Struts2 AJAX validation doesn't stay on page - ajax

Question

I've been trying for a few days now to make Struts2 AJAX validation work but I can't solve one last problem. I'm using the struts2jquery plugin to asynchronously submit my form:
<div id="result"></div>
<s:form action="RegisterUser" theme="xhtml" method="post">
<s:textfield key="firstname" label="First name" size="35"
required="true" />
<s:textfield key="lastname" label="Last name" size="35"
required="true" />
<s:textfield key="address" label="Address" size="35"
required="true" />
<s:textfield key="phone" label="Phone number" size="35" />
<s:textfield key="username" label="Username" size="35"
required="true" />
<s:password key="password" label="Password" size="35"
required="true" />
<s:textfield key="email" label="E-mail address" size="35"
required="true" />
<sj:submit key="Inregistrare" targets="result" align="right"
button="true" validate="true" onSuccessTopics="notifyRegistration" />
</s:form>
I've included the required scripts:
<script type="text/javascript" src="./js/registerScript.js"></script>
<!-- This files are needed for AJAX Validation of XHTML Forms -->
<script src="${pageContext.request.contextPath}/struts/utils.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="${pageContext.request.contextPath}/struts/xhtml/validation.js"
type="text/javascript"></script>
and the tag:
<sj:head jqueryui="true" />
The onSuccess handler:
$(document).ready(function(){
$.subscribe('notifyRegistration', function(event,data) {
var registrationStatus = event.originalEvent.data.registrationStatus;
if(registrationStatus == 'SUCCESS'){
alert('Contul dumneavoastra a fost creat cu success!');
window.location.href = "./index.html";
} else {
alert('Contul dumneavoastra nu a putut fi creat. Va rugam incercati din nou.');
}
});
});
My configuration looks like this:
<action name="RegisterUser" class="actions.Register" method="execute">
<interceptor-ref name="jsonValidationWorkflowStack"/>
<result name="input">/pages/Register.jsp</result>
<result type="json"/>
</action>
And the execute method of my action class:
public String execute() throws Exception {
if (isInvalid(getUsername()) || isInvalid(getPassword())
|| isInvalid(getEmail())) {
registrationStatus = REGISTRATION_ERROR;
}
if (registerUser()) {
registrationStatus = REGISTRATION_SUCCESS;
return SUCCESS;
}else {
registrationStatus = REGISTRATION_ERROR;
}
return SUCCESS;
}
The registerUser() method makes the actual insert into the database. The validation XML is called Register-Validation.xml.
The validation works fine - if some fields are not filled in, it shows the error labels without refreshing the page. My problem is that even is the action returns SUCCESS or ERROR, the browser displays the JSON that it sent back on another page, ../Register.action. I have no idea why it doesn't enter my onSuccess handler. I've successfully used AJAX on other forms, the only difference here is that I use the validation xml and the jsonValidationWorkflowStack interceptor. Why is this happening and how can I avoid being redirected? Why doesn't the request reach the onSuccess handler?

Answer 1

Do you have getters for registrationStatus in your Action ?
I would put an alert(event.originalEvent.data.registrationStatus); in your notifyRegistration callback function, just to see what is its value.
By the way, it seems that you have mixed
Struts2-jQuery Plugin AJAX Form Validation with Struts2 XHTML Theme
with
Struts2-jQuery Plugin: Remote Link that handle an JSON Result with an onSuccessTopic
AFAIK (but I've never used this specific kind of validation), the validation should not be handled in execute(), but in validate() or through XML, or with Annotations.
The example in Struts2-jQuery Plugin showcase uses Annotations, but you can easily transform it in XML and try the showcase.
You would have no need to use the javascript function nor the onSuccessTopic at all, following the example.
You can run it in the showcase too, under Forms -> Forms with Validation (but stick to the documentation for the code, because the code in the showcase seems to miss some pieces... for example the validation against "test" password).