Primefaces datatable date range filter with filterFunction

Question

I use filterFunction method of datatable on primefaces 5.0. I want to filter birthday by date range on column header.

On browser console I receive this error:

<?xml version="1.0"
   encoding="utf-8"?><partial-response><error><error-name>java.lang.ClassCastException</error-name><error-message><![CDATA[javax.faces.component.UIPanel
   cannot be cast to
   javax.faces.component.ValueHolder]]></error-message></error></partial-response>

Datatable :

 <p:dataTable var="person" value="#{testDateRange.persons}"
              id="personTable" paginator="true" styleClass="customTableStyle" editable="true"
              rows="10"  resizableColumns="true"
              emptyMessage="No persons"
              filteredValue="#{testDateRange.filteredPersons}"
              widgetVar="dateRangeWidget" >

     <p:column id="nameId" filterBy="name" sortBy="name" filterMatchMode="contains" headerText="Name">
         <h:outputText value="#{person.name}" />
     </p:column>

     <p:column id="birthdayId" headerText="birthday" filterBy="birthday" filterFunction="#{testDateRange.filterByDate}">
         <f:facet name="filter">
             <p:calendar id="from" value="#{testDateRange.dateFrom}"   styleClass="customCalendar" pattern="dd/MM/yyyy">
                 <p:ajax event="dateSelect" oncomplete="PF('dateRangeWidget').filter()" update="personTable"/>
             </p:calendar>
             <p:calendar id="to" value="#{testDateRange.dateTo}" styleClass="customCalendar" pattern="dd/MM/yyyy">
                 <p:ajax event="dateSelect" oncomplete="PF('dateRangeWidget').filter()" update="personTable"/>
             </p:calendar>
         </f:facet>
         <h:outputText value="#{person.birthday}"  >
             <f:convertDateTime pattern="dd/MM/yyyy"/>
         </h:outputText>
     </p:column>
 </p:dataTable>

Bean:

@Component("testDateRange")
@Scope("session")
public class TestDateRangeBean {

    private List<Person> persons;
    List<Person> filteredPersons;
    private Date dateFrom;
    private Date dateTo;

    public TestDateRangeBean() {
        persons = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(
            new Person("John", new Date(1357016400000L)),
            new Person("Will",new Date(1357102800000L)),
            new Person("Peter",new Date(1414900800000L)),
            new Person("Cris", new Date(1438747200000L)),
            new Person("Cemil", new Date(1436068800000L))
        ));
    }

    public boolean filterByDate(Object value, Object filter, Locale locale) {
        // it fails before calling this method
        String filterText = (filter == null) ? null : filter.toString().trim();
        if(StringUtils.isEmpty(filterText)) {
            return true;
        }
        if(value == null) {
            return false;
        }
        DateFormat df = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy");
        Date filterDate;
        try {
            filterDate = df.parse(filterText);
        } catch (ParseException e) {
            return false;
        }
        return filterDate.after(dateFrom) &&  filterDate.before(dateTo);
    } 
    //all the getters and setters

And I have a simple POJO Person class that contains only 'name' and 'birthday'.

How can I filter birthday by the dates I enter on column header. I see that it gets the UIPanel component instead of dates values. (I assume it expects one component with a value, and when it finds two components, it returns the container component itself, am I right?)

Thanks

Answer 1

Advanced solution:

JSF:

<p:column headerText="#{msg.date}" sortBy="#{bean.date}" filterBy="#{bean.date}" filterFunction="#{dateRangeFilter.filterByDate}">
  <f:facet name="filter">
    <h:inputHidden id="filter" />
  </f:facet>
  <f:facet name="header">
    <h:outputText value="#{msg.date}" />
    <br />
    <p:calendar id="from" pattern="dd.MM.yyyy">
      <p:ajax event="dateSelect" onstart="$(PrimeFaces.escapeClientId('#{p:component('filter')}'))[0].value = $(PrimeFaces.escapeClientId('#{p:component('from')}_input'))[0].value + '-' + $(PrimeFaces.escapeClientId('#{p:component('to')}_input'))[0].value" oncomplete="PF('dataTable').filter()" />
    </p:calendar>
    <p:calendar id="to" pattern="dd.MM.yyyy">
      <p:ajax event="dateSelect" onstart="$(PrimeFaces.escapeClientId('#{p:component('filter')}'))[0].value = $(PrimeFaces.escapeClientId('#{p:component('from')}_input'))[0].value + '-' + $(PrimeFaces.escapeClientId('#{p:component('to')}_input'))[0].value" oncomplete="PF('dataTable').filter()" />
    </p:calendar>
  </f:facet>
  <h:outputText value="#{bean.date}">
    <f:convertDateTime type="date" dateStyle="medium" />
  </h:outputText>
</p:column>

Filter Bean:

@Named
@ApplicationScoped
public class DateRangeFilter implements Serializable {

    private static final Logger LOG = Logger.getLogger(DateRangeFilter.class.getName());

    public boolean filterByDate(Object value, Object filter, Locale locale) {

        String filterText = (filter == null) ? null : filter.toString().trim();
        if (filterText == null || filterText.isEmpty()) {
            return true;
        }
        if (value == null) {
            return false;
        }

        DateFormat df = SimpleDateFormat.getDateInstance(SimpleDateFormat.MEDIUM);

        Date filterDate = (Date) value;
        Date dateFrom;
        Date dateTo;
        try {
            String fromPart = filterText.substring(0, filterText.indexOf("-"));
            String toPart = filterText.substring(filterText.indexOf("-") + 1);
            dateFrom = fromPart.isEmpty() ? null : df.parse(fromPart);
            dateTo = toPart.isEmpty() ? null : df.parse(toPart);
        } catch (ParseException pe) {
            LOG.log(Level.SEVERE, "unable to parse date: " + filterText, pe);
            return false;
        }

        return (dateFrom == null || filterDate.after(dateFrom)) && (dateTo == null || filterDate.before(dateTo));
    }
}

Answer 2

If you do not want the trickery with the hidden input field plus the benefit of reusing such a filter consider writing a composite component whose component type extends javax.faces.component.UIInput. Primefaces expects the filter to be a subtype of javax.faces.component.ValueHolder.

This is how the composite component might look like.

<ui:composition xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"
      xmlns:p="http://primefaces.org/ui"
      xmlns:ui="http://java.sun.com/jsf/facelets"
      xmlns:cc="http://java.sun.com/jsf/composite"
      xmlns:f="http://java.sun.com/jsf/core"
  xmlns:h="http://java.sun.com/jsf/html">

<!-- INTERFACE -->
<cc:interface componentType="dateRange">
    <cc:attribute name="fromLabel"/>
    <cc:attribute name="toLabel"/>
    <cc:attribute name="value" type="so.example.DateRange"/>
    <cc:attribute name="onvaluechanged"/>
</cc:interface>

<!-- IMPLEMENTATION -->
<cc:implementation>
    <table>
        <tr>
            <td style="width: 15%; border: none;">
                <h:outputText value="#{cc.attrs.fromLabel}"/>
            </td>
            <td style="width: 35%; border: none;">
                <p:calendar id="startDateCalendar" value="#{cc.attrs.value.from}" maxdate="#{cc.attrs.value.to}">
                    <p:ajax event="dateSelect" update="endDateCalendar" oncomplete="#{cc.attrs.onvaluechanged}"/>
                </p:calendar>
            </td>
            <td style="width: 15%; border: none;">
                <h:outputText value="#{cc.attrs.toLabel}"/>
            </td>
            <td style="width: 35%; border: none;">
                <p:calendar id="endDateCalendar" value="#{cc.attrs.value.to}" mindate="#{cc.attrs.value.from}" maxdate="#{cc.attrs.value.now}">
                    <p:ajax event="dateSelect" update="startDateCalendar" oncomplete="#{cc.attrs.onvaluechanged}"/>
                </p:calendar>
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</cc:implementation>

Notice componentType="dateRange" in the cc:interface tag. This references the root component class of this composite component. Which is as simple as.

@FacesComponent("dateRange")
public class DateRangeComponent extends UIInput implements NamingContainer {

    @Override
    public String getFamily() {
        return UINamingContainer.COMPONENT_FAMILY;
    }

}

The value that the composite component takes is a simple POJO.

public class DateRange implements Serializable {

    private Date from;
    private Date to;
    private boolean ignoreTime = true;

    public Date getFrom() {
        return from;
    }

    public void setFrom(Date from) {
        if (this.isIgnoreTime()) {
            Calendar now = Calendar.getInstance();
            now.setTime(from);
            now.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 0);
            now.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);
            now.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0);
            this.from = now.getTime();
        } else {
            this.from = from;
        }
    }

    public Date getTo() {
        return to;
    }

    public void setTo(Date to) {
        if (this.isIgnoreTime()) {
            Calendar now = Calendar.getInstance();
            now.setTime(to);
            now.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 23);
            now.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 59);
            now.set(Calendar.SECOND, 59);
            this.to = now.getTime();
        } else {
            this.to = to;
        }
}

public Date getNow() {
    return new Date();
}

public boolean isIgnoreTime() {
    return ignoreTime;
}

public void setIgnoreTime(boolean ignoreTime) {
    this.ignoreTime = ignoreTime;
}
}

After all that the usage is very simple.

            <p:column headerText="#{labels.date}"
                      sortBy="#{logIn.loginDate}"
                      filterBy="#{logIn.loginDate}"
                      filterFunction="#{logInTableBean.filterByDate}"
                      styleClass="datetime-column">
                <f:facet name="filter">
                    <clx:dateRange fromLabel="#{labels.from}" 
                                   toLabel="#{labels.to}" 
                                   onvaluechanged="PF('logInTable').filter();"
                                   value="#{logInTableBean.range}"/>
                </f:facet>
                <h:outputText value="#{logIn.loginDate}">
                    <f:convertDateTime type="both" dateStyle="long"/>
                </h:outputText>
            </p:column>

Also notice the custom filter function. Whis is as simple as

public boolean filterByDate(Object value, Object filter, Locale locale) {
    Date colDate = (Date) value;
    return this.range.getFrom().before(colDate) && this.range.getTo().after(colDate);
}

The whole thing will look like this.