicator

• tr:selectManyShuttle

• tr:selectOrderShuttle

• tr:singleStepButtonBar

• tr:statusIndicator

• tr:switcher

• tr:treeTable

3.9.2 Unsupported Attributes

ADF Mobile browser does not support the following attributes on any Apache MyFaces Trinidad component.

• accessKey

• shortDesc (tooltip)