Chapter 8. * Rendering HTML links and URLs

8.1. The <pretty:link> component
8.2. The <pretty:urlbuffer> component
8.3. Using JSF standard components

PrettyFaces provides several methods of generating HTML links via a set of components, and when operating in a JSF 2.0 environment, standard JSF 'h:link' components may be used instead. If the provided mappingId requires any url-pattern-parameters or managed-query-parameters, they can be passed in via the <f:param> tag.

URL pattern parameters can be passed individually, as a java.util.List, or as an Array. In the latter two cases, toString() will be called on each of the objects in the list/array. If an empty or null list/array is passed, it will be ignored.

URL path-parameters do NOT have a name attribute, and are parsed in the order they are passed into the tag. Managed query-parameters DO have a name attribute, and order is irrelevant.

8.1. The <pretty:link> component

PrettyFaces provides a JSF component to output an HTML link to the page. The link tag requires a mapping-id (specified in the pretty-config.xml,) identifying which link to render.

Example 8.1. Using the link component

<url-mapping id="viewItem">
	<pattern value="/store/#{ cat : bean.category }/#{ iid : bean.itemId }/" />
	<view-id>/faces/shop/item.jsf</view-id> 
	<action>#{bean.loadItem}</action>
</url-mapping>

<%@ taglib prefix="pretty" uri="http://ocpsoft.com/prettyfaces" %>
 
<pretty:link mappingId="viewItem">
	<f:param value="#{item.category}" />
	<f:param value="#{item.id}" />
	View Item. (This is Link Text)
</pretty:link>

Output, assuming that #{item.category} == shoes, and #{item.id} == 24

 /store/shoes/24

8.2. The <pretty:urlbuffer> component

PrettyFaces provides a JSF component to generate a URL for use as a page scoped variable through El. This tag requires a mapping-id (specified in the pretty-config.xml)

Example 8.2. Using the URL buffer component

<url-mapping id="viewItem">
	<pattern value="/store/#{ cat : bean.category }/#{ iid : bean.itemId }/" />
	<query-param name="language"> #{ bean.language } </query-param>
	<view-id>/faces/shop/item.jsf</view-id> 
	<action>#{bean.loadItem}</action>
</url-mapping>

<%@ taglib prefix="pretty" uri="http://ocpsoft.com/prettyfaces" %>
 
<pretty:urlbuffer var="itemListURL" mappingId="viewItem">
	<f:param value="shoes" />
	<f:param value="24" />
	<f:param name="language" value="en_US" />
</pretty:urlbuffer>
<h:outputText value="Generated URL Is: #{requestScope.itemListURL}" />

Output:

 /store/shoes/24?language=en_US

8.3. Using JSF standard components

Caution

Mappings using DynaView functionality will not function with JSF link components.

Because PrettyFaces provides out-bound URL-rewriting, one can actually use standard JSF components such as <h:outputLink> in JSF 1.x, or <h:link> in JSF 2.x.

Example 8.3. Using the <h:outputLink> in JSF 1.x

<url-mapping id="viewItem">
	<pattern value="/store/#{ cat : bean.category }/#{ iid : bean.itemId }/" />
	<query-param name="language"> #{ bean.language } </query-param>
	<view-id>/faces/shop/item.jsf</view-id> 
	<action>#{bean.loadItem}</action>
</url-mapping>

<%@ taglib prefix="h" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsf/html" %>
 
<h:outputLink value="/faces/shop/item.jsf">
	<f:param name="cat" value="shoes" />
	<f:param name="iid" value="24" />
	<f:param name="language" value="en_US" />
</h:outputLink>

Output:

 /store/shoes/24?language=en_US

In JSF 2.x, you can achieve an even greater level of abstraction by using the mapping-ID in combination with <h:link>

Example 8.4. Using the <h:link> in JSF 2.x

<url-mapping id="viewItem">
	<pattern value="/store/#{ cat : bean.category }/#{ iid : bean.itemId }/" />
	<query-param name="language"> #{ bean.language } </query-param>
	<view-id>/faces/shop/item.jsf</view-id> 
	<action>#{bean.loadItem}</action>
</url-mapping>

Both of the following components will generate the same output:

<h:link outcome="/faces/shop/item.jsf">
	<f:param name="cat" value="shoes" />
	<f:param name="iid" value="24" />
	<f:param name="language" value="en_US" />
</h:link>

<h:link outcome="pretty:viewItem">
	<f:param name="cat" value="shoes" />
	<f:param name="iid" value="24" />
	<f:param name="language" value="en_US" />
</h:link>

Output:

 /store/shoes/24?language=en_US