JavaServer Faces: Building Web-based User Interfaces

by Hans Bergsten

Overview

JavaServer Faces, or JSF, brings a component-based model to web application development that's similar to the model that's been used in standalone GUI applications for years. The technology builds on the experience gained from Java Servlets, JavaServer Pages, and numerous commercial and open source web application frameworks that simplify the development process.In JavaServer Faces, developers learn how to use this new framework to build real-world web applications. The book contains everything you'll need: how to construct the HTML on the front end; how to create the user interface components that connect the front end to your business objects; how to write a back-end that's JSF-friendly; and how to create the deployment descriptors that tie everything together.JavaServer Faces pays particular attention to simple tasks that are easily ignored, but crucial to any real application: working with tablular data, for example, or enabling and disabling buttons. And this book doesn't hide from the trickier issues, like creating custom components or creating renderers for different presentation layers. Whether you're experienced with JSF or a just starting out, you'll find everything you need to know about this technology in this book.Topics covered include:

• The JSF environment
• Creating and rendering components
• Validating input
• Handling user-generated events
• Controlling page navigation
• Working with tabular data
• Internationalization
• Integration between JSF and Struts
• Developing custom renderers and custom components

JavaServer Faces is a complete guide to the crucial new JSF technology. If you develop web applications, JSF belongs in your toolkit, and this book belongs in your library.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781449378950
Publisher:	O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/22/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	608
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Hans Bergsten is the founder of Gefion Software, a company focused on Java services and products based on the J2EE technlogies. Hans has been an active participant in the working groups for both the servlet and JSP specifications from the time they were formed. He also contributes to other related JCP specifications, such as JSP Standard Tag Libraries (JSTL), and helped get the development of the Apache Tomcat reference implementation for servlet and JSP started as one of the initial members of the Apache Jakarta Project Management Committee.

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
1.	Introducing JavaServer Faces	1
	What Is JavaServer Faces?	1
	How Does JSF Compare to Traditional Technologies?	3
	Where Does JSF Fit in the Big Picture?	8
	What You Need to Get Started	9
2.	JSF Development Process Overview	11
	Developing an Application with a JSF-Based User Interface	12
	Developing the Application Backend	13
	Developing Components and Integration Code	14
	Developing the User Interface Pages	17
3.	Setting Up the JSF Environment	21
	Installing the Java Software Development Kit	22
	Installing the Tomcat Server	23
	Testing Tomcat	26
	Installing the Book Examples	28
	Example Web Application Overview	30
4.	Servlet and JavaServer Pages Basics	32
	HTTP	32
	Web Application Deployment and Runtime Environment	39
	Servlets, Filters, and Listeners	42
	JavaServer Pages	49
	Accessing Application Data	61
5.	Developing the Business Logic and Setting Up Authentication	64
	Sample Application Overview	64
	Implementing the Business Logic Classes	66
	Authentication and Authorization	78
6.	Creating and Rendering Components	85
	The Basics	85
	Binding Components to Model Properties	99
	Conditionally Render Components	108
7.	Validating Input	115
	Dealing with Syntax Errors in User Input	115
	Using the Standard Validators	118
	Defining Custom Error Messages	126
	Using a Custom Validator	127
	Other Ways to Validate Input	137
8.	Handling Events	138
	Understanding the JSF Event Model	138
	Handling Application Backend Events	143
	Handling User Interface Events	150
9.	Controlling Navigation	158
	Moving Between JSF Views	158
	Returning a Non-JSF View Response	165
	Returning a JSF View Response to a Non JSF Request	167
10.	Working with Tabular Data	169
	Displaying a Read-Only Table	169
	Processing Row-Specific Events	173
	Dealing with Large Tables	179
	Editing Tabular Data	187
11.	Internationalization	193
	Localizing Application Output	193
	Handling Localized Application Input	203
	Dealing with Non-Western Languages	205
12.	Odds and Ends	212
	Building a View from Many JSP Files	212
	Combining JSF Views with Other Content	221
	Dealing with Struts Applications and JSF	224
	Programmatically Modifying Components	232
	Using a PhaseListener	237
	Debugging and Error Handling Ideas	239
13.	Developing Custom Renderers and Other Pluggable Classes	246
	Developing Custom Renderers	247
	Using Other Custom Classes	272
	Packaging Custom Classes	273
14.	Developing Custom Components	274
	Extending an Existing Component	274
	Developing a New Component from Scratch	283
15.	Developing a Custom Presentation Layer	306
	The ViewHandler Class	306
	Using Java Classes as Views	307
	Using Pure HTML Templates with XML View Definition Files	316
A.	Standard JSF Tag Libraries	329
B.	JSF Expression Language Reference	380
C.	Standard JSF Components and Render Kits	387
D.	Infrastructure API Reference	479
E.	JSF Configuration File Reference	537
F.	Web Application Structure and Deployment Descriptor Reference	550
	Index	573