InitBinder on multiple form objects - spring-mvc

Question

Can you have a #Initbinder on several data in the same form?
I have a spring form which contains a select dropdown of an object and two datafields, I have an Initbinder on the dates otherwise I get an error on submit. But I also need to bind the dropdown to an object.
I have a Type which has two dates and a Category, and it is the Category I need to bind because it can not be empty on save.
I think it will help me to validate the form to.
So can I have this in my Type controller?
#InitBinder
public void initBinder(WebDataBinder binder) {
SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd");
dateFormat.setLenient(false);
binder.registerCustomEditor(Date.class, new CustomDateEditor(dateFormat, true));
binder.registerCustomEditor(Category.class, "category", new CategoryEditor(CategoryService));
}
And this is the Editor:
public class CategoryEditor extends PropertyEditorSupport {
private CategoryService categoryService;
public CategoryEditor(CategoryService categoryService) {
this.categoryService = categoryService;
}
#Override
public void setAsText(String text) throws IllegalArgumentException {
if (text.equals("0")) {
this.setValue(null);
} else {
Category sc = categoryService.getCategory(Integer.parseInt(text));
this.setValue(sc);
}
}
#Override
public String getAsText() {
Category parent = new Category();
if (this.getValue() != null) {
parent = (Category) this.getValue();
}
return "";
}
}
And my jsp-page
<s:url value="/mvc/type/save" var="actionUrl" />
<sf:form method="POST" modelAttribute="type" action="${actionUrl}">
<fieldset>
<legend><s:message code="${heading}" /></legend>
<table>
<tr>
<th><label for="category"><s:message code="category" />:</label></th>
<td><sf:select path="category.ID" id="category">
<sf:option value="0"> </sf:option>
<sf:options items="${listOfCategories}" itemLabel="name" itemValue="ID" />
</sf:select></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><label for="name"><s:message code="name" />:</label></th>
<td><sf:input path="name" id="name" />
<sf:hidden path="ID" />
<sf:hidden path="version" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><label for="marketing"><s:message code="marketing" />:</label></th>
<td><sf:input path="marketingFunction" id="marketing" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><label for="status"><s:message code="status" />:</label></th>
<td><sf:select path="lifeCycleStatus">
<sf:option value="0"> </sf:option>
<sf:options items="${listOfEnums}" />
</sf:select></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><label for="validfrom"><s:message code="validfrom" />:</label></th>
<td><sf:input path="validFrom" id="validfrom" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><label for="validuntil"><s:message code="validuntil" />:</label></th>
<td><sf:input path="validUntil" d="validuntil" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">
<input id="saveButton" class="right" type="submit" title="<s:message code="save" />" value=" [ <s:message code="save" /> ] " />
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</fieldset>
</sf:form>
So my question: Can I have multiple binder in the same initBinder in my controller? It seems like I can't because I never enter the CategoryEditor. How do I do this?

Answer 1

There aren't multiple binders, there are multiple PropertyEditors.
Your custom one is never called because you are binding the wrong path.
<sf:select path="category.ID" id="category">
You must bind to category and not category.ID
<sf:select path="category" id="category">