An introduction to JBoss RichFaces framework and to the book JBoss RichFaces (Packt) by Demetrio Filocamo. RichFaces is a very useful open source framework that allows you to add Ajax capability to your JSF application (using the standard JSF components) without the need to write JavaScript code and manage JavaScript compatibility between browsers. You can read more about the book here: http://www.packtpub.com/jboss-richfaces-3-3

1. JBoss RichFaces 3.3
Enhance your JSF web application using powerful AJAX components

2. What is RichFaces?
RichFaces is a very useful open source framework that allows
you to add Ajax capability to your JSF application (using the
standard JSF components) without the need to write
JavaScript code and manage JavaScript compatibility between
browsers.
It offers the very powerful skinnability feature to customizes
the look and feel of your JSF applications
Contains a lot of Ajax-ready components

3. RichFaces provides two sets of component
libraries:
Core Ajax: components which are useful to
"ajaxize" JSF pages and standard JSF
components.
UI: a set of advanced JSF Ajax components
used to add rich user interface features to
your applications.

4. Another feature included in the RichFaces
framework is the Component Development
Kit (CDK)—the set of tools used for UI
library creation that can be used to make new
components with built-in Ajax and
skinnability support.

5. The Ajax framework

6. The framework architecture is composed of five parts:
1. Ajax Filter: add Ajax capabilities to your JSF application using RichFaces.
2. Ajax Action Components: standard JSF components that you can use in
order to send Ajax requests.
3. Ajax Containers: describe an area ("region") of the page, which should be
decoded during an Ajax request. The biggest region is the whole view of a
JSF page, but you can define how many regions you want inside the page.
4. Skinnability: adds skinning capability to your application.
5. RichFaces JavaScript Engine: It runs on the client browser and manages
Ajax requests and responses. It is automatically managed by the
framework, so you don't have to use it directly.

7. Important concepts
The following component attributes are very important and you
can find them in all the Ajax-enabled components of the RichFaces
framework:
reRender: In order to decide which area must be updated after
an Ajax request.
ajaxRendered: If it is true, the area is updated after every Ajax
request (even if it is not in the reRender attribute).
limitToList: In order to force the JavaScript Engine to update the
areas only in the reRender attribute.

8. UI Components

9. The RichFaces framework contains many JSF
components to add Ajax to our applications in a very
simple way, without needing to know anything about
JavaScript (but if you know it, you have more
features to use the framework inside your
personalized JS code).
There are a lot of components for different kinds of
tasks (such as interaction, input, output, drag-and-
drop, validation, and so on).

10. Some components

11. Skinnability example (1/2)

12. Skinnability example (2/2)

13. Where to start?
JBoss RichFaces 3.3
Demetrio Filocamo
This book goes beyond the documentation to teach you
how to get the most out of JBoss RichFaces by explaining
the key components and how you can use them to enhance
your applications.
Most importantly, you will learn while developing a real
sample application how to integrate AJAX into your
applications without using JavaScript but only standard JSF
components.
You will create and customize your own components and
add them to your new or existing applications.
http://www.packtpub.com/jboss-richfaces-3-3

14. More in detail (1/2)
First, the book introduces you to JBoss RichFaces and its
components.
It uses many examples of AJAX components which, among others,
include: Calendar, Data Table, ToolTip, ToolBar, Menu, RichEditor,
Drag'n'Drop and more.
All these components will help you create the web site you always
imagined.
Key aspects of the RichFaces framework such as the AJAX
framework, skinnability, and CDK (Component Development Kit)
will help you customize the look of your web application.

15. More in detail (2/2)
As you progress through the book, you will see a sample application
that shows you how to build an advanced contact manager.
You're also going to be amazed to know about the advanced topics
you will learn like developing new components, new skins,
optimizing a web application, inserting components dynamically
using Java instead of XHTML, and using JavaScript to manage
components.
This book is more than a reference with component example code:
it's a manual that will guide you, step-by-step, through the
development of a real AJAX JSF web application.

16. “Will I like it?”
YES
NO
Charts never lie! ;)
http://www.packtpub.com/jboss-richfaces-3-3

17. About the author
Demetrio Filocamo is a computer
science engineer with more then 10
years of experience on both Desktop
and Web applications development.
He works as a freelance in London and
collaborates with some companies and
universities in Italy.
Demetrio has been developing
Enterprise Java Applications using open
source solutions for the last five years.