Version 8

    RichFaces 3.3 - > 4.x migration guide


     

    This developer guide is based on my personal experience and covers migration of the Java project.

     

    Technology
    Previous version New version
    Spring2.5.63.1.1
    Spring Web Flow2.0.52.3.1
    Spring Security2.0.73.1.1
    JSF1.2.0.82.1.11
    RichFaces3.3.34.2.2


     

    I will focus on RichFaces migration in this article as it took most of the time and development efforts. Firstly I read two books which I found extremely useful:


    ·         Ed Burns, Chris Schalk - JavaServer Faces 2.0, The Complete Reference

    ·         Practical RichFaces 2nd ed. - M. Katz

     

    This allowed me to understand the new concepts implemented in JSF2/RichFaces 4. After that I reviewed the official migration guide

    https://community.jboss.org/wiki/RichFacesMigrationGuide33x-4xMigration

    and step-by-step upgraded my project components using official forums and related resources.

     

    This article describes cases where backward compatibility was broken and I had to manually upgrade the source code.

    Thus this guide is knowledge base where I tried to put all the information about migration issues and how to resolve it.

     

    NOTE: Having faced a project migration of my own I have updated this guide with issues that I found and that weren't already covered. --Michal Petrov

     

    1.Removed/renamed components


    Component name

    Issue

    Resolution

    Notes

    a4j:form

    Removed in 4.x

    Replace with h:form

    In case of multiple forms consider using a4j:region and keep only one h:form that covers all.

    rich:spacer

    Removed in 4.x

    Apply custom CSS/HTML elements

     

    a4j:include

    Removed in 4.x

    Replace with ui:include

     

    rich:layout

    Removed in 4.x

    Replace with layout:layout

    Layout component is not official RichFaces component

    a4j:loadScriptRemoved in 4.xReplace with h:outputScript

    rich:toolBar

    Renamed in 4.x

    Replace with rich:toolbar

     

    rich:toolBarGroup

    Renamed in 4.x

    Replace with rich:toolbarGroup

     

    a4j:actionparam

    Renamed in 4.x

    Replace with a4j:param

     

    rich:modalPanel

    Renamed in 4.x

    Replace with rich:popupPanel

     

    rich:datascroller

    Renamed in 4.x

    Replace with rich:dataScroller

     

    rich:subTable

    Renamed in 4.x

    Replace with rich:collapsibleSubTable

     

    a4:support

    Renamed in 4.x

    Replace with a4:ajax

    The “action” attribute is renamed to “listener”, “event” attribute now accepts value without “on” prefix

    rich:toolTip

    Renamed in 4.x

    Replace with rich:tooltip

    The available values for “direction” attribute have changed

    rich:dataList

    Renamed in 4.x

    Replace with rich:list

     

     

     

    2.Renamed/removed attributes


    Component name

    Issue

    Resolution

    Notes

    rich:tabPanel

    Facet/attribute “label” is not supported

    Replace with “header” facet

     

    "selectedTab" attribute was renamed

    Replace with “activeItem” attribute

     

    All components

    “reRender” attribute was renamed

    Replace with “render” attribute

    According to JSF spec.

    ajaxSingle="true" is not supported

    Replace with execute="@this"

     

    "limitToList" attribute was renamed

    Replace with "limitRender"

     

    rich:dataTable

    “width” attribute is not supported

    Replace with styleClass="customwidth" or style=”width:[width]”

    customwidth should be defined in CSS.

    rich:column

    “width” attribute is not supported

    Define “columnsWidth” attribute for the parent table

    Example: columnsWidth =”100,30,30”

    rich:toolBarGroup

    “styleClass “ attribute is not supported

    Define “itemClass” attribute for the parent toolbar

     

    rich:dataTable

    “columnClasses” attribute specifies CSS class for each column

    Duplicate CSS class for each column

    Example:

    columnClasses="panel-content,panel-content "

    rich:fileUpload

    “error” event is not supported

    Use “serverErrorLabel” attribute to define error message

     

    rich:dataGrid

    Attributes: "rowClasses", "columnClasses",

    "footerClass" are not supported

    Replace with rich:list

    1) type="definitions" should be added in rich:list

    2) rich:dataScroller should be placed outside of the list

    rich:tree

    "nodeFace", "switchType" and "treeNodeVar" were renamed

    Replace with "nodeType", "toggleType" and "var" respectively

     

    "showConnectingLines" attribute is not supportedRedefine CSS classes "rf-trn" and "rf-tr-nd".rf-trn, .rf-tr-nd { background: none; }

    rich:treeNode

    "icon" attribute is not supported

    Replace with "iconExpanded" and "iconCollapsed" attributes

     

    rich:dataScroller

    "selectedStyleClass" and "inactiveStyleClass" attributes

    are not supported

    Redefine the following CSS:

     

    a.rf-ds-act

    a.rf-ds-nmb-btn

    Example:

    a.rf-ds-act {

    background-color: #F4F4F4;

    border: 1px solid #EBEBEB;

    font-weight: bold;

    color: #4262A1;

    font-size: 8pt;

    white-space: nowrap;

    }

    rich:componentControl"for" attribute was renamedReplace with "target"
    "attachTo" attribute is not supportedPut it inside the element it needs to be attached to
    rich:contextMenu"disableDefaultMenu" attribute is not supported
    Disables default menu automatically
    "event" and "attachTo" attributes were renamedReplace with "showEvent" and "target" respectively
    "submitMode" attribute was renamedReplace with "mode"value "none" is not suported
    rich:menuItem"value" attribute was renamedReplace with "label"
    rich:calendar"cellHeight" and "cellWidth" attributes are not supportedRedefine "rf-cal-c" CSS class.rf-cal-c { width: 24px; height: 22px; }

     

     

    3.Changed components

     

     

    Affected component

    Issue

    Old code

    Upgraded code

    rich:componentControl

    The “controls” facet for popupPanel is not shown if it was inside h:panelGroup

    <h:panelGroup>

    ....

    </h:panelGroup>

    <h:panelGrid>

    ....

    </h:panelGrid>

    rich:tabPanel

    a4j:ajax is not supported to handle tab changing

    <a4j:support event="ontabenter" ajaxSingle="true" reRender="received" >

    <a4j:actionparam assignTo= "#{messages.direction}" value="received"

    actionListener= "#{controller.update()}" />

    </a4j:support>

    itemChangeListener ="#{controller.update ()}"

    tabPanel doesn’t work properly if it’s not inside h:form (or clientType =’client’)

    <rich:tabPanel switchType="ajax">

    <h:form>

    <rich:tabPanel switchType="ajax">

    </h:form>

     

    rich:tab

    Tab width is not auto sized according to content width

    <rich:tab><f:facet name="label">

                        <a4j:outputPanel>

    <h:outputText value= "#{msg['club.details']}" /></a4j:outputPanel>

    </f:facet></rich:tab>

    .tab-content {

      width: 95px;        

      }

     

    <f:facet name="header"><div class="tab-content">

    <h:outputText value= "#{msg['club.details']}" /></div></f:facet>

    Tab height is not auto sized according to content height

    <rich:tab><f:facet name="label"> <h:graphicImage url= "/res/img/home.gif"/> </f:facet></rich:tab>

    .rf-tab-hdr-tabline-vis.rf-tab-hdr-tabline-top {            height:100%;

    }

     

    This code should be located in .ecss file which would be dynamically loaded after <h:body> tag:

     

    <h:outputStylesheet library="css" name="app.ecss" />

    All data iteration components

    “ajaxKeys’ attribute is not supported

    <rich:dataGrid ...

    ajaxKeys= "#{gridBean.ajaxKeys}">

    Use partial rendering:


     

    <rich:dataGrid id="grid">

    <h:panelGrid id="cellGrid">

    <h:outputText value= "#{memberBean.name}" />

    <a4j:ajax event="click"

    listener= "#{selectBean.update()}"

    render="grid:@rows (gridBean.ajaxKeys):cellGrid" /></h:panelGrid>

    </rich:dataGrid>

    rich:componentControl

    Component doesn’t close the popup panel

    <rich:componentControl for="clubWindow" attachTo="cancel" operation="hide" event="onclick" />

    Move rich:componentControl insde the image


     

    <h:graphicImage value="/res/img/close.png"

    > <rich:componentControl target="clubWindow" operation="hide"

    event="click" />

    </h:graphicImage>

    a4j:mediaOutput

    a4j:mediaOutput doesn't work inside data iteration component

    <rich:dataGrid var="file" value="#{files}"

    <a4j:mediaOutput element="img" session="false" createContent= "#{mediaBean.paint}" value="#{file}"

    cacheable="false">

    <f:param value= "#{timeStamp}" name="time" />

    </a4j:mediaOutput>

    </rich:dataGrid>

    Use ordinary type for  value attribute(like item index) and retrieve actual item in the createContent method


     

    <rich:list var="file" value="#{files}"

    type="definitions">

    <a4j:mediaOutput element="img" session="false" createContent= "#{mediaBean.paint}" value="#{file.index}"

    cacheable="false">

    <f:param value= "#{timeStamp}" name="time" />

    </a4j:mediaOutput></rich:list>

    rich:dataTable

    The sorting functionality has changed

    <rich:dataTable ... >

    <rich:column sortBy= "#{account.name}">

    <f:facet name="header">

    <h:outputText value= "#{msg['user.name']}" /></f:facet>

    <h:outputText value= "#{account.name}" /></rich:column>

    Define managed bean sortBean which will keep sort orders and priorities(if we support multiple column sorting)


     

    <rich:dataTable id="accountsTable" ...>

    <rich:column sortBy="#{account.name}"

    sortOrder= "#{sortBean.orders['name']}">

    <f:facet name="header">

    <h:panelGrid columns="2">

    <a4j:commandLink execute="@this" value="#{msg['user.name']}"

    render="accountsTable" action="#{sortBean.sort}">

    <f:param name="sortProperty" value="name" /> </a4j:commandLink>

    <h:graphicImage url="/res/img/down_icon.gif"

    rendered= "#{sortBean.oders[name] =='descending'}" />

    <h:graphicImage url="/resources/images/up_icon.gif" rendered ="#{sortBean.oders[name] =='ascending'}" />

    </h:panelGrid>                    </f:facet>

    <h:outputText value="#{account.name}" />

    </rich:column>

    rich:dataScroller

    Programmatic change of the current page is altered

    dataScroller.getDataTable(). getAttributes().put( UIDatascroller. SCROLLER_STATE_ATTRIBUTE, newPage);

    dataScroller.getDataTable(). getAttributes()

    .put( dataScroller.getDataTable(). getClientId(facesContext) +

    AbstractDataScroller. SCROLLER_STATE_ATTRIBUTE,

    newPage);

    rich:popupPanel

    minWidth and autosized attributes cannot be combined

    <rich:modalPanel autosized="true"

    minWidth="600">

    Leave autosized attribute and put the div inside popupPanel


     

    <div style="width: 600px" />

    RichFaces panel API has changed

    <a4j:commandButton reRender ="clubWindow"

    oncomplete= "Richfaces.showModalPanel( 'clubWindow');" value="#{msg['club.add']}" />

     

    <a4j:commandButton

    render="clubWindow" value= "#{msg['club.add']}" oncomplete= "#{rich:component( 'clubWindow')}.show()" />

     

    Client-side validation has changed

    <rich:modalPanel id="clubWindow"  … > <h:form id="fieldForm"> <a4j:outputPanel ajaxRendered="true">

    <h:messages id="error" /></a4j:outputPanel>

    <a4j:commandButton action= "#{controller.update()}"

    oncomplete ="windowclose();"  value= "#{msg['buttons.save']}" />

    <script type="text/javascript">

    function windowclose(){

    if (document. getElementById( 'fieldForm:error')==null){                       Richfaces.hideModalPanel( 'clubWindow');                        };};</script>

    The following changes should be made:


    1) Replaces h:messages with rich:messages

    2) Move rich:popupPanel inside parent h:form

    3) Use the maximumSeverity attribute to check for errors


     

    <a4j:outputPanel ajaxRendered="true">

    <script type="text/javascript">

            function windowclose() {

    if(#{facesContext. maximumSeverity==null}) {

    #{rich:component( ‘clubWindow’)}.hide();

    }}

    </script></a4j:outputPanel>

    rich:tree

    Data model has changed (TreeNodeImpl class was removed)

    protected TreeNode<T> addNode(TreeNode<T> parent, int id, T data) {

    TreeNodeImpl<T> node = new TreeNodeImpl<T>();

    node.setData(data);

    parent.addChild(id, node);

    return node;         }

    The implementation of the TreeNode interface should made.


     

    public class DataTreeNodeImpl<T> implements

    TreeNode<T>, Serializable {

                        private T data;

                        public T getData() {

                                       return data;

                        }

    rich:tree

    and child components

    The handling of "var" attribute has changed, there is now a single var name for the entire tree

    <rich:tree>

        <rich:treeNodesAdaptor nodes="#{bean.albums}" var="album">

            <rich:treeNode>#{album.name}</rich:treeNode>

            <rich:treeNodesAdaptor nodes="#{album.images}" var="image">

               <rich:treeNode>#{image.description}</rich:treeNode>

            </rich:treeNodesAdaptor>

        </rich:treeNodesAdaptor>

    </rich:tree>

    <rich:tree var="node">

        <rich:treeModelAdaptor nodes="#{bean.albums}">

            <rich:treeNode>#{node.name}</rich:treeNode>

            <rich:treeModelAdaptor nodes="#{node.images}">

               <rich:treeNode>#{node.description}</rich:treeNode>

            </rich:treeNodesAdaptor>

        </rich:treeNodesAdaptor>

    </rich:tree>

    rich:fileUpload

    The classes that handle the uploaded files have changed.

     

    It is not possible to extract filepath (String) from the uploaded file, instead you have access to the InputStream.

    org.richfaces.event.UploadEvent;

    org.richfaces.model.UploadItem;

    org.richfaces.event.FileUploadEvent;

    org.richfaces.model.UploadedFile;

     

     

     

    4.Unresolved issues

     

     

    Component name

    Issue

    Notes

    rich:fileUpload

    immediateUpload and isAllowFlash attributes is missing

    Will be possibly implemented in 4.3

    rich:fileUpload

    Doesn’t work if Spring Web Flow is used in project

    Unresolved

    rich:tree

    adviseNodeOpened attribute is missing

    Unresolved