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jsfjsf-2datatablemyfaces

Apache Myfaces prints blank td tag when using h:dataTable and an empty dataset

Is there a way to have MyFaces not print the following when the List or Array backing an h:dataTable is empty?

<table>
    <tbody id="itemsForm:itemsDataTable:tbody_element">
        <tr>
            <td></td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

I suspect it would be more correct to print an empty tbody. Can this be overridden somehow?

Solution

  • Those elements are required as per XHTML spec. The <table> requires at least one <tr>. The <tr> requires in turn at least one <td>.

    <!ELEMENT table
     (caption?, (col*|colgroup*), thead?, tfoot?, (tbody+|tr+))>
<!ELEMENT caption  %Inline;>
<!ELEMENT thead    (tr)+>
<!ELEMENT tfoot    (tr)+>
<!ELEMENT tbody    (tr)+>
<!ELEMENT colgroup (col)*>
<!ELEMENT col      EMPTY>
<!ELEMENT tr       (th|td)+>
<!ELEMENT th       %Flow;>
<!ELEMENT td       %Flow;>

    (the + stands for one or more, the * stands for zero or more, the ? stands for zero or one)

    Your best bet is to hide the table altogether when the data model is empty.

    <h:dataTable ... value="#{bean.items}" rendered="#{not empty bean.items}">

    Otherwise, you can't go around a custom renderer.