It has always bedeviled me how to submit an ATG form using a text link. I have asked many people about this but no one seems to know. Finally with the help of ATG support I figured it out.
Below is a simple example of how to do it. The trick is the hidden submit input which triggers ATG to call the handleSubmit method of the form handler.
<%@ taglib uri="/dspTaglib" prefix="dsp"%>
<dsp:page>
<script>
  function submit(form) {
    form.submit();
  }
</script>
<dsp:form action="<%=request.getRequestURI()%>" method="post" name="testForm">
  Foo: <dsp:input type="text" bean="TestFormHandler.foo"/>
  <p><a href="javascript:submit(document.testForm)">Submit</a>
  <dsp:input type="hidden" bean="TestFormHandler.submit" value="Submit"/>
</dsp:form>
</dsp:page>
You can also invoke the JavaScript like this:
<p><a href="#" onclick="submit(document.testForm); return false;">Submit</a>
Thanks for posting this! It was exactly what I needed to solve my problem. I’m an experienced Java developer, but very new to ATG, so your postings have been very helpful.
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You can also submit the form via a text link with a simple dsp:a tag by specifying a bean and any parameters.
Example:
<dsp:a bean="SomeBean.method" value="" href="#">
Link Text
<dsp:param name="parameterName" param="element.value" />
</dsp:a>
This will then call your SomeBean’s handleMethod and any parameters that you passed, such as parameterName, will be available via request.getParameter(“parameterName”).