Document Information

Preface

Part I Introduction

1.  Overview

2.  Using the Tutorial Examples

Part II The Web Tier

3.  Getting Started with Web Applications

4.  JavaServer Faces Technology

5.  Introduction to Facelets

6.  Expression Language

7.  Using JavaServer Faces Technology in Web Pages

8.  Using Converters, Listeners, and Validators

Using the Standard Converters

Converting a Component's Value

Using DateTimeConverter

Using NumberConverter

Registering Listeners on Components

Registering a Value-Change Listener on a Component

Registering an Action Listener on a Component

Referencing a Managed Bean Method

Referencing a Method That Performs Navigation

Referencing a Method That Handles an Action Event

Referencing a Method That Performs Validation

Referencing a Method That Handles a Value-Change Event

9.  Developing with JavaServer Faces Technology

10.  JavaServer Faces Technology: Advanced Concepts

11.  Using Ajax with JavaServer Faces Technology

12.  Composite Components: Advanced Topics and Example

13.  Creating Custom UI Components and Other Custom Objects

14.  Configuring JavaServer Faces Applications

15.  Java Servlet Technology

16.  Uploading Files with Java Servlet Technology

17.  Internationalizing and Localizing Web Applications

Part III Web Services

18.  Introduction to Web Services

19.  Building Web Services with JAX-WS

20.  Building RESTful Web Services with JAX-RS

21.  JAX-RS: Advanced Topics and Example

Part IV Enterprise Beans

22.  Enterprise Beans

23.  Getting Started with Enterprise Beans

24.  Running the Enterprise Bean Examples

25.  A Message-Driven Bean Example

26.  Using the Embedded Enterprise Bean Container

27.  Using Asynchronous Method Invocation in Session Beans

Part V Contexts and Dependency Injection for the Java EE Platform

28.  Introduction to Contexts and Dependency Injection for the Java EE Platform

29.  Running the Basic Contexts and Dependency Injection Examples

30.  Contexts and Dependency Injection for the Java EE Platform: Advanced Topics

31.  Running the Advanced Contexts and Dependency Injection Examples

Part VI Persistence

32.  Introduction to the Java Persistence API

33.  Running the Persistence Examples

34.  The Java Persistence Query Language

35.  Using the Criteria API to Create Queries

36.  Creating and Using String-Based Criteria Queries

37.  Controlling Concurrent Access to Entity Data with Locking

38.  Using a Second-Level Cache with Java Persistence API Applications

Part VII Security

39.  Introduction to Security in the Java EE Platform

40.  Getting Started Securing Web Applications

41.  Getting Started Securing Enterprise Applications

42.  Java EE Security: Advanced Topics

Part VIII Java EE Supporting Technologies

43.  Introduction to Java EE Supporting Technologies

44.  Transactions

45.  Resources and Resource Adapters

46.  The Resource Adapter Example

47.  Java Message Service Concepts

48.  Java Message Service Examples

49.  Bean Validation: Advanced Topics

50.  Using Java EE Interceptors

Part IX Case Studies

51.  Duke's Bookstore Case Study Example

52.  Duke's Tutoring Case Study Example

53.  Duke's Forest Case Study Example

Index

 

Using the Standard Validators

JavaServer Faces technology provides a set of standard classes and associated tags that page authors and application developers can use to validate a component’s data. Table 8-4 lists all the standard javax.faces.validator classes and the tags that allow you to use the validators from the page.

Table 8-4 The Validator Classes

Validator Class

Tag

Function

BeanValidator

validateBean

Registers a bean validator for the component.

DoubleRangeValidator

validateDoubleRange

Checks whether the local value of a component is within a certain range. The value must be floating-point or convertible to floating-point.

LengthValidator

validateLength

Checks whether the length of a component’s local value is within a certain range. The value must be a java.lang.String.

LongRangeValidator

validateLongRange

Checks whether the local value of a component is within a certain range. The value must be any numeric type or String that can be converted to a long.

RegexValidator

validateRegEx

Checks whether the local value of a component is a match against a regular expression from the java.util.regex package.

RequiredValidator

validateRequired

Ensures that the local value is not empty on an javax.faces.component.EditableValueHolder component.

All these validator classes implement the javax.faces.validator.Validator interface. Component writers and application developers can also implement this interface to define their own set of constraints for a component’s value.

Similar to the standard converters, each of these validators has one or more standard error messages associated with it. If you have registered one of these validators onto a component on your page, and the validator is unable to validate the component’s value, the validator’s error message will display on the page. For example, the error message that displays when the component’s value exceeds the maximum value allowed by LongRangeValidator is as follows:

{1}: Validation Error: Value is greater than allowable maximum of "{0}"

In this case, the {1} substitution parameter is replaced by the component’s label or id, and the {0} substitution parameter is replaced with the maximum value allowed by the validator.

See Displaying Error Messages with the h:message and h:messages Tags for information on how to display validation error messages on the page when validation fails.

Instead of using the standard validators, you can use Bean Validation to validate data. See Using Bean Validation for more information.

Validating a Component’s Value

To validate a component’s value using a particular validator, you need to register that validator on the component. You can do this in one of the following ways:

  • Nest the validator’s corresponding tag (shown in Table 8-4) inside the component’s tag. Using LongRangeValidator explains how to use the validateLongRange tag. You can use the other standard tags in the same way.

  • Refer to a method that performs the validation from the component tag’s validator attribute.

  • Nest a validator tag inside the component tag, and use either the validator tag’s validatorId attribute or its binding attribute to refer to the validator.

See Referencing a Method That Performs Validation for more information on using the validator attribute.

The validatorId attribute works similarly to the converterId attribute of the converter tag, as described in Converting a Component's Value.

Keep in mind that validation can be performed only on components that implement EditableValueHolder, because these components accept values that can be validated.

Using LongRangeValidator

The following example shows how to use the validateLongRange validator on an input component named quantity:

<h:inputText id="quantity" size="4"
      value="#{item.quantity}" >
    <f:validateLongRange minimum="1"/>
</h:inputText>
<h:message for="quantity"/>

This tag requires the user to enter a number that is at least 1. The validateLongRange tag also has a maximum attribute, which sets a maximum value for the input.

The attributes of all the standard validator tags accept EL value expressions. This means that the attributes can reference managed bean properties rather than specify literal values. For example, the validateLongRange tag in the preceding example can reference managed bean properties called minimum and maximum to get the minimum and maximum values acceptable to the validator implementation, as shown in this snippet from the guessnumber example:

<h:inputText
    id="userNo"
    title="Type a number from 0 to 10:"
    value="#{userNumberBean.userNumber}">
    <f:validateLongRange
        minimum="#{userNumberBean.minimum}"
        maximum="#{userNumberBean.maximum}"/>
</h:inputText>