Decouple navigation and selection with JSF tree-like widget

Question

I'm looking for a good approach to realize a tree-like JSF widget with the following requirements:

• means to expand and collapse tree branches
• ajax navigation through clicking on a tree node
• multi-selection of nodes / branches via tri-state checkboxes
• the former three features must work independent from each other
• the solution must be compatible with PrimeFaces
• I don't want to fork the framework in terms of writing a custom component

What I've come across:

• PrimeFaces p:tree and p:treeTable
  • built-in selection feature provides a nice implementation with tri-state checkboxes but is tightly coupled to clicking on a node, which makes it unusable in terms of navigation (the selection also changes)
  • alternatively a custom implementation of the checkbox-column must reinvent the whole tri-state checkbox logic even with pe:triStateCheckbox (PrimeFaces Extensions)
• OmniFaces o:tree seems to offer a high level of customization, but also leaves a lot of needle crafting remaining

Any hints, experiences are welcome.

Answer 1

I ended up with a solution build on p:treeTable with selectionMode="checkbox" and p:commandLink for navigation.

To disable the 'full row' mouse click trigger also causing selection changes the JavaScript has been adjusted like this (PrimeFaces 5.3):

<script type="text/javascript">
    //<![CDATA[
        PrimeFaces.widget.TreeTable.prototype.bindSelectionEvents = function() {
            var $this = this,
            rowSelector = '> tr.ui-treetable-selectable-node';

            this.tbody.off('mouseover.treeTable mouseout.treeTable click.treeTable', rowSelector)
                        .on('mouseover.treeTable', rowSelector, null, function(e) {
                            var element = $(this);
                            if(!element.hasClass('ui-state-highlight')) {
                                element.addClass('ui-state-hover');

                                if($this.isCheckboxSelection() && !$this.cfg.nativeElements) {
                                    element.find('> td:first-child > div.ui-chkbox > div.ui-chkbox-box').addClass('ui-state-hover');
                                }
                            }
                        })
                        .on('mouseout.treeTable', rowSelector, null, function(e) {
                            var element = $(this);
                            if(!element.hasClass('ui-state-highlight')) {
                                element.removeClass('ui-state-hover');

                                if($this.isCheckboxSelection() && !$this.cfg.nativeElements) {
                                    element.find('> td:first-child > div.ui-chkbox > div.ui-chkbox-box').removeClass('ui-state-hover');
                                }
                            }
                        })
                        .on('click.treeTable', rowSelector, null, function(e) {
                            //$this.onRowClick(e, $(this));
                            e.preventDefault();
                        });

            if(this.isCheckboxSelection()) {
               var checkboxSelector =  this.cfg.nativeElements ? '> tr.ui-treetable-selectable-node > td:first-child :checkbox':
                        '> tr.ui-treetable-selectable-node > td:first-child div.ui-chkbox-box';

                    this.tbody.off('click.treeTable-checkbox', checkboxSelector)
                          .on('click.treeTable-checkbox', checkboxSelector, null, function(e) {
                              var node = $(this).closest('tr.ui-treetable-selectable-node');
                              $this.toggleCheckboxNode(node);
                          });


                    //initial partial selected visuals
                    if(this.cfg.nativeElements) {
                        this.indeterminateNodes(this.tbody.children('tr.ui-treetable-partialselected'));
                    }
            }
        };
    //]]>
</script>

I also changed some CSS, mainly:

.ui-treetable .ui-treetable-data tr.ui-state-highlight,
.ui-treetable .ui-treetable-data tr.ui-state-hover {
    cursor: default;
}