vaadin-framework/documentation/articles/SendingEventsFromTheClientToTheServerUsingRPC.asciidoc

---
title: Sending Events From The Client To The Server Using RPC
order: 20
layout: page
---

[[sending-events-from-the-client-to-the-server-using-RPC]]
= Sending events from the client to the server using RPC
An RPC mechanism can be used to communicate from the client to the
server. In effect, the client can call methods that are executed by the
server component. The server component can then take appropriate action
- e.g updating the shared state or calling event listeners.

To set up client-server RPC we need to create one interface defining the
RPC methods, and then make use of that interface on both the client and
the server. Place the `MyComponentServerRpc` interface in the client
package:

[source,java]
....
package com.example.mycomponent.client;

import com.vaadin.terminal.gwt.client.MouseEventDetails;
import com.vaadin.terminal.gwt.client.communication.ServerRpc;

public interface MyComponentServerRpc extends ServerRpc {
    public void clicked(MouseEventDetails mouseDetails);
}
....

Note that the RPC methods can not have return values. In this example,
we pass `MouseEventDetails` to get a more complete example, but you
could pass almost any (or no) parameters.

In the server side `MyComponent` we need to implement the interface, and
register it for use:

[source,java]
....
package com.example.mycomponent;

import com.example.mycomponent.client.MyComponentServerRpc;
import com.example.mycomponent.client.MyComponentState;
import com.vaadin.terminal.gwt.client.MouseEventDetails;
import com.vaadin.ui.AbstractComponent;

public class MyComponent extends AbstractComponent {

    private int clickCount = 0;

    private MyComponentServerRpc rpc = new MyComponentServerRpc() {
        public void clicked(MouseEventDetails mouseDetails) {
            clickCount++;
            setText("You have clicked " + clickCount + " times");
        }
    };

    public MyComponent() {
        registerRpc(rpc);
    }

/* Previous code commented out for clarity:
    @Override
    public MyComponentState getState() {
        return (MyComponentState) super.getState();
    }
    public void setText(String text) {
        getState().text = text;
    }
    public String getText() {
        return getState().text;
    }
*/
}
....

Here we react to the RPC call by incrementing a counter. We do not make
use of the `MouseEventDetails` (yet). Notice the *important call to
`registerRpc()`* in the added constructor.

In the client side `MyComponentConnector`, we use `RpcProxy` to get an
implementation of the RPC interface, and call the `clicked()` method
when the widget is clicked:

[source,java]
....
package com.example.mycomponent.client;

// imports removed for clarity
import com.vaadin.terminal.gwt.client.communication.RpcProxy;

@Connect(MyComponent.class)
public class MyComponentConnector extends AbstractComponentConnector {

    MyComponentServerRpc rpc = RpcProxy
            .create(MyComponentServerRpc.class, this);

    public MyComponentConnector() {
        getWidget().addClickHandler(new ClickHandler() {
            public void onClick(ClickEvent event) {

                final MouseEventDetails mouseDetails = MouseEventDetailsBuilder
                        .buildMouseEventDetails(event.getNativeEvent(),
                                getWidget().getElement());

                rpc.clicked(mouseDetails);
            }
        });
    }

/* Previous code commented out for clarity:
    @Override
    protected Widget createWidget() {
        return GWT.create(MyComponentWidget.class);
    }
    @Override
    public MyComponentWidget getWidget() {
        return (MyComponentWidget) super.getWidget();
    }
    @Override
    public MyComponentState getState() {
        return (MyComponentState) super.getState();
    }
    @OnStateChange("text")
    void updateText() {
        getWidget().setText(getState().text);
    }
*/
}
....

Notice that most of the code is for attaching the click handler and
creating the `MouseEventDetails`, the code for the actual RPC is quite
minimal.

Compile the widgetset, and the label text should be updated with the
click count whenever you click it (remember that the counting is done on
the server-side).

Finally, note that you can use multiple RPC interfaces in one component,
allowing for better code separation and reuse.

You can do the same thing in the other direction, see the article about
server to client RPC for details.