AEM DefaultValue written to JCR - aem

Question

I noticed that when I set my defaultValue for a dropdown, altho it is correctly selected in the drop down when I first add my component to the page it does not write the defaultValue to the corresponding JCR until I edit the component and save it. Even if I just open the corresponding dialog and click OK now my component works as expected because the values have been added to the JCR.
I am sure there is an important piece that I am missing here, does anyone knows how defaultValues that are required in order for the component to render properly can be added to the JCR when they are first added to the page?

Answer 1

Like Shwan say's that's the way it works. The default values or empty texts are only for the dialog. They aren't persisted until the dialog is authored. The properties have to be set by a different method. CQ already ships with this feature and you can do it without any custom code.
Under your component , create a node called cq:template[nt:unstructured] . If all the data is stored on the component node itself , add the default values as properties to cq:template node with name same as the ones in your dialog. In case the data is stored in a child node add a similar node under cq:template node.
Source : http://blogs.adobe.com/experiencedelivers/experience-management/defaults-in-your-component/

Answer 2

I believe that is simply the way it works. The default value specified in a dialog does not get used until the dialog is loaded/saved, so until that happens the node on the JCR repository that is being authored won't have the default value.
We got around this on a project by adding back-end code that was tied to the component (a tag) so that when the component was loaded, if the property did not exist, it would be written with the default the first time. Ex:
if (wcmMode == WCMMode.EDIT )
{
if(!currentNode.hasProperty("SomePropertyThatWillAlwaysExistIfTheDialogHasBeenSaved")) {
currentNode.setProperty("PropertyThatShouldHaveDefault", GlobalConstants.TRUE);
currentNode.getSession().save();
}
}

Answer 3

Like Sharath Madappa say's that's the way it works fine if component name and jsp name same. If you dont have componentname.jsp under component or page, cq:template won't work.(Reference:http://labs.6dglobal.com/blog/2014-07-08/using-the-cq-template/)
If you hava componentname.html under your component, changed the node [cq:template] type to [cq:Template] instead of [nt:unstructured]. In this case, defaultValues can be added to the JCR when they are first added to the page.