javax.faces.ViewState lost on p:commandButton action

Question

I have a simple login form that calls an action which if login is successful returns the view id of the secured area. I would like to use ajax for the action but when the page gets redirected javax.faces.ViewState is not present in the form making the user have to click twice in order to restore it. If I set ajax="false" everything works fine except that I loose my cool transition achieved with p:ajaxSatatus.

I have dealt with this kind of issue before using this blog entry by BlausC http://balusc.blogspot.com/2011/09/communication-in-jsf-20.html#AjaxRenderingOfContentWhichContainsAnotherForm I have also seen commandButton/commandLink/ajax action/listener method not invoked or input value not updated

I successfully worked around the issue in the past with richfaces but now I'm stuck.

My enviroment is: Mojarra 2.1.6 PrimeFaces 3.4.2 GlassFish Server Open Source Edition 3.1.2.2

Code:

<h:form id="loginForm">
    <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 300px;">
        <p:messages />
        <p:panelGrid columns="2" styleClass="panelGridNoBorder">
            <h:outputLabel value="Name: " for="txtPrincipal"/>
            <p:inputText id="txtPrincipal" value="#{userBean.principal}"/>
            <h:outputLabel value="Email:" for="txtPassword"/>
            <p:password id="txtPassword" value="#{userBean.password}" />
        </p:panelGrid>
        <p:commandButton id="loginButon" action="#{userBean.login}" value="Login"/>
    </div>
</h:form>

UserBean.java @SessionScoped

public String login() {
    try {
        HttpServletRequest request = (HttpServletRequest) FacesContext.getCurrentInstance().getExternalContext().getRequest();
        loginedUser = autenticator.authenticate(principal, passHash, request.getRemoteAddr());
        request.login(principal, passHash);
        if (loginedUser != null) {
            return "/admin/index.xhtml";
        } else {
            FacesMessage message = new FacesMessage(FacesMessage.SEVERITY_ERROR, "Usuario o contraseña incorrecto", "Usuario o contraseña incorrecto");
            FacesContext.getCurrentInstance().addMessage(null, message);
            return null;
        }
    } catch (ServletException ex) {
        FacesMessage message = new FacesMessage(FacesMessage.SEVERITY_ERROR, "Usuario o contraseña incorrecto", "Usuario o contraseña incorrecto");
        FacesContext.getCurrentInstance().addMessage(null, message);
        return null;
    }
}

Thanks for the help

Are you using MSIE? How about other browsers? By the way, technically, you should be redirecting after login by returning "/admin/index.xhtml?faces-redirect=true" instead, that would immediately also fix the lost viewstate problem. — BalusC
Shame on me that was the problem. Please post the answer so that I can mark it. @BalusC once again you saved me! — Diego Borda

BalusC BalusC · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-01T20:02:08

Your concrete problem is recognizable if you're using MSIE browser. You basically need to override the PrimeFaces ajax response handler. See also this answer for a concrete code example.

But, much better is to just send a redirect after login. That's also the canonical approach conform the Post-Redirect-Get pattern.

return "/admin/index.xhtml?faces-redirect=true";

javax.faces.ViewState lost on p:commandButton action

1 Answers