JSF Tags

These tables are from the book Core JavaServer
Faces by David Geary and Cay Horstmann, Sun Microsystems Press 2004.

Table 4–1 JSF Core Tags

Tag Description
f:view Creates the top-level view
f:subview Creates a subview of a view
f:facet Adds a facet to a component
f:attribute Adds an attribute (key/value) to a component
f:param Constructs a parameter component
f:actionListener Adds an action listener to a component
f:valueChangeListener Adds a valuechange listener to a component
f:setPropertyChangeListener
(JSF 1.2)		 Adds an action listener to a component that sets a bean property to a
given value.
f:converter Adds an arbitrary converter to a component
f:convertDateTime Adds a datetime converter to a component
f:convertNumber Adds a number converter to a component
f:validator Adds a validator to a component
f:validateDoubleRange Validates a double range for a component’s value
f:validateLength Validates the length of a component’s value
f:validateLongRange Validates a long range for a component’s value
f:loadBundle Loads a resource bundle, stores properties as a Map
f:selectitems Specifies items for a select one or select many component
f:selectitem Specifies an item for a select one or select many component
f:verbatim Adds markup to a JSF page

Table 4–3 JSF HTML Tags

Tag Description
h:form HTML form
h:inputText Single-line text input control. Examples
h:inputTextArea Multiline text input control. Examples
h:inputSecret Password input control. Examples
h:inputHidden Hidden field
h:outputLabel Label for another component for accessibility
h:outputLink HTML anchor. Examples
h:outputFormat Like outputText, but formats compound messages
h:outputText Single-line text output. Examples
h:commandButton Button: submit, reset, or pushbutton.
href=”#Table4_16″>Examples
h:commandLink Link that acts like a pushbutton.
href=”#Table4_17″>Examples
h:message Displays the most recent message for a component
h:messages Displays all messages
h:grapicImage Displays an image. Examples
h:selectOneListbox Single-select listbox. Examples
h:selectOneMenu Single-select menu. Examples
h:selectOneRadio Set of radio buttons. Examples
h:selectBooleanCheckbox Checkbox. Examples
h:selectManyCheckbox Set of checkboxes. Examples
h:selectManyListbox Multiselect listbox. Examples
h:selectManyMenu Multiselect menu. Examples
h:panelGrid HTML table
h:panelGroup Two or more components that are laid out as one
h:dataTable A feature-rich table control
h:column Column in a dataTable

Table 4–4 Basic Attributes

Attribute Component Types Description
id A (25) Identifier for a component
binding A (25) Reference to the component that can be used in a backing bean
rendered A (25) A boolean; false suppresses rendering
styleClass A (23) Cascading stylesheet (CSS) class name
value I, O, C (19) A component’s value, typically a value binding
valueChangeListener I (11) A method binding to a method that responds to value changes
converter I, O (15) Converter class name
validator I (11) Class name of a validator that’s created and attached to a
component
required I (11) A boolean; if true, requires a value to be entered in the associated
field

A = all, I = input, O = output, C = commands, (n) = number of tags with
attribute

Table 4–5 HTML 4.0 Pass-through Attributes

Attribute Description
accesskey (14) A key, typically combined with a system-defined metakey, that gives
focus to an element
accept (1) Comma-separated list of content types for a form
accept-charset (1) Comma- or space-separated list of character encodings for a form. The
accept-charset attribute is specified with the JSF HTML
attribute named acceptcharset.
alt (4) Alternative text for nontextual elements such as images or
applets
border (4) Pixel value for an element’s border width
charset (3) Character encoding for a linked resource
coords (2) Coordinates for an element whose shape is a rectangle, circle, or
polygon
dir (18) Direction for text. Valid values are ltr (left to right) and
rtl (right to left).
disabled (11) Disabled state of an input element or button
hreflang (2) Base language of a resource specified with the href
attribute; hreflang may only be used with href.
lang (20) Base language of an element’s attributes and text
maxlength (2) Maximum number of characters for text fields
readonly (11) Read-only state of an input field; text can be selected in a readonly
field but not edited
rel (2) Relationship between the current document and a link specified with
the href attribute
rev (2) Reverse link from the anchor specified with href to the
current document. The value of the attribute is a space-separated list
of link types.
rows (1) Number of visible rows in a text area. h:dataTable has a
rows attribute, but it’s not an HTML pass-through
attribute.
shape (2) Shape of a region. Valid values: default, rect,
circle, poly. (default signifies the entire
region)
size (4) Size of an input field
style (23) Inline style information
tabindex (14) Numerical value specifying a tab index
target (3) The name of a frame in which a document is opened
title (22) A title, used for accessibility, that describes an element. Visual
browsers typically create tooltips for the title’s value
type (4) Type of a link; for example, "stylesheet"
width (3) Width of an element

(n) = number of tags with attribute

Table 4–6 DHTML Event Attributes

Attribute Description
onblur (14) Element loses focus
onchange (11) Element’s value changes
onclick (17) Mouse button is clicked over the element
ondblclick (18) Mouse button is double-clicked over the element
onfocus (14) Element receives focus
onkeydown (18) Key is pressed
onkeypress (18) Key is pressed and subsequently released
onkeyup (18) Key is released
onmousedown (18) Mouse button is pressed over the element
onmousemove (18) Mouse moves over the element
onmouseout (18) Mouse leaves the element’s area
onmouseover (18) Mouse moves onto an element
onmouseup (18) Mouse button is released
onreset (1) Form is reset
onselect (11) Text is selected in an input field
onsubmit (1) Form is submitted

(n) = number of tags with attribute

Table 4–7 Attributes for h:form

Attribute Description
binding, id, rendered,
styleClass		 Basic attributes
accept, acceptcharset, dir,
enctype, lang, style, target,
title		 HTML 4.0 attributes
onblur, onchange, onclick,
ondblclick, onfocus, onkeydown,
onkeypress, onkeyup, onmousedown,
onmousemove, onmouseout, onmouseover,
onreset, onsubmit		 DHTML events

Table 4–8 Attributes for
h:inputText, h:inputSecret,

h:inputTextarea,and h:inputHidden

Attribute Description
cols For h:inputTextarea only—number of columns
immediate Process validation early in the life cycle
redisplay For h:inputSecret only—when true, the input
field’s value is redisplayed when the web page is reloaded
required Require input in the component when the form is submitted
rows For h:inputTextarea only—number of rows
valueChangeListener A specified listener that’s notified of value changes
binding, converter, id, rendered,
required, styleClass, value,
validator		 Basic attributes
accesskey, alt, dir, disabled,
lang, maxlength, readonly, size,
style, tabindex, title		 HTML 4.0 pass-through
attributes—alt, maxlength, and
size do not apply to h:inputTextarea. None apply to
h:inputHidden.
onblur, onchange, onclick,
ondblclick, onfocus, onkeydown,
onkeypress, onkeyup, onmousedown,
onmousemove, onmouseout, onmouseover,
onselect		 DHTML events. None apply to
h:inputHidden.

Table 4–9 h:inputText and

h:inputSecret Examples

Example Result
<h:inputText value="#{form.testString}"
readonly="true"/>		 .
<h:inputSecret value="#{form.passwd}"
redisplay="true"/>		 .
<h:inputSecret value="#{form.passwd}"
redisplay="false"/>		 .
<h:inputText value="inputText" style="color: Yellow;
background: Teal;"/>		 .
<h:inputText value="1234567" size="5"/> .
<h:inputText value="1234567890" maxlength="6"
size="10"/>		 .

Table 4–10 h:inputTextarea
Examples

Example Result
<h:inputTextarea rows="5"/> .
<h:inputTextarea cols="5"/> .
<h:inputTextarea value="123456789012345" rows="3"
cols="10"/>		 .
<h:inputTextarea value="#{form.dataInRows}" rows="2"
cols="15"/>		 .

Table 4–11 Attributes for h:outputText

and h:outputFormat

Attribute Description
escape If set to true, escapes <, >, and & characters. Default
value is true.
binding, converter, id, rendered,
styleClass, value		 Basic attributes
style, title HTML 4.0

Attributes for h:outputLabel

Attribute Description
for The ID of the component to be labeled.
binding, converter, id, rendered,
value		 Basic attributes

Table 4–12 Attributes for
h:graphicImage

Attribute Description
binding, id, rendered,
styleClass, value		 Basic attributes
alt, dir, height, ismap,
lang, longdesc, style, title,
url, usemap, width		 HTML 4.0
onblur, onchange, onclick,
ondblclick, onfocus, onkeydown,
onkeypress, onkeyup, onmousedown,
onmousemove, onmouseout, onmouseover,
onmouseup		 DHTML events

Table 4–13 h:outputText and

h:graphicImage Examples

Example Result
<h:outputText value="#{form.testString}"/> .
<h:outputText value="Number #{form.number}"/> .
<h:outputText value="<input type=’text’
value=’hello’/>"/>		 .
<h:outputText escape="true" value="<input
type=’text’ value=’hello’/>"/>		 .
<h:graphicImage value="/tjefferson.jpg"/> .
<h:graphicImage value="/tjefferson.jpg" style="border: thin
solid black"/>		 .

Table 4–14 h:commandButton
and h:commandLink

Attribute Description
action If specified as a string: Directly specifies an outcome used by the
navigation handler to determine the JSF page to load next as a result
of activating the button or link If specified as a method binding: The
method has this signature: String methodName(); the string
represents the outcome
actionListener A method binding that refers to a method with this signature:
void methodName(ActionEvent)
charset For h:commandLink only—The character encoding of the
linked reference
image For h:commandButton only—A context-relative path to an
image displayed in a button. If you specify this attribute, the HTML
input’s type will be image.
immediate A boolean. If false (the default), actions and action listeners are
invoked at the end of the request life cycle; if true, actions and
action listeners are invoked at the beginning of the life cycle. See
Chapter 6 for more information about the immediate
attribute.
type For h:commandButton: The type of the generated input
element: button, submit, or reset. The default, unless you specify the
image attribute, is submit. For h:commandLink: The content
type of the linked resource; for example, text/html, image/gif, or
audio/basic
value The label displayed by the button or link. You can specify a string
or a value reference expression.
accesskey, alt, binding, id,
lang, rendered, styleClass,
value		 Basic attributes
coords (h:commandLink only), dir,
disabled (h:commandButton only), hreflang

(h:commandLink only), lang, readonly,
rel (h:commandLink only), rev

(h:commandLink only), shape (h:commandLink
only), style, tabindex, target

(h:commandLink only), title, type

 HTML 4.0
onblur, onchange, onclick,
ondblclick, onfocus, onkeydown,
onkeypress, onkeyup, onmousedown,
onmousemove, onmouseout, onmouseover,
onmouseup, onselect		 DHTML events

Table 4–15 h:commandButton
Examples

Example

 Result
<h:commandButton value="submit" type="submit"/> .
<h:commandButton value="reset" type="reset"/> .
<h:commandButton value="click this button..."
onclick="alert('button clicked')" type="button"/>		 .
<h:commandButton value="disabled" disabled="#{not
form.buttonEnabled}"/>		 .
<h:commandButton value="#{form.buttonText}"
type="reset"/>		 .

Table 4–16 h:commandLink

Examples

Example Result
<h:commandLink> <h:outputText value="register"/>

</h:commandLink>

 .
<h:commandLink style="font-style: italic"> <h:outputText
value="#{msgs.linkText}"/> </h:commandLink>		 .
<h:commandLink> <h:outputText
value="#{msgs.linkText}"/> <h:graphicImage
value="/registration.jpg"/> </h:commandLink>		 .
<h:commandLink value="welcome"
actionListener="#{form.useLinkValue}"
action="#{form.followLink}">		 .
<h:commandLink> <h:outputText value="welcome"/>
<f:param name="outcome" value="welcome"/>
</h:commandLink>		 .

Table 4–17 Attributes for
h:outputLink

Attribute Description
accesskey, binding, converter,
id, lang, rendered, styleClass,
value		 Basic attributes
charset, coords, dir, hreflang,
lang, rel, rev, shape,
style, tabindex, target, title,
type		 HTML 4.0
onblur, onchange, onclick,
ondblclick, onfocus, onkeydown,
onkeypress, onkeyup, onmousedown,
onmousemove, onmouseout, onmouseover,
onmouseup		 DHTML events

Table 4–18 h:outputLink
Examples

Example Result
<h:outputLink value="http://java.net"> <h:graphicImage
value="java-dot-net.jpg"/> <h:outputText value="java.net"/>
</h:outputLink>		 .
<h:outputLink value="#{form.welcomeURL}"> <h:outputText
value="#{form.welcomeLinkText}"/> </h:outputLink>		 .
<h:outputLink value="#introduction"> <h:outputText
value="Introduction" style="font-style: italic"/>
</h:outputLink>		 .
<h:outputLink value="#conclusion" title="Go to the
conclusion"> <h:outputText value="Conclusion"/>
</h:outputLink>		 .
<h:outputLink value="#toc" title="Go to the table of
contents"> <f:verbatim> <h2>Table of Contents</h2>

</f:verbatim> </h:outputLink>

 .

Table 4–19 Selection Tag Examples

Tag Generated HTML Examples
h:selectBooleanCheckbox <input type="checkbox"> .
h:selectManyCheckbox <table> ... <label> <input type="checkbox"/>

</label> ... </table>

 .
h:selectOneRadio <table> ... <label> <input type="radio"/>
</label> ... </table>		 .
h:selectOneListbox <select> <option value="Cheese"> Cheese
</option> ... </select>		 .
h:selectManyListbox <select multiple> <option value="Cheese"> Cheese
</option> ... </select>		 .
h:selectOneMenu <select size="1"> <option value="Cheese"> Cheese
</option> ... </select>		 .
h:selectManyMenu <select multiple size="1"> <option value="Sunday">
Sunday </option> ... </select>		 .

Table 4–20 Attributes for
h:selectBooleanCheckbox, h:selectManyCheckbox,
h:selectOneRadio, h:selectOneListbox,

h:selectManyListbox, h:selectOneMenu,
h:selectManyMenu

Attribute Description
disabledClass CSS class for disabled elements—for h:selectOneRadio
and h:selectManyCheckbox only
enabledClass CSS class for enabled elements—for h:selectOneRadio
and h:selectManyCheckbox only
layout Specification for how elements are laid out: lineDirection
(horizontal) or pageDirection (vertical)—for
h:selectOneRadio and h:selectManyCheckbox only
binding, converter, id,
immediate, styleClass, required,
rendered, validator, value,
valueChangeListener		 Basic attributes
accesskey, border, dir, disabled,
lang, readonly, style, size,
tabindex, title		 HTML 4.0—border is applicable
to h:selectOneRadio and h:selectManyCheckbox only.
size is applicable to h:selectOneListbox and
h:selectManyListbox only.
onblur, onchange, onclick,
ondblclick, onfocus, onkeydown,
onkeypress, onkeyup, onmousedown,
onmousemove, onmouseout, onmouseover,
onmouseup, onselect		 DHTML events

Table 4–21 Attributes for
f:selectItem

Attribute Description
binding, id Basic attributes
itemDescription Description used by tools only
itemDisabled Boolean value that sets the item’s disabled property
itemLabel Text shown by the item
itemValue Item’s value, which is passed to the server as a request
parameter
value Value binding expression that points to a SelectItem
instance

Attributes for f:selectItems

Attribute Description
binding, id Basic attributes
value Value binding expression that points to a SelectItem, an
array or Collection of SelectItem objects, or a
Map mapping labels to values.

Table 4–22 Attributes for
h:message and h:messages

Attribute Description
for The ID of the component whose message is displayed—applicable
only to h:message
errorClass CSS class applied to error messages
errorStyle CSS style applied to error messages
fatalClass CSS class applied to fatal messages
fatalStyle CSS style applied to fatal messages
globalOnly Instruction to display only global messages—applicable only to
h:messages. Default: false
infoClass CSS class applied to information messages
infoStyle CSS style applied to information messages
layout Specification for message layout: table or list—applicable only
to h:messages
showDetail A boolean that determines whether message details are shown. Defaults
are false for h:messages, true for h:message.
showSummary A boolean that determines whether message summaries are shown.
Defaults are true for h:messages, false for
h:message.
tooltip A boolean that determines whether message details are rendered in a
tooltip; the tooltip is only rendered if showDetail and
showSummary are true
warnClass CSS class for warning messages
warnStyle CSS style for warning messages
binding, id, rendered,
styleClass		 Basic attributes
style, title HTML 4.0

Table 4–23 Attributes for
h:panelGrid

Attribute Description
bgcolor Background color for the table
border Width of the table’s border
cellpadding Padding around table cells
cellspacing Spacing between table cells
columnClasses Comma-separated list of CSS classes for columns
columns Number of columns in the table
footerClass CSS class for the table footer
frame frame Specification for sides of the frame surrounding the table that
are to be drawn; valid values: none, above,
below, hsides, vsides, lhs,
rhs, box, border
headerClass CSS class for the table header
rowClasses Comma-separated list of CSS classes for columns
rules Specification for lines drawn between cells; valid values:
groups, rows, columns, all
summary Summary of the table’s purpose and structure used for
non-visual feedback such as speech
binding, id, rendered,
styleClass, value		 Basic attributes
dir, lang, style, title,
width		 HTML 4.0
onclick, ondblclick, onkeydown,
onkeypress, onkeyup, onmousedown,
onmousemove, onmouseout, onmouseover,
onmouseup		 DHTML events

Table 4–24 Attributes for
h:panelGroup

Attribute Description
binding, id, rendered,
styleClass		 Basic attributes
style HTML 4.0

Table 5–1 Attributes for
h:dataTable

Attribute Description
bgcolor Background color for the table
border width of the table’s border
cellpadding Padding around table cells
cellspacing Spacing between table cells
columnClasses comma-separated list of CSS classes for columns
first index of the first row shown in the table
footerClass CSS class for the table footer
frame Specification for sides of the frame surrounding the table should be
drawn; valid values: none, above, below,
hsides, vsides, lhs, rhs,
box, border
headerClass CSS class for the table header
rowClasses comma-separated list of CSS classes for rows
rules Specification for lines drawn between cells; valid values:
groups, rows, columns, all
summary summary of the table’s purpose and structure used for non-visual
feedback such as speech
var The name of the variable created by the data table that represents
the current item in the value
binding, id, rendered,
styleClass, value		 Basic attributes
dir, lang, style, title,
width		 HTML 4.0
onclick, ondblclick, onkeydown,
onkeypress, onkeyup, onmousedown,
onmousemove, onmouseout, onmouseover,
onmouseup		 DHTML events

Attributes for h:column

Attribute Description
headerClass (JSF 1.2) CSS class for the column’s header
footerClass (JSF 1.2) CSS class for the column’s footer
binding, id, rendered Basic attributes

Table 6–1 Attributes for
f:convertNumber

Attribute Type Value
type String number (default), currency , or
percent
pattern String Formatting pattern, as defined in
java.text.DecimalFormat
maxFractionDigits int Maximum number of digits in the fractional part
minFractionDigits int Minimum number of digits in the fractional part
maxIntegerDigits int Maximum number of digits in the integer part
minIntegerDigits int Minimum number of digits in the integer part
integerOnly boolean True if only the integer part is parsed (default: false)
groupingUsed boolean True if grouping separators are used (default: true)
locale java.util.Locale Locale whose preferences are to be used for parsing and
formatting
currencyCode String ISO 4217 currency code to use when converting currency values
currencySymbol String Currency symbol to use when converting currency values

Table 6–2 Attributes for
f:convertDateTime

Attribute Type Value
type String date (default), time, or both
dateStyle String default, short, medium, long, or
full
timeStyle String default, short, medium, long, or
full
pattern String Formatting pattern, as defined in
java.text.SimpleDateFormat
locale java.util.Locale Locale whose preferences are to be used for parsing and
formatting
timeZone java.util.TimeZone Time zone to use for parsing and formatting

Table 6–3 Standard Validators

JSP Tag Validator Class Attributes Validates
f:validateDoubleRange DoubleRangeValidator minimum, maximum a double value within an optional range
f:validateLongRange LongRangeValidator minimum, maximum a long value within an optional range
f:validateLength LengthValidator minimum, maximum a String with a minimum and maximum number of characters

Attributes for f:view

Attribute Description
locale The locale for this view.
renderKitId (JSF 1.2) The render kit ID for this view
beforePhase, afterPhase Phase listeners that are called in every phase except “restore
view”

Attributes for f:subview

Attribute Description
binding, id, rendered Basic attributes

Attributes for f:facet

Attribute Description
name The name of this facet.

Attributes for f:attribute

Attribute Description
name The name of the attribute to set.
value The value of the attribute.

Attributes for f:param

Attribute Description
name An optional name for this parameter component.
value The value stored in this component.
binding, id Basic attributes

Attributes for
f:actionListener, f:valueChangeListener

Attribute Description
type The name of the listener class

Attributes for
f:propertyChangeListener

Attribute Description
target The bean property to set when the action event occurs
value The value to set it to

Attributes for f:converter

Attribute Description
converterId The ID of the converter

Attributes for f:validator

Attribute Description
validatorId The ID of the validator

Attributes for f:loadBundle

Attribute Description
basename The resource bundle name
value The name of the variable that is bound to the bundle map

Attributes for f:verbatim

Attribute Description
escape If set to true, escapes <, >, and & characters. Default
value is false.
rendered (JSF 1.2) Basic attributes