[jsr-314-open] JSF 2.1 ajax spec enhancements

[Ganesh]

Hi,

Here's my wishlist for JSF 2.1 ajax spec enhancements. All 
proposed enhancements are pure client side (js) stuff. Still 
they are  basic features that make a lot of difference in 
practical use.

If there are no objections I will open spec enhancement requests
for JSF 2.1 on the 4 parameters and 2 functional clarifications
described hereafter.


First i'd like to see 4 parameters added to f:ajax as well as to
jsf.ajax.request. All 4 of them are optional and default to the
2.0 behaviour to guarantee backward compatibility:

1. delay: Number of milliseconds before an ajax request is issued. 
If another ajax request comes in before the end of the delay the 
prior one is discarded. Very important one for onkeyup events in 
autosuggest boxes to avoid bombing the server down.

2. timeout: Number of milliseconds before a xhr request is cancelled. 
We've already got
https://javaserverfaces-spec-public.dev.java.net/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=682 
on this one.

3. queuesize: The 2.0 spec specifies an unlimited ajax queue, though
for most usages a queue size of 1 is appropriate. This param makes 
the queue size configurable. Follow up requests would replace prior 
request if the queue is full.

4. pps (true/false): Only the components named in the "execute" 
parameter are processed in phase 2-4, but the spec insists 
on submitting all elements included in a form. If pps is set to 
true submission is reduced to the form params named in execute.
This is a performance feature that can boost speed on large
pages.


There are also 2 functional clarifications I want to propose. 
Mojarra and MyFaces partly differ in this, so I think we need to
clarify.

runscripts: If a piece of XHTML comes in via xhr and contains <script> 
tags the ajax engine should automatically trigger execution of
these scripts. This is important if you want to replace a js function
or if the scripts somehow initialize UI elements. It depends on a
combination of the js replacement code 
(innerHTML/adjacentHTML/contextualFragment/...) and the browser
platform whether the browsers automatically run these scripts,
IE mostly doesn't run them FF mostly does so. The ajax engine should
know whether the browser does automatically run the scripts and if it
doesn't they should be triggered via js.

applystyles: If a piece of XHTML comes in via xhr and contains <style> 
tags the ajax engine should automatically apply the styles to the page.
Again some browser engines with some replacements methods do apply
the styles others don't and the ajax engine should be responsible
to guarantee it.

Best regards,
Ganesh