Writing Properties Bound to Converters, Listeners, or Validators

All of the standard converter, listener, and validator tags that are included with JavaServer Faces technology support binding attributes that allow page authors to bind converter, listener, or validator implementations to backing bean properties.

The following example from Binding Converters, Listeners, and Validators to Backing Bean Properties shows a standard convertDateTime tag using a value expression with its binding attribute to bind the DateTimeConverter instance to the convertDate property of LoginBean:

<h:inputText value="#{LoginBean.birthDate}">
    <f:convertDateTime binding="#{LoginBean.convertDate}" />
</h:inputText>

The convertDate property must therefore accept and return a DateTimeConverter object, as shown here:

private DateTimeConverter convertDate;
public DateTimeConverter getConvertDate() {
    ...
    return convertDate;
{
public void setConvertDate(DateTimeConverter convertDate) {
    convertDate.setPattern("EEEEEEEE, MMM dd, yyyy");
    this.convertDate = convertDate;
}

Because the converter is bound to a backing bean property, the backing bean property is able to modify the attributes of the converter or add new functionality to it. In the case of the preceding example, the property sets the date pattern that the converter will use to parse the user’s input into a Date object.

The backing bean properties that are bound to validator or listener implementations are written in the same way and have the same general purpose.