Binder should automatically configure built in converters

[mstahv]

Version: 8.0

Binder in V8 is not as handy as related tools in previous Vaadin versions, as developers will need to manually configure all converters, even for basic datatypes like numbers. It now forces developers to write boilerplate code for even simple cases.

Binder could do this automatically at least if name based binding is done using bindInstanceFields method (this is what I most often use).

[Legioth]

Binder could do this automatically at least if name based binding is done using `bindInstanceFields``

Just filling in the blanks: To be able to find a converter, the framework needs to know the runtime type of the bean property and the value type of the field.

• The bean property type cannot be found based on a ValueProvider and Setter pair because of type erasure. The type can be known when using the reflection-based bind(String propertyName) method. bindInstanceFields does also internally use this method.
• The value type of the field component is not necessarily known from a given instance of HasValue<T> since the instance might be defined as a raw type. In practice, the type is still always known since components such as TextField define a type that can be read using reflection (using com.googlecode.gentyref.GenericTypeReflector).

[mstahv]

Has anybody though of this further? This would be really nice feature, removing a lot of boilerplate code from simple apps.

[stale]

Hello there!

It looks like this issue hasn't progressed lately. There are so many issues that we just can't deal them all within a reasonable timeframe.

There are a couple of things you could help to get things rolling on this issue (this is an automated message, so expect that some of these are already in use):

• Check if the issue is still valid for the latest version. There are dozens of duplicates in our issue tracker, so it is possible that the issue is already tackled. If it appears to be fixed, close the issue, otherwise report to the issue that it is still valid.
• Provide more details how to reproduce the issue.
• Explain why it is important to get this issue fixed and politely draw others attention to it e.g. via the forum or social media.
• Add a reduced test case about the issue, so it is easier for somebody to start working on a solution.
• Try fixing the issue yourself and create a pull request that contains the test case and/or a fix for it. Handling the pull requests is the top priority for the core team.
• If the issue is clearly a bug, use the Warranty in your Vaadin subscription to raise its priority.

Thanks again for your contributions! Even though we haven't been able to get this issue fixed, we hope you to report your findings and enhancement ideas in the future too!

[mstahv]

Ping! Please, this would really need some love and this is also very valid with V10 as well. Because of this and couple of other issues with the Binder (like the limited JSR 303 support) I still find V7 era binding (together with helpers from Viritin) more efficient in most use cases.

[stale]

Hello there!

We are sorry that this issue hasn't progressed lately. We are prioritizing issues by severity and the number of customers we expect are experiencing this and haven't gotten around to fix this issue yet.

There are a couple of things you could help to get things rolling on this issue (this is an automated message, so expect that some of these are already in use):

• Check if the issue is still valid for the latest version. There are dozens of duplicates in our issue tracker, so it is possible that the issue is already tackled. If it appears to be fixed, close the issue, otherwise report to the issue that it is still valid.
• Provide more details how to reproduce the issue.
• Explain why it is important to get this issue fixed and politely draw others attention to it e.g. via the forum or social media.
• Add a reduced test case about the issue, so it is easier for somebody to start working on a solution.
• Try fixing the issue yourself and create a pull request that contains the test case and/or a fix for it. Handling the pull requests is the top priority for the core team.
• If the issue is clearly a bug, use the Warranty in your Vaadin subscription to raise its priority.

Thanks again for your contributions! Even though we haven't been able to get this issue fixed, we hope you to report your findings and enhancement ideas in the future too!

[TatuLund]

This has been implemented in Flow, to be included in Vaadin 23.1.

[TatuLund]

This feature is going to be included in Vaadin 8.16.0 (requires extended support subscription)