001// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
002// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
003// You may obtain a copy of the License at
004//
005// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
006//
007// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
008// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
009// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
010// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
011// limitations under the License.
012
013package org.apache.tapestry5;
014
015import org.apache.tapestry5.services.javascript.JavaScriptSupport;
016
017/**
018 * Interface for any kind of object (typically, a component) that can provide a {@linkplain #getClientId() client-side
019 * id}, typically used in the generation of client-side (JavaScript) logic. For components, the client id will be null
020 * or inaccurate until after the component has rendered itself. Inside of any kind of loop, the clientId property is
021 * only accurate just after the component has rendered, and before it renders again.
022 *
023 * Some components must be configured to provide a client id. In many cases, the client id matches the component's
024 * {@linkplain ComponentResourcesCommon#getId() component id}, typically passed through
025 * {@link JavaScriptSupport#allocateClientId(String)} to ensure uniqueness.
026 */
027public interface ClientElement
028{
029    /**
030     * @return a unique id for the element. This value will be unique for any given rendering of a page. This value is
031     * intended for use as the id attribute of the client-side element, and will be used with any DHTML/Ajax related
032     * JavaScript.
033     */
034    String getClientId();
035}