Java EE6> Packaging JSF facelets (xhtml) and ManagedBeans as JAR

Question

Is it possible to package JSF facelets and ManagedBeans into a JAR file? So that we can use this code and UI combination in different war/ear projects?

I am not talking about JSF Components!

If yes - can you point me to a tutorial or blog post

I need details about the Jar structure and additional files needed in the Jar?

Thanks Max

Answer 1

Yes, that's definitely possible, assuming that you're using JSF 2.0, part of Java EE 6.

As to the managed beans and other JSF classes like validators, converters, etc, just annotate them with @ManagedBean, @FacesValidator, @FacesConverter, etc and package them in the JAR the usual way. You only need to provide a JSF 2.0 compatible /META-INF/faces-config.xml file in the JAR.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<faces-config
    xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-facesconfig_2_0.xsd"
    version="2.0">
</faces-config>

This way JSF will be triggered to scan the classes in the JAR for JSF specific annotations. Alternatively you can also just register them in the JAR's faces-config.xml the JSF 1.x way.

As to Facelets resources, just drop them in /META-INF/resources folder of the JAR. It'll be treated the same way as public webcontent of the WAR.

See also:

• Packaging Facelets files (templates, includes, composites) in a JAR