Value expressions from java code

[twhitehead.twhiteheadjm.hotmail.com]

I am trying to create a dynamic table using org.richfaces.component.html.HtmlDataTable but I cant seem to get the EL expressions to work.

I have tried:

....
ExpressionFactory ef=FacesContext.getCurrentInstance().getApplication().getExpressionFactory();     
UIOutput text = new UIOutput();
ValueExpression ve = ef.createValueExpression("#{workOrder.id}", String.class);          
text.setValueExpression("value", ve);     
text.setRendererType("javax.faces.Text");
column.getChildren().add(text);
....

and something similar but using:

public ExpressionFactory getExpressionFactory() {
  // JBoss EL
  return SeamExpressionFactory.INSTANCE;
}

to get the ExpressionFactory.

However both methods do not evaluate the expression but simply produce the expression as plain text.

I have some old WebSphere code that used to work that uses ValueBinding but that has been deprecated.

What am I doing wrong?