Apache MyFaces
JavaServer(tm) Faces (JSF) is a web application framework specification (JSR252, JSR127) based around the model-view-controller pattern.
The Apache MyFaces project provides both an implementation of the JSF specification ("MyFaces Core"), and a set of add-on libraries that work on any implementation of the specification (including, of course, Apache MyFaces Core).
JSF supports the development of highly interactive applications where the system interacting with the user is separated from the system that contains the presentation logic; web-browser/web-server is one example. JSF has a "component-based" architecture, and therefore is more like "Swing for the web" than an html publishing framework. People familiar with Swing, Gnome, KDE, MFC, VisualBasic, Delphi etc should feel right at home developing JSF applications.
JSF is quite similar to the ![[WWW]](/wiki/modern/img/moin-www.png){kind=small}
Tapestry framework as that is also a component-based framework. JSF can also fill the same "niche" as the well-known Struts framework, but has a rather different approach.
The Sun JavaServer Faces(tm) Page has information about the JSF-1.2 (and older JSF-1.1) specification. They also provide a useful Tutorial there. MyFaces Core provides a 100% compliant implementation of these specifications.
The Apache MyFaces family of projects includes the following libraries that can be used with any JSF implementation to add extra features and flexibility:
Tomahawk (Tomahawk),
Tobago (Tobago),
Trinidad (Trinidad),
Orchestra (Orchestra),
Portlet Bridge (PortletBridge)
You can find further information about the MyFaces subprojects on the official site at http://myfaces.apache.org.
See the MyFaces Tomahawk and Sandbox examples in action:
See a MyFaces real world use case at JavaWorld
If your company uses MyFaces, please add your company here: Companies Using MyFaces.
FAQ
FAQ - Frequently asked questions about MyFaces or JSF, including a section on Facelets/Tomahawk/MyFaces/Trinidad/JSF Troubleshooting
Using MyFaces Core
Getting Started - Quick guide to MyFaces Core
Installation and Configuration - Installation instructions for different servlet containers
Using MyFaces in a Project built with Maven - General instruction on adding MyFaces Core to a Maven POM.
Building With Maven - Building MyFaces Core from sourcecode using Maven
MyFaces Archetypes for Maven - Set up a new JSF project in a minute, following the standards and including the exact dependencies!
Library dependencies - Library dependencies and their versions
How to add MyFaces support to a Sun JSF RI application - Add MyFaces Core support to a JSF RI application
CompatibilityMatrix - MyFaces Core and component library compatibility guide
JSF and MyFaces Core in Theory: The Concepts
JSF and MVC - JSF and the model-view-controller pattern
How JSF State Management Works - Serialization, StateHolder, backing beans, component tree, t:saveState explained.
How The Immediate Attribute Works - immediate, validation, model update explained.
How Component Child Rendering Works - getRendersChildren, encodeChildren explained.
StudyGuide - Tips/guide to getting familiar with the MyFaces Core implementation
IDAssignment - Assignment of IDs to HTML elements.
JSF and MyFaces Core in Practice: The HowTo's
Working with tables
Working with DataTable and ActionListeners - Handling buttons or links in table rows
ExecutingMethodsFromLinkButtonParameters - From List to Detail
Access a detail record from a master list, or more generally, execute a managed bean method based on parameters provided for a link or button.
ManagingDataScrollerPage - From Detail back to List : How to stay on the right table page.
Working With DataTable And PreserveDataModel - Use the data table and preserve data model correctly.
WorkingWithLargeTables - Use dataTable/dataScroller without having the entire dataset in memory
Working with auto sortable tables - Enable automatic sort on your data table
Exporting DataTable To MS-Excel - Out put a data table to excel
Tracing and Debugging
TracingMyFacesUsingAspectJ - How to trace MyFaces using AspectJ
FacesTrace - A visual debugger that can be integrated to the JSF pages
Working with TabbedPanes
SettingTabClasses - Setting CSS Classes on Tabs.
Working with Radio Buttons
Display Radio Buttons In Columns - Example of Displaying Radio Buttons in Columns.
Radio Buttons and Browsers - Notes about radio buttons and browser specific behavior.
Working with JavaScript and JSF
JavascriptWithJavaServerFaces - Call javascript routines with commandLink and commandButton.
SubmitPageOnValueChange - Make an input control submit a page when the value changes.
ManagingCheckboxes - Tips for working with checkboxes in datatables.
JavascriptOpenNewWindow - A tutorial how to open javascript windows and how to get around the problems involved.
Conversion and Validation
NullCapableConverter - Make a converter to handle disabled or null-capable SelectItems.
Create and Display Messages - Create Messages to be used by view with h:message h:messages.
OptionalValidationFramework - allows you to change the behavior of validators in a form
Entity Converters - a special kind of converter that can take the input value as id and the return the desired entity instance.
Client_Side_Validation - Run conversions and validations at client side.
Managing Errors/Infos/Warnings
Displaying Errors/Infos/Warnings in JSF Pages - A method for communicating messages to the user.
Handling Server Errors - methods for handling server errors.
Navigation Handling - in and outside JSF
Navigation Overview - Overview of the Navigation Tags
Custom Navigation Handler - Enhance the MyFaces Core Navigation Handler to support parameter passing, dynamic navigation and redirection.
InvokingJsfPagesWithStandardUrls - Creating standard HTML links (with parameters) that display JSF pages (using JSF in a RESTful environment)
Backend
AccessingOneManagedBeanFromAnother - Accessing one managed bean from another
ClearInputComponents - Clear/Reset all submitted values in input components on a page.
AccessFacesContextFromServlet - How to access the Faces Context from a servlet.
NestedFacesContext - A solution how to deal with nested FacesContexts
Execute action on page load - How to run JSF actions and run navigation rules when a page loads.
Configuration of special features
Performance - Making JSF perform
PerformanceTestingWithJMeter - Using JMeter to test your application's performance.
Secure Your Application - Encrypt the view state.
LoggingSettings - Useful classes to log on for troubleshooting.
A Little Quality Assurance - How to validate your managed beans and navigation rules.
Management of Webapp Resources With Weblets - How to use resources packaged in a jar in MyFaces apps using Facelets.
Bandwidth - Compression
SecurityContext - Security Extension
RedirectTracker - Preserve messages and t:saveState across redirects
Properly use those extended components
Setup For File Uploads - A quick and dirty checklist for setting up your MyFaces application for file uploads.
Dynamic Menus with JSCookMenu - Create dynamic menus using the jsCookMenu component.
WYSIWYG Editor - Integrate TinyMCE or DOJO WYSIWYG Editor into !Myfaces Application
JSF and MyFaces in Practice: Specialized Trails
Creating Custom Components
ComponentPack - Create your own component pack
Creating Composite Components - Create a composite or compound component out of existing components
External Resources - Integrate javascript, css, images and more using myfaces AddResource component
Programmatic - Programmatic creation and manipulating components in the runtime
Portlets
Using Portlets - Using MyFaces within Portlets
Migration from previous versions
misc
Sending_Files - How to set up a action which will download a file.
Parameters_In_EL_Functions - How to pass parameters in an EL expression function.
JSF and MyFaces: The Reference
JsfComponents - List of JSF components and how to use them
Tomahawk - List of custom MyFaces Tomahawk components and extensions, and how to use them.
Frameworks related to JSF
Hibernate And MyFaces - Bind Hibernate to JSF/MyFaces
Tiles and JSF - Use Tiles with MyFaces
JSF With Spring - Use the Spring Framework with MyFaces.
- JSF and Google Guice Integrating Guice and JSF
MigrateFromJspToFacelets - Step by step instructions to migrate to Facelets.
Facelets with Trinidad - To use trinidad components with facelets, you must also create a facelets configuration file.
Use Facelets with Tomahawk - To use tomahawk components with facelets, you must also create a tomahawk.taglib.xml facelets configuration file.
Facelets Support within IDEs - Using Facelets from within various Integrated Development Environments
SEAM Integration - Integrate Jboss Seam into your application.
Integrating Ajaxanywhere - See how easy is to "ajaxize" your application.
Myfaces Eclipse Setup - Configure eclipse to launch MyFaces applications using tomcat/jetty.
JSF and Acegi - Using Java Server Faces with Acegi Security
Java Studio Creator and MyFaces - Java Studio Creator and MyFaces
AJAX4JSF and MyFaces - Using Ajax4JSF with MyFaces
ICEfaces and MyFaces - Using ICEfaces with MyFaces and the Tomahawk Components
JSF Flex - JSF and Flex bridge. Allows creation of Flex applications by normal JSF usage.
Sibling projects
FacesFreeway - An effort to minimize the work for simple input forms (no longer actively developed)
- Metawidget - Another effort to minimize the work for input forms
jsf-comp Sourceforge project - Shared community code sandbox.
MyFaces Development and Project Management
MyFaces Development
MyFaces Developer Notes - MyFaces developers guidelines
Contributing Patches - How to attach code changes and other files to the MyFaces issue tracker
EditXdocs - Editing Myfaces xdocs files in the MLMind XML editor
JSR-252 - Info you will need if you are working on the MyFaces JSF 1.2 project
Obsolete/older MyFaces Development pages - Building older versions of MyFaces
Building MyFaces in your IDE - Building, Debugging and Deploying MyFaces in your IDE
Automated Testing - Automated testing of MyFaces
Source Code Packaging - How MyFaces source code is divided into modules and java packages.
Shared - impl or tomahawk - Which shared_XXX namespace should I use?
ComponentsCommons - Whiteboard to discuss creation of a 'myfaces-components-commons' jar.
MyFaces Project Management
promotion - Requirements for promotion of a sandbox component
Release Plans - Plans and notes on individual releases
ReleaseHowTo - The ultimate guide for releasing MyFaces projects
Release Procedure - @deprecated (Specific instructions for SVN and Maven tasks related to releases)
Deploying the Webpage of MyFaces - Documentation on deploying the MyFaces webpage
MyFaces Artifacts - List of Build Artifacts and their Contents
New_Committers - Additional info for new committers
MyFaces Commons Refactoring - Checklist for Upcoming Refactoring of MyFaces commons classes
Source Code Repository Structure - Trunks and Branches
Name Finding - Monitor requests to find names for components/projects/etc
MyFaces Project Infrastructure
Apache Server - Project Infrastructure, Setup of Apache2 on Solaris Zone
Continuum Build - Care and feeding of the Continuum build processes on the Zone
Community and Context
Talk, talk, talk
Channel #myfaces on irc.freenode.net - chat discussion of myfaces issues.
Channel ##jsf on irc.freenode.net - chat discussion of jsf issues. Log can be found on
http://uwyn.com/drone/log/bevinbot/%23jsf
With a little help of our friends
How to Help - Hints how you can get involved, help to support and contribute to Apache MyFaces
Help Wanted - Want to contribute? Volunteers needed for this list of tasks.
Acknowledgements - The most important page of this WIKI: saying "Thanks" to people who helped making MyFaces a success!
Random Musings
Spotlight - Articles about MyFaces
What Tools Do You Use to Develop Web Applications Using JSF - Experiences from fellow developers
References
Powered by MyFaces - Projects developed using MyFaces components
Companies Using MyFaces - List of companies and institutions using MyFaces in their day to day work
3rd Party Contributions - 3rd party tools and APIs that work with MyFaces
On the web
UsefulLinks - Tutorials for JavaServer Faces, MyFaces project activity and other useful links