Eclipse JSF/Faclet Support in a Maven Web Project
In the following section I will describe how to configure a Maven Web Module in Eclipse Ganymede to get full support of Content assist, Hover Help and code completion for JSF and Facelets.
These features are supported by the Eclipse Web Tool Platform (WTP). So it seams not to be so difficult to configure a existing web project. But as Maven have some different in building a classpath and updating project configuration in Eclipse you need to be careful to reconfigure a Maven project. I spent a lot of time to find out why it sometimes did not work. So I hope my following walk-through will be helpful to you.
The Situation:
I have an existing Maven Web Project which I checked out from a code repository into my eclipse workspace. Therefor I used the Maven Plugin and the Maven SVN Integration Plugin.
The Maven Project I am working with is a JEE Web module with JSF and Faclets support and also uses the JBoss RichFaces JSF components.So the goal is to get content assist when editing a .xhtml faclets file in my web project.
The Facelets Plugin
To get things run I need first to install the faclets plugin for eclipse. The reason for adding this plugin is that a faclets application typical uses .xhtml pages to represent the jsf resources. The Eclipse WTP did not support .xhml files per deault so the faclets plugin will add the JSF features to also .xhtml files. Additional the plugin includes some wizzards and a new WTP Facete.
You can download the plugin from here. Extract the file and copy the jars into your /plugin folder of your Eclipse Ganymede. Next restart Eclipse!
Adding a JSF Implementation and Server Runntime
Next step is to add a JSF Implementation into you Eclipse Workspace. You can use any Implementation. I take the JSF Implementation form my Glassfish server. There is a Blog where Cay Horstmann explains the details:
http://weblogs.java.net/blog/cayhorstmann/archive/2007/07/jsf_support_in.html
So open the Eclipse preferences dialog and go to Web->JavaServer Faces->Libraries.
Create
a new JSF library and name the library "GlassfishJSF-impl". Add only
the jsf-impl.jar file. This file is located in the /glassfish/lib
folder from your glassfish installation.
Important: Make sure that the option "is JSF Implementation" is checked!
Next add the Server Runtime. Select the Server Node and add your JEE Server (in my case glassfish)
Now Restart you Eclipse!
Add the Server and JSF Libraries to the Java Build Path
Next check the "Java Build Path" settings of your Web Project. You need now to add two libraries to your project.
The Server Runtime Library of Glassfish and the JSF Implementation which added before to the workspace environment.
Click "Add Library..." and select "Server Runtime"
Choose the Glassfish Server from the Server Runtime list. Click finish.
Next I add the JSF Library created before. So click again
"Add library..." and add a JSF Library and select you GlassfishJSF-Impl
created before:
Finally your project library settings should look like this
Add the JSF and Faclets Facets
Next you need to add the Project Facets for JSF 1.2 support and Facelet 1.0. A Facet is a WTP specific feature which adds additional tools and features to a web project. The Facelet 1.0 Facete is an additional feature added by the Facelet plugin I added before.
To add a new Facete you open the preference dialog for your web project and select the "Project facets" node.
If this Node is not present in you project preferences Eclipse has not recognized your Maven web project as a Eclipse Web Project. So you need first to add the WTP Nature to your project manually.
- Switch in the "Navigator" View
- open the file ".project"
- add the nature
<nature>org.eclipse.wst.common.project.facet.core.nature</nature> - save the .project file
Now you can add the different facets in the following order:
- Select Java 5.0
- Select Dynamic Web Module 2.5
after that you can see the link "Further configuration available" - open the dialog
As I am working in a maven project I change the Content and Java Source Directory into
/src/main/webapp
/src/main/java
which are the default maven source folders
Also I unchecked the "Generate deployment descriptor" as my maven project still have the necessary descriptors.
- Next Select "JavaServerFaces 1.2".
Again there is "Further configuration required"
You can select the option "Server Supplied JSF Implementation"
Choose the "Next" Button to switch through the different config pages. - Finally add the "Facelet 1.0 " support.
Again there is "Further configuration available"
I disabled all options as my maven project is well configured - Finally restart eclipse
Now you should have the content assist and hover help in your xhtml files.
Eclipse is parsing all necessary libraries so also my RichFaces tags are now known by Eclipse!
The first time you get the content assist from Eclipse it will take some time as Eclipse needs to analyze the tag libraries. 
If it did not work...
In some cases this did not work. Then the main reason seams to be that the Eclipse java build classpath is not well configured. Check the Java Build Path settings. Remove and add some Libraries - this will help Eclipse to update the Workspace settings and restart Eclipse. Also wait some time after restart until Eclipse have finished all inizalizing.
Posted at 11:04AM Mai 23, 2009
Posted by: Ralph
Category: General
Turbo Eclipse
These days I started a new Eclipse Project: Turbo Eclipse
The idea behind turbo eclipse is to provide a small and easy to use eclipse distribution for maven developers based on Eclipse Ganymede.
The goals of Turbo Eclipse are
- minimum amount of Plugins
- Full Maven support using Maven IDE Plugin
- Full Subversion support using subclipse
- Facelets Support using the Eclipse Facelets Project
The Project is hosted at dev.java.net:
https://turbo-eclipse.dev.java.net/
Feedback and Tips are welcome. If you would like to join the project contact me or request a project role on dev.java.net
Posted at 10:19AM Aug 23, 2008
Posted by: Ralph
Category: General
Eclipse Ganymede - Maven2 - Facelets
I invested a lot of hours to find out how to configure Eclipse Ganymede in a way where it works well in a JEE Facelets Project. Currently development of Facelets Web apps is not supported by the Eclipse IDE and WebToolPlattform (WTP). I am not sure but maybe the Eclipse WTP Team did not like Facelets developers. It is not easy to get things like code completion for xhtml files to run out of the box.
So this is my story how I configure a Eclipse Workspace to work with a JEE facelets web project.
I am using Eclipse Ganymede, Glassfish V2 and Maven2. These are the steps I go through:
1.) Install the Eclipse Facelets Plugin
The Eclipse Facelets Plugin is the key to develop xhtml files in eclipse. But it is brand new and - in the moment - not available trough the eclipse update manager.
The Plugin allows you to work in xhtml files like in JSP files. You got code completion and also some nice template wizzards. This plugin is very useful if you want to develop a JEE Web Facelets Application.
If you are interessted in the project - this is the project homepage:
http://wiki.eclipse.org/JSF_Facelets_Tools_Project
And in this webinar you can see the cool features of the plugin:
http://live.eclipse.org/node/225
But in the moment it is very difficult to get the plugin. If you are not familiar with plugin development, checkout plugin source code from eclipse, compile and export plugins it become very hard.... :-(
So I download the sources and compiled the plugin code with the eclipse IDE. If you don't want to go this way you can download the plugin from here.
Extract the file and copy the jars into your /plugin folder of your Eclipse Ganymede. Next restart Eclipse!
2.) Setup Workplace for JSF Support
Now you need to do some configurations to support Eclipse with the necessary Server Environment and JSF Libraries. This is not a project specific configuration but a workspace specific! So if you start in a new Workspace you need to repeat these steps.
First add your Glassfish Server to the Server list. Switch to the Server View and add a Glassfish V2 Server. You need this server environment (target runtime) later in your web project.
Next stp is to add the JSF Implementation form Glassfish to your Web JSF Configuration. This is explained also by Cay Horstmann's Blog:
http://weblogs.java.net/blog/cayhorstmann/archive/2007/07/jsf_support_in.html
So open the Eclipse preferences dialog and go to Web->JavaServer Faces->Libraries.
Create a new JSF library and name the library "GlassfishJSF-impl". Add only the jsf-impl.jar file. This file is located in the /glassfish/lib folder from your glassfish installation.
Now Restart you Eclipse! (I beleve this is a important step).
3.) Setup your Web Project
Now this is the most critical part. And I am not sure if every step is really necessary but it seems to work for me.
So open your Web Project (or create a new one) and open the project properties. Go to "Project Facets".
Here you can now add the "JSF 1.2" and also the new "Facelets 1.0" support:
You will see a link "Further configuration required". Click on it and configure the dialog like this using the server configuration from Glassfish:
You will not see this configuration page again after you close the property dialog! So be carefull. The only way is to disable the Faclets and JSP Support - apply the settings - and re enable the settings again! (It seems to me that this is a plan from the WTP Developers to craze JEE Developers)
Next check the "Java Build Path" settings of your Web Project. You need to add two libraries to your project.
The Server Runtime Library of Glassfish (automatical created during adding the Glassish Server to the Server list before)
Click "Add Library..." and select "Server Runtime"
Choose the Glassfish Server from the Server Runime list. Click finish.
Next you need to add the JSF Library created before. So click again "Add library..." and add a JSF Library and select you GlassfishJSF-Impl created before:
Finaly your project library settings should look like this (Maven Dependencies is only visible if you work in Maven2 project as I do)
Next check the Order of the Libs! This seems also to be very important:
Make sure that the Maven Entry is at the end of the list!
Now restart your Eclipse! If you are lucky you can now edit xhtml files with code completion support :-)
If it did not work...
But! When you work with Maven2 Projects and your xhtml files did not support code completion you need to check some things. I did not know while the project settings will not work after first configuration. I followed these additional steps:
1.) update you maven configuration of your web project
->maven->update project configuration
2.) check the order of the libraries
3.) check if you have added the a target runtime for glassfish and also the glassfish JSF-Impl. You can select the glassfish Server as your project target.
3.) Restart Eclipse and wait as long as all background jobs are finished before you test you xhtml editor.
So I hope this will helpe someones - every comments are wellcome!
Posted at 10:08AM Aug 16, 2008
Posted by: Ralph
Category: General