Wicket Tutorial

Apache Wicket is a simple and features rich component-based web framework, the real reusable components is the main selling point of this framework. However, due to the big different between component-based and MVC architecture, it makes Wicket hard to learn, especially for those classic MVC developers.

In this tutorials, it providing many step by step examples and explanations on using Apache Wicket 1.4.

Basic & Configuration

Wicket hello world, basic stuff and URL configuration.

• Wicket Hello World Example
  A simple hello world to explore the basic structure of Wicket web application.
• Setup Wicket examples in local enviroment
  Setup a cloned Wicket example site in your local development environment for quick reference.
• PageParameters example
  Learn how to pass parameters to another page.
• Make Wicket URL bookmarkablePage Structure friendly
  By default, Wicket generated URL is ugly, here is a way to make the URL more neat and friendly.
• Encrypts URL in Wicket
  Easy way to encrypt URLs in Wicket.

Model

Wicket model examples, to bind from components to object property, and vise verse.

• PropertyModel example
  Uses PropertyModel to bind form components to object property.
• CompoundPropertyModel example
  Uses CompoundPropertyModel to bind form components to object property.

Form Components

Wicket form component examples.

• Textbox example
  Uses TextField to render a username textbox, and attached a simple username validator.
• Password field example
  Uses PasswordTextField to render password field, and attached a strong password validator.
• Textarea example
  Uses TextArea to render a multi-lines address field.
• Checkbox example
  Uses Checkbox to render checkbox, and checked it by default.
• Multiple checkboxes example
  Uses CheckBoxMultipleChoice to render multiple checkboxes.
• Radio buttons example
  Uses RadioChoice to render a group of radio buttons.
• Single select listbox example
  Uses ListChoice to render a single select scrollable list.
• Multi select listbox example
  Uses ListMultipleChoice to render a multi select scrollable list.
• Dropdown box example
  Uses DropDownChoice to render a dropdown box options.
• File upload example
  Uses FileUploadField to render a file upload componenet.
• Select and SelectOption example
  Wicket extensions – uses “Select” and “SelectOption” to render a dropdown box, which group related options with <optgroup> tags.
• Palette example
  Wicket extension – uses “Palette” to render two select boxes, and allow user to move items from one select box into another.

Validators

Custom validator in Wicket.

• Create a custom validator
  Example to create a custom validator.
• Custom NotEqualInputValidator
  Another custom validator to make sure two components are not equal.

Wicket Integration

Integrate Wicket with others.

• Wicket + Spring integration example
  Example to integrate Wicket with Spring framework easily.
• Wicket + Kaptcha integration example
  Example to integrate Kaptcha with Wicket framework, via Spring.
• Wicket + Log4j integration example
  How to integrate log4j with Wicket, via slf4j-log4j bridge binding.

FAQs

Some common FAQs in Wicket.

• Change the html file location in Wicket
  For some reasons, you want to separate java and html file into different folder, here are few ways to do it.
• Get ServletContext in Wicket
  ServletContext is useful to provide web information, show you how to get it in Wicket.
• Change Wicket to deployment mode
  Two ways to change Wicket from development mode to deployment mode.
• Call Javscript after AJAX update
  Show you how to run a Javascript code after ajax updated.
• FileUpload validator is ignored
  If no file is selected, FileUpload validator will not execute! solution.
• Configure 404 error page in Wicket
  How to configure a 404 error page for not found url.
• Get root context of web application
  Common way to get root context of your Wicket project.
• Detect if browser supports JavaScript or Ajax
  Wicket way to detect if browser supports JavaScript or Ajax
• Add attribute to a HTML tag dynamically
  Example to manipulate attribute in a HTML tag dynamically.
• AjaxLazyLoadPanel in Wicket
  Example to use AjaxLazyLoadPanel to enable the lazy load effect.

Common Errors

Some common error messages in Wicket.

• java.lang.ClassNotFoundException : org.slf4j.impl.StaticLoggerBinder
• Enable debug messages for org.apache.wicket.util.resource

Wicket References

• Apache Wicket official website
• Apache Wicket examples
• Apache Wicket Wiki documtation
• Apache Wicket APIs JavaDocs

What’s Next?

To study more topics on Wicket frameworks, I recommend below two great Wicket books.

mkyong

Founder of Mkyong.com, love Java and open source stuffs. Follow him on Twitter, or befriend him on Facebook or Google Plus.

Here are some of my recommended Books

Head First Java

Design Pattern

Effective Java

Spring Recipes

JavaScript Ninja