ADF 11g inputNumberSpinbox: Changing Value When Value is Null

This post is a short one, however, it is useful. When you use a Spinbox to change and display values, you might encounter a problem when the Spinbox' value is empty (or Null).

I used the Employees table in the HR Schema for this example.
Created ADF BC for this, and dropped the collection as an ADF Form an a simple page.
I converted the commission inputText component to an inputNumberSpinbox and set stepSize="0.1".

You can click whatever you want but the Spinbox just doesn't work for NULL values.




One of the options you have, is to enter a value in the Spinbox by just typing it.

A somewhat more elegant solution is the use of javascript.
For this I add a client Listener to the Spinbox.



The clientListener invokes a javascript function as soon as the Spinbox gets focus. Whenever the value is NULL, it will set the value to ZERO. The Spinbox now knows what to do.

   <af:document id="d1">  
      <af:resource type="javascript">  
      function initSpinner(evt){    
   spinbox = evt.getSource();  
   val = spinbox.getValue();  
   if (val ==null){  
    spinbox.setValue(0);  
   }  
      }  
  </af:resource>  

When you click the empty Spinbox now, it will work as expected.