The inputDate Composite Component

A composite component is a set of user-defined JavaServerFaces and Facelets components located in a resource. In firstcup, the inputDate.xhtml resource, located in the components resource library is a composite component that contains tags for reading in a date the user enters in a form. Composite components consist of an interface definition and an implementation.

The interface definition is specified with the <composite:interface> tag to define which attributes are exposed to pages that use the composite component. Attributes are identified with the <composite:attribute> tag.

Example 3–2 inputDate Composite Component Interface Definition

The inputDate.xhtml interface definition is as follows. It defines a single attribute, date, that must be specified in pages that use the inputDate composite component.

<composite:interface>
    <composite:attribute name="date" required="true" />
</composite:interface>

The implementation of the composite component is specified with the <composite:implementation> tag. The tags within the <composite:implementation> are the actual component tags that will be added to pages that use the composite component. They can be any HTML Render Kit, JavaServer Faces, or Facelets tags. The #{cc.attrs.attribute name} expression is used to get the value of the specified attribute from the page or component that is using the composite component.

Example 3–3 The inputDate Composite Component Implementation

The implementation of the inputDate composite component is as follows. An HTML input text component will store the entered text into the date attribute, accessed by the #{cc.attrs.date} expression. A JavaServer Faces convertDateTime component will convert the entered text to a date with the form of MM/dd/yyyy (04/13/2009, for example).

<composite:implementation>
    <h:inputText value="#{cc.attrs.date}">
        <f:convertDateTime pattern="MM/dd/yyyy" />
    </h:inputText>
</composite:implementation>