2012 Marty Hall

JSF: Introduction,
Installation, and Setup
Originals of Slides and Source Code for Examples:
http://www.coreservlets.com/JSF-Tutorial/
This somewhat old tutorial covers JSF 1, and is left online for those maintaining existing projects. All new projects
should use JSF 2, which is both simpler and more powerful. See http://www.coreservlets.com/JSF-Tutorial/jsf2/.

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Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.

2012 Marty Hall

For live training on JSF 1 or 2, please see

courses at http://courses.coreservlets.com/.
Taught by the author of Core Servlets and JSP, More
Servlets and JSP, and this tutorial. Available at public
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Courses developed and taught by Marty Hall
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Courses developed and taught by coreservlets.com experts (edited by Marty)
Java, JSF 2, PrimeFaces, Servlets, JSP, Ajax, jQuery, Spring, Hibernate, RESTful Web Services, Hadoop, Android.
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Developed and taught by well-known author
Contact and developer. At public
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for details
 Topics in This Section
Understanding JSF
Different views of JSF
Comparing JSF to standard servlet/JSP technology
Pros and cons
Comparing JSF to Apache Struts
Pros and cons
Setting Up JSF
Downloading and configuring JSF
Apache MyFaces
Sun Reference Implementation
Testing JSF
Setting up JSF applications
Accessing JSF documentation
4

2012 Marty Hall

Overview

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 What is JSF?
A set of Web-based GUI controls and associated
handlers?
JSF provides many prebuilt HTML-oriented GUI controls, along
with code to handle their events.
A device-independent GUI control framework?
JSF can be used to generate graphics in formats other than HTML,
using protocols other than HTTP.
A better Struts?
Like Apache Struts, JSF can be viewed as an MVC framework for
building HTML forms, validating their values, invoking business
logic, and displaying results.
But which is the proper way to view JSF?
The answer depends on what you are going to use it for, but the 1 &
3 are the most common way of looking at JSF.
6

Advantages of JSF (vs. MVC Using

RequestDispatcher)
Custom GUI controls
JSF provides a set of APIs and associated custom tags to create
HTML forms that have complex interfaces
Event handling
JSF makes it easy to designate Java code that is invoked when forms
are submitted. The code can respond to particular buttons, changes
in particular values, certain user selections, and so on.
Managed beans
In JSP, you can use property="*" with jsp:setProperty to
automatically populate a bean based on request parameters. JSF
extends this capability and adds in several utilities, all of which
serve to greatly simplify request param processing.
Expression Language
JSF provides a concise and powerful language for accessing bean
properties and collection elements
7
 Advantages of JSF (vs.
Standard MVC), Continued
Form field conversion and validation
JSF has builtin capabilities for checking that form values are in the
required format and for converting from strings to various other data
types. If values are missing or in an improper format, the form can
be automatically redisplayed with error messages and with the
previously entered values maintained.
Centralized file-based configuration
Rather then hard-coding information into Java programs, many JSF
values are represented in XML or property files. This loose coupling
means that many changes can be made without modifying or
recompiling Java code, and that wholesale changes can be made by
editing a single file. This approach also lets Java and Web
developers focus on their specific tasks without needing to know
about the overall system layout.
Consistent approach
8
JSF encourages consistent use of MVC throughout your application.

Disadvantages of JSF (vs. MVC

with RequestDispatcher)
Bigger learning curve
To use MVC with the standard RequestDispatcher, you
need to be comfortable with the standard JSP and servlet
APIs. To use MVC with JSF, you have to be comfortable
with the standard JSP and servlet APIs and a large and
elaborate framework that is almost equal in size to the
core system. This drawback is especially significant with
smaller projects, near-term deadlines, and less
experienced developers; you could spend as much time
learning JSF as building your actual system.
Worse documentation
Compared to the standard servlet and JSP APIs, JSF has
fewer online resources, and many first-time users find the
online JSF documentation confusing and poorly
9 organized. MyFaces is particularly bad.
 Disadvantages of JSF (vs.
Standard MVC), Continued
Less transparent
With JSF applications, there is a lot more going on
behind the scenes than with normal Java-based Web
applications. As a result, JSF applications are:
Harder to understand
Harder to benchmark and optimize
Undeveloped tool support
There are many IDEs with strong support for standard
servlet and JSP technology. Support for JSF is only
beginning to emerge, and final level is yet to be
determined.
Rigid approach
The flip side of the benefit that JSF encourages a
consistent approach to MVC is that JSF makes it difficult
10
to use other approaches.

Advantages of JSF
(vs. Struts)
Custom components
JSF makes it relatively easy to combine complex GUIs
into a single manageable component; Struts does not
Better support for Ajax
Several third-party component libraries have extensive
Ajax support (Apache Tomahawk, JBoss
Ajax4jsf/RichFaces, Oracle ADF, IceFaces). Struts
doesn't have real component libraries (see above).
Support for other display technologies
JSF is not limited to HTML and HTTP; Struts is
Access to beans by name
JSF lets you assign names to beans, then you refer to
them by name in the forms. Struts has a complex process
11
with several levels of indirection.
 Advantages of JSF
(vs. Struts), Continued
Expression language
The JSF expression language is more concise and
powerful than the Struts bean:write tag.
This is less advantageous if using JSP 2.0 anyhow.
Simpler controller and bean definitions
JSF does not require your controller and bean classes to
extend any particular parent class (e.g., Action) or use
any particular method (e.g., execute). Struts does.
Simpler config file and overall structure
The faces-config.xml file is much easier to use than is the
struts-config.xml file. In general, JSF is simpler.
More powerful potential tool support
The orientation around GUI controls and their handlers
opens possibility of simple to use, drag-and-drop IDEs
12

Disadvantages of JSF (vs. Struts)

Struts: established base and industry momentum
4/2009 search at dice.com and monster.com
struts: 896 jobs (dice.com), 525 jobs (monster.com)
jsf: 732 (dice.com), 694 (monster.com)

13
 Disadvantages of JSF (vs. Struts),
Continued
Support for other display technologies
JSF is not limited to HTML and HTTP; Struts is
Hey! Didn't I say this was an advantage of JSF?
Confusion vs. file names
The actual pages used in JSF end in .jsp. But the URLs
used end in .faces or .jsf. This causes many problems; in
particular, in JSF:
You cannot browse directories and click on links
It is hard to protect raw JSP pages from access
It is hard to refer to non-faces pages in faces-
config.xml
Self-submit approach
With Struts, the form (blah.jsp) and the handler
(blah.do)have different URLs; with JSF they are the
same.
14

Disadvantages of JSF (vs.

Struts), Continued
No builtin equivalent to Tiles
Struts comes with a page layout facility; JSF does not
Facelets is not yet part of JSF, but is now mainstream
Or, you can extract Tiles from Struts and use it with JSF
Much weaker automatic validation
Struts comes with validators for email address, credit card
numbers, regular expressions, and more. JSF only comes with
validators for missing values, length of input, and numbers in
a given range.
But many powerful 3rd-party validators (including MyFaces)
You can use the Struts/Commons validation library with JSF
Lack of client-side validation
Struts supports JavaScript-based form-field validation; JSF
does not
Worse installation
Struts has the struts-blank application to use for a starting
point; JSF has nothing similar
15
 JSF and Struts: The Future
Possibilities
JSF will fail and developers that want a framework will
stick with Struts
JSF will die
Doubtful at this point, but other MVC frameworks have failed
JSF will flourish and replace Struts
Struts will die
JSF will grow moderately, and developers will be split
Both Struts and JSF will be widely used frameworks
Prediction is difficult
Technical factors are not usually what decide these things
Recommendations
Move ongoing Struts projects to JSF: not yet
Start real-world JSF projects: yes, but with some caution
16

2012 Marty Hall

Installation

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17 Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.
 Installing and Configuring JSF:
Summary
To run JSF, you need three things:
Certain JAR files in WEB-INF/lib
Specific to the implementation.
Certain web.xml entries
Must match the specific implementation.
A blank faces-config.xml file in WEB-INF
Standard. Nothing specific to MyFaces.
jsf-blank-myfaces
Blank Eclipse project with pieces taken from Apache
Downloadable from http://coreservlets.com/JSF-Tutorial/
Import into Eclipse, then copy/paste for new projects
Copying projects in Eclipse is painful; see later slide

18

Installing and Configuring JSF:

Details
Download the JSF files from one of two places
Get jsf-blank-myfaces from coreservlets.com
http://www.coreservlets.com/JSF-Tutorial/
Files taken from the MyFaces distribution
Configured as an Eclipse project
Download from http://myfaces.apache.org/download.html
JAR files in WEB-INF/lib (some missing!)
Hard to find sample web.xml or faces-config.xml
Make compatible Eclipse project
Copy jsf-blank-myfaces
Requires you to edit .settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.component
Or, create a new Dynamic Web Project in Eclipse
Copy JAR files to WebContent/WEB-INF/lib
Copy entries to WebContent/WEB-INF/web.xml
Copy faces-config.xml to WebContent/WEB-INF
Add project facet for JSF so that Eclipse is smart about editing JSF tags
in .jsp files and so that it uses the faces-config.xml editor
19
 Bookmark the JSF Documentation

API Javadocs
http://java.sun.com/j2ee/javaserverfaces/1.1/docs/api/
Same as the MyFaces version
Tag library docs
http://java.sun.com/j2ee/javaserverfaces/1.1/docs/tlddocs/
Much better than the MyFaces version
MyFaces References
http://myfaces.apache.org/
Users Guide, extensions documentation, FAQs, etc.
faces-config.xml annotated DTD
http://horstmann.com/corejsf/faces-config.html
From Cay Horstmann
20

JSF Books (In Order of My Personal

Preference)
JavaServer Faces, the Complete Reference
By Schalk and Burns
JavaServer Faces in Action
By Kito Mann
Core JavaServer Faces
By Geary and Horstmann
Second edition available as of May '07
JavaServer Faces
By Hans Bergsten
Mastering JavaServer Faces
By Dudney, et al
21
 2012 Marty Hall

Development
Process by Copying
Blank Project
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22 Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.

The jsf-blank-myfaces Project

Ready-to-extend Eclipse project
Contains all required
standard JAR files
Contains minimal web.xml
entries
Contains blank
faces-config.xml file
Added project facet so that
Eclipse is JSF-aware
Especially so special editor is used for faces-config.xml
Download jsf-blank-myfaces from
http://www.coreservlets.com/JSF-Tutorial/
Web site also has extended version of blank project that
23
contains MyFaces extensions
 Developing in Eclipse by Copying
Blank Project
Why copy?
Creating new JSF apps in Eclipse is cumbersome
R-click project Properties Project Facets
JavaServer Faces has problems if web.xml exists already
You have to configure JAR file locations
Issue
Cutting/pasting Web app in Eclipse does not change the
context path and internal project deploy name
Context path can be changed by R-clicking project, then
Properties Web Project Settings
But deployed name is not accessible from within Eclipse!
Solution
Go to file system, edit
.settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.component
Change two instances of old project name to new one
R-click on project and choose Refresh
24

Copying jsf-blank-myfaces:
Example
First, copy project
R-click on jsf-blank-myfaces, choose Copy
R-click in Project Explorer window, choose Paste
E.g., name it my-jsf-project
Next, edit .component file
Navigate to Eclipse workspace/projectName/.settings

Open in normal text editor

When done editing, R-click on project in Eclipse,

then choose Refresh

25
 Copying jsf-blank-myfaces:
Example (Continued)
.component file: before
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project-modules id="moduleCoreId" project-version="1.5.0">
<wb-module deploy-name="jsf-blank-myfaces">
<wb-resource deploy-path="/" source-path="/WebContent"/>
<wb-resource deploy-path="/WEB-INF/classes" source-path="/src"/>
<property name="context-root" value="jsf-blank-myfaces"/>
<property name="java-output-path"/>
</wb-module>
</project-modules>

.component file: after

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project-modules id="moduleCoreId" project-version="1.5.0">
<wb-module deploy-name="my-jsf-project">
<wb-resource deploy-path="/" source-path="/WebContent"/>
<wb-resource deploy-path="/WEB-INF/classes" source-path="/src"/>
<property name="context-root" value="my-jsf-project"/>
<property name="java-output-path"/>
</wb-module>
</project-modules>
26

Using jsf-blank as Starting Point for

New JSF Applications
Copy and rename jsf-blank-myfaces
R-click, Copy, R-click, paste
Edit .component file and change name twice as on
previous slides
Add JSF content
Edit WebContent/WEB-INF/faces-config.xml
Add JSP, HTML, and other Web content to
WebContent
.jsp files will use JSF-specific tags
Add Java files to src
Deploy normally
R-click server in Eclipse, Add and Remove Projects,
Select project, R-click, Restart
If you do not have a Java-enabled server set up in Eclipse,
27
see http://www.coreservlets.com/Apache-Tomcat-Tutorial/
 Summary
JSF provides many useful features for
developing complex GUIs & handling events
Standard servlet and JSP technology is a
viable alternative
Especially when the MVC approach and the JSP 2.0
expression language is used
Struts is also a viable alternative
Future of JSF vs. Struts is unknown
To get started
Download jsf-blank-myfaces from
http://www.coreservlets.com/JSF-Tutorial/
Minimal (standard) version or version with MyFaces
28
extensions

2012 Marty Hall

Questions?

Customized Java EE Training: http://courses.coreservlets.com/

Java, JSF 2, PrimeFaces, Servlets, JSP, Ajax, jQuery, Spring, Hibernate, RESTful Web Services, Hadoop, Android.
Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.