How to update a LayoutUnit in PrimeFaces to get it

Question

I have a fullPage layout in my xhtml with a west-positioned layoutUnit for the menu and a center-positioned one for the content.

I have implemented several center-positioned layotUnits, and I want to render them according to the menuItem selected.

When I run the application, it won't refresh the layoutUnit, until I click refresh in the browser (IE8 - company standard).

The xhtml is the following:

<h:body>
   <h:form>
      <p:layout fullPage="true" id="allLayout">

        <p:layoutUnit position="west" header="Menu" collapsible="true">
           <p:menu>
              <p:submenu label="Resources">
                 <p:menuitem value="Option1" action="#{menu.setSelectedMenu(menu.OPT1)}" update="allLayout"/>
                 <p:menuitem value="Option2" action="#{menu.setSelectedMenu(menu.OPT2)}" update="allLayout"/>
              </p:submenu>
          </p:menu>
        </p:layoutUnit>

        <p:layoutUnit position="center" rendered="#{menu.selectedMenu == menu.OPT1}">
           <p:outputLabel value="This is the content option 1 (default)."/>
        </p:layoutUnit>         

        <p:layoutUnit position="center" rendered="#{menu.selectedMenu == menu.OPT2}">
           <p:outputLabel value="This is the content option 2."/>
        </p:layoutUnit>

      </p:layout>
   </h:form>
</h:body>

And the bean for it is:

@ManagedBean
@SessionScoped
public class Menu {

   private final int OPT1 = 1;
   private final int OPT2 = 2;
   private int selectedOption;

   public Menu() {
      selectedMenu = OPT1;
   }

   public int getSelectedOption() {
      return selectedOption;
   }

   public void setSelectedOption(int selectedOption) {
      this.selectedOption = selectedOption;
   }

   public int getOPT1() {
      return OPT1;
   }

   public int getOPT2() {
      return OPT2;
   }
}

Answer 1

modify this part:

<p:layoutUnit position="west" header="Menu" collapsible="true">
       <p:menu>
          <p:submenu label="Resources">
             <p:menuitem value="Option1" action="#{menu.setSelectedMenu(menu.OPT1)}"       
              update="allLayout" ajax="false"/>
             <p:menuitem value="Option2" action="#{menu.setSelectedMenu(menu.OPT2)}" 
              update="allLayout" ajax="false"/>
          </p:submenu>
      </p:menu>
    </p:layoutUnit>

Answer 2

I don't think that you want to create multiple center layout units. I think you will be better off with a single layout unit and change the content within that single unit. Depending on what you are doing you may want to use some templating for that unit. I would say that probably your best approach is to put your different content on panels then wrap them in a parent panel that you will update in order to show the content you want.

    <p:layout fullPage="true" id="allLayout">
        <p:layoutUnit position="west" header="Menu" collapsible="true">
            <p:menu>
                <p:submenu label="Resources">
                    <p:menuitem value="Option1"
                        action="#{menu.setSelectedMenu(menu.OPT1)}" update="optionPanel" />
                    <p:menuitem value="Option2"
                        action="#{menu.setSelectedMenu(menu.OPT2)}" update="optionPanel" />
                </p:submenu>
            </p:menu>
        </p:layoutUnit>

        <p:layoutUnit position="center">
            <p:panel id="optionPanel">
                <p:panel id="opt1Panel" rendered="#{menu.selectedMenu == menu.OPT1}">
                    <p:outputLabel value="This is the content option 1 (default)." />
                </p:panel>

                <p:panel id="opt2Panel"
                    rendered="#{menu.selectedMenu == menu.OPT2}">
                    <p:outputLabel value="This is the content option 2 (default)." />
                </p:panel>
            </p:panel>

        </p:layoutUnit>
    </p:layout>