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The OpenFaces Developer's Guide consists of the following:
- Documentation Home (this document) providing the overview, supported environments and general characteristics of the OpenFaces components.
- Installation and Configuration providing getting-started information, installation steps, usage and OpenFaces-specific application context parameters.
- Common Concepts introductory material, which describes the main aspects of OpenFaces design, information common for all components, and it gives you the general understanding of the OpenFaces library.
- Components Index listing all the OpenFaces components with their short descriptions and screenshots.
- Documentation on individual OpenFaces components describing their features, configuration, and code samples (see the sidebar for the components list).
- Documentation on the OpenFaces Ajax Framework providing the information on the Ajax support features and the Ajax related configuration settings.
- Documentation on the OpenFaces Validation Framework providing the overview, features, configuration, detailed API description, and code samples.
The OpenFaces library includes an extended set of JSF components for building rich Web user interfaces and a validation framework that shifts the traditional JSF validation logic to the client side.
The standard JSF UI components are not enough to create a feature-rich and responsive Web application. The OpenFaces library extends this set with such advanced components as DataTable, TreeTable, Calendar, DateChooser, Chart, TwoListSelection (and many others) and provides richer client-side functionality for them. Thanks to such features as Ajax support and keyboard navigation, the OpenFaces library not only simplifies development of Web applications but as a result, makes them highly interactive and user-friendly.
With the OpenFaces validation framework, you can now use standard JSF validators on the client side by assigning them to any input component, both from JSF and OpenFaces library. Or, by the same token, use additionally provided OpenFaces validators that work equally well on the client and server side. The OpenFaces validation framework supports a variety of usage scenarios where data should be validated, ensuring that validation rules are met and data types are correct already on the client, promptly notifying the user of any possible errors. In addition, it provides a flexible mechanism to configure the default validation errors presentation in many different ways.
All the OpenFaces components support the latest versions of the following browsers:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer (6.0 and later)
- Mozilla Firefox (3.6 and later)
- Opera (10.5 and later)
- Apple Safari (5.0 and later)
- Google Chrome
The OpenFaces components operate well in quirks and standards-compliant browser modes. Please also note that the OpenFaces library requires enabled JavaScript in the client browser.
The OpenFaces components require JDK 1.5 or later on the server.
The OpenFaces library requires the JavaServer Faces implementation conforming to the specification version 1.2. The current version of the OpenFaces components has been tested with the following JSF implementations: Apache MyFaces 1.2.3 and Sun JSF Reference Implementation aka Mojarra version 1.2.12.
The current version of OpenFaces has been tested to work with the following application servers:
- Apache Tomcat 6.0
- IBM WebSphere Application Server 6.0 -6.1
- Bea WebLogic Server 9.2
- JBoss Application Server 4.0 - 4.2
- GlassFish
- Jetty 6.1.x
The OpenFaces components can be used not only with JSP, but also with the Facelets framework. Facelets is a view technology that can be used instead of JSP to build JSF applications. The way of defining a OpenFaces component's attributes for use in Facelets is the same as for JSP. All examples given in this documentation are applicable to both JSP and Facelets. OpenFaces components have been tested to work with Facelets version 1.1.14.
The OpenFaces library can be used to develop JSR-168 Portlets. Portlets are Web components designed to be managed and displayed in Web portals. The current version of the OpenFaces components has been tested to work with the following portal servers:
- JBoss Portal 2.4.x and 2.6.x
- Liferay Portal 4.2.1
- Jetspeed 2.0 Enterprise Portal
The OpenFaces components are compatible with the RichFaces library, including its Ajax subsystem (formerly known as Ajax4jsf), and its components. The OpenFaces components have been tested to work with RichFaces version 3.3.
Please note that you should wrap an input component with the Message component and Messages component into the <a4j:outputPanel> tag in order to make OpenFaces validation framework features work properly if you reload an input component with RichFaces.
When reloading the DataTable or TreeTable components with RichFaces (e.g. using <a4j:support> tag), the contents of the "above" and "below" facets are not reloaded. In order to reload a DataTable or TreeTable with their "above" and "below" facets, it should be wrapped into the <a4j:outputPanel> tag, and that panel should be reloaded instead.
The OpenFaces components are fully compatible with the JBoss Seam framework. The OpenFaces components have been tested to work with JBoss Seam version 2.0.
The documentation on the OpenFaces components uses the following markup conventions:
| Element name | Example |
|---|---|
| Class names | java.util.Date |
| Attribute and property names | onclick |
| Value constants | ajax |
| UI elements | Add All |
| Component names | TreeTable |
| Tag names | <o:dynamicImage> |
Please also note that whenever "list" and "collection" terms are used, java.util.List and java.util.Collection are meant.
This section contains known issues that are not specific to any particular OpenFaces component. You can also find component-specific known issues in the appropriate section of component's documentation.
- When you use JBoss Portal and "client" state saving method, Ajax does not work properly after page reload.
- Ajax does not work on Jetspeed-2 Enterprise Portal server with Apache Portals JSF Bridge if you use the "server" state saving method and MyFaces 1.1.3 - 1.1.5. Using MyFaces 1.1.1 or switching to Apache MyFaces Portlet bridge fixes this problem.
- JBoss Seam's validation presentation components (s:decorate and s:message) don't work on the client side.
- JBoss Seam's validate and validateAll components don't work on the client side.
- RichFaces SuggestionBox cannot be used inside rows of the OpenFaces DataTable component. Note the you can still use the SuggestionBox component in DataTable's "header", "footer", "above", "below" facets.