Using IceFaces composite components for code reuse

27 Sep 2023

To create a composite component in IceFaces, you need to follow these steps:

Create a new XHTML file with the .xhtml extension in your IceFaces project.
Define the composite component using the composite:interface and composite:implementation tags. The interface tag specifies the attributes the component expects, while the implementation tag contains the structure and functionality of the component.

Here’s an example of how a composite component for a custom button could look:

<ui:component xmlns:composite="http://xmlns.jcp.org/jsf/composite"
              xmlns:ui="http://xmlns.jcp.org/jsf/facelets"
              xmlns:h="http://xmlns.jcp.org/jsf/html"
              xmlns:f="http://xmlns.jcp.org/jsf/core">
              
    <composite:interface>
        <composite:attribute name="label" type="java.lang.String" />
        <composite:attribute name="action" type="java.lang.String" />
    </composite:interface>
    
    <composite:implementation>
        <h:commandButton value="#{cc.attrs.label}" action="#{cc.attrs.action}" />
    </composite:implementation>
    
</ui:component>

In the above example, the composite component expects two attributes: “label” and “action”. These attributes are then used within the implementation section to configure the h:commandButton.

Once you have created the composite component, you can now reuse it in other parts of your application by simply including it using the <myNamespace:myComponent> syntax, where “myNamespace” represents the registered namespace for the composite component.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"
      xmlns:h="http://xmlns.jcp.org/jsf/html"
      xmlns:f="http://xmlns.jcp.org/jsf/core"
      xmlns:myNamespace="http://example.com/myNamespace">

    <h:head>
        <title>IceFaces Composite Component Demo</title>
    </h:head>
    
    <h:body>
        <myNamespace:myComponent label="Click Me" action="#{bean.doSomething}" />
    </h:body>
    
</html>

In this example, the myNamespace:myComponent tag is used to render the custom button component with the specified attributes.

By utilizing IceFaces composite components, you can achieve cleaner and more modular code, promoting code reuse and reducing duplication across your application. This approach leads to better maintainability and improved productivity in your IceFaces projects.

#IceFaces #CompositeComponents