3.1.2.2.4. JSF example using the JBoss Portlet Bridge

To write a portlet using JSF, it is required to have a 'bridge'. This software allows developers to write a portlet application as if it was a JSF application. The bridge then negotiates the interactions between the two layers.

An example of the JBoss Portlet Bridge is available in examples/JSFHelloUser. The configuration is slightly different from a JSP application. This example can be used as a base to configure instead of creating a new application.

As in any JSF application, the file faces-config.xml is required. It must contain the following information:


<faces-config>

...

    <application>

      <view-handler>org.jboss.portletbridge.application.PortletViewHandler</view-handler>

      <state-manager>org.jboss.portletbridge.application.PortletStateManager</state-manager>

   </application>

...

</faces-config>

The portlet bridge libraries must be available and are usually bundled with the WEB-INF/lib directory of the web archive.

The other differences as compared to a regular portlet application can be found in the portlet descriptor. All details about it can be found in the JSR-301 specification that the JBoss Portlet Bridge implements.


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<portlet-app xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/portlet/portlet-app_2_0.xsd"

   xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"

   xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/portlet/portlet-app_2_0.xsd 

                                         http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/portlet/portlet-app_2_0.xsd"

   version="2.0">

   <portlet>

      <portlet-name>JSFHelloUserPortlet</portlet-name>

      <portlet-class>javax.portlet.faces.GenericFacesPortlet</portlet-class>

      <supports>

         <mime-type>text/html</mime-type>

         <portlet-mode>view</portlet-mode>

         <portlet-mode>edit</portlet-mode>

         <portlet-mode>help</portlet-mode>

      </supports>

      <portlet-info>

         <title>JSF Hello User Portlet</title>

      </portlet-info>

      

      <init-param>

         <name>javax.portlet.faces.defaultViewId.view</name>

         <value>/jsf/welcome.jsp</value>

      </init-param>

 

      <init-param>

         <name>javax.portlet.faces.defaultViewId.edit</name>

         <value>/jsf/edit.jsp</value>

      </init-param>

 

      <init-param>

         <name>javax.portlet.faces.defaultViewId.help</name>

         <value>/jsf/help.jsp</value>

      </init-param>

 

   </portlet>

</portlet-app>

	All JSF portlets define javax.portlet.faces.GenericFacesPortlet as the portlet class. This class is part of the JBoss Portlet Bridge.
	This is a mandatory parameter to define what's the default page to display.
	This parameter defines which page to display on the 'edit' mode.
	This parameter defines which page to display on the 'help' mode.