Question

I’m new to grails and MVC so please bear with me.

I have some links on my GSP that do some static filtering. For instance, the example below returns only
those Request domain class instances with status Open. But I also want to be able to do some dynamic filtering on the same model (results in the code bellow).

Use case would be something like this: User sees all Request domain class instances in the table. He clicks on the link Open requests and gets only those Request instances that have status property with value Open. Than he sets dateFrom and dateTo using date picker control and clicks on the Filter button which calls the method/action that further filters data from the table. So it should return only those request that are opened and that are created within the specified period.

def openedRequests = {
    def contact = Contact?.findByUser(springSecurityService.currentUser)
    def productlines = contact.productlines()
    def requestCriteria = Request.createCriteria()      
    def results = requestCriteria.list {
        eq("status", "Open")
        and {
            'in'("productline",productlines)
        }

    }
    render(view:'supportList', model:[requestInstanceList:results, requestInstanceTotal: results.totalCount])
}

EDIT
On my GSP I have few links that call controller actions which perform some domain class instances filtering. For example I have OpenedRequests, ClosedRequests, NewRequests. But I also have some textboxes, comboboxes, datePicker controls for additional filtering. I call the filterRequests action with a button.

def filterRequests = {
    def contact = Contact?.findByUser(springSecurityService.currentUser)
    def productlines = contact.productlines()
    def requestCriteria = Request.createCriteria()
    def results = requestCriteria.list {
        if(params.fDateFrom && params.fDateTo){
            def dateFrom = new SimpleDateFormat("dd.MM.yyyy").parse(params.fDateFrom_value)
            def dateTo = new SimpleDateFormat("dd.MM.yyyy").parse(params.fDateTo_value)
            between("dateCreated",dateFrom,dateTo)
        }
        if(params?.fStatus){
            eq("status",params.fStatus)
        }
        if(params?.fCompany){
            eq("company", params.fCompany)
        }
        and {'in'("productline",productlines)
        }
        if(params.sort != null && params.order !=  null){
            order(params.sort, params.order)
        }
    }
    render(view:'supportList', model:[requestInstanceList:results, requestInstanceTotal: results.totalCount])

}

I want to be able to filter Request instances with some of mentioned links and than if I set up some additional filters, for example dateFrom i dateTo with datePicker. I want those filters to be aware of previous filtering with link if there were any. What is the right way to do this?

Answer 1

David suggested that I use Detached Criteria but I am using Grails 1.3.7 for my app. So, at the moment this isn’t an option. I also thought of using database views and stored procedures but I wasn’t sure how that will work with Grails (but that is something that I will definitely have to explore) and I wanted some results fast so I did something not very DRY. When I filter table with one of the mentioned links I save the name of the link/action in session and in filterRequest action (that does additional filtering) I check the session to see if there has been any previous ‘link filtering’ and if it were I apply those filters on the table with criteria, and after that I apply the filters that were manualy entered. I don’t like it but that’s all I came up with with my limited understanding of Grails. Below is my filterRequest action:

def filterRequests = {
    def contact = Contact?.findByUser(springSecurityService.currentUser)
    def productlines = contact.productlines()
    def requestCriteria = Request.createCriteria()
    def results = requestCriteria.list {
        if(session.filter == "newRequests"){
            and{
                isNull("acceptedBy")
                ne("status", "Closed")
            }
        }
        if(session.filter == "openRequests"){
            and{
                ne("status",'Closed')
            }
        }
        if(session.filter == "closedRequests"){
            and{
                eq("status", "Closed")
            }
        }   

        if(session.filter == "myRequests"){
            and{
                eq("acceptedBy", contact.realname)
            }
        }


        if(params.fDateFrom && params.fDateTo){
            def dateFrom = new SimpleDateFormat("dd.MM.yyyy").parse(params.fDateFrom_value)
            def dateTo = new SimpleDateFormat("dd.MM.yyyy").parse(params.fDateTo_value)
            and{
                between("dateCreated",dateFrom,dateTo)
            }
        }
        if(params?.fAcceptedBy){
            and{
                eq("acceptedBy", params.fAcceptedBy)
            }
        }
        if(params?.fStartedBy){
            and{
                eq("startedBy", params.fStartedBy)
            }
        }
        if(params?.fCompany){
            and{
                ilike("company", "%" + params.fCompany +"%")
            }   
        }
        and {'in'("productline",productlines)
        }
        if(params.sort != null && params.order !=  null){
            order(params.sort, params.order)
        }
    }
}