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Components are reusable user interface elements that you can use to build
the visual interface for your page. Components are rendered into HTML page
elements such as text, hyperlinks, or form elements. The components in the
IDE are based on JavaServer Faces technology and use JavaScript.
- Note: Because these components use JavaScript, users of your web applications must have JavaScript enabled in their web browsers. In addition, users of your application must enbale cookies and CSS in their web browsers.
Components have properties, which describe the appearance, state, or other
features of a specific component on a page. You can edit properties by using
the Properties window, or you can bind
properties to values contained in other components or services such as
databases or web services.
By default, components that you add to a page are arranged on the page by
position: Where you place them in the Visual Designer is where they will appear
on the final HTML page. You can stack
components on top of each other using the Bring to Front and Send to Back
menu items, and you can nest components together
using the Grid Panel and Group Panel components.
Finally, components can have associated event handlers, written in the Java
language, that are executed when the page is submitted.
Component Categories
Components are located in the
Components tab of the Palette
and are grouped under categories. Click a category in the Components tab to
see the associated components.
The Components tab contains the following categories:
- Basic. The components that you are likely to use most often, like buttons, tables, drop-down lists, and text fields, to name only a few.
- Layout. Components whose main purpose is organizing or formatting a page, like the Grid Panel component that arranges components in a grid or the Group Panel component that groups components together.
- Composite. Components with a more complex organization and a specialized purpose, like the Add Remove List component that displays a list of items and lets the user add them to another list, or the Breadcrumbs component that displays a list of hyperlinks to previous pages in a site hierarchy.
- Validators. A set of data converters that you can use with components to convert between the
String data type and other data types as needed.
- Converters. A set of value checkers that you can use to validate user entered data.
- Standard Components. The original set of standard JavaServer Faces components that shipped with the IDE. They are not as sophisticated or easy to use as the Basic, Layout, and Composite components. For example, the Standard components cannot participate in a theme, and their structure is often more complex to work with than the Basic components.
- Advanced. A set of JavaServer Page markup tags for advanced users. The components have no visual appearance
and are useful to developers with experience in JSP and JavaServer Faces
technologies.
- Data Providers. A set of components that provide an interface to data sources like database tables and JavaBeans objects.
- Advanced Data Providers. A set of data providers for use by advanced users only. These data providers are typically created for you and do not need to be added separately.
Viewing and Managing Components
You can view or manage components in the following ways:
- Use the Palette to drag
components into the Visual Designer to work with them.
- Use the Outline window to view a hierarchical list of the components
on a page. If you select a component in the Outline window, the component
is selected in the Visual Designer and vice versa. You can sometimes select a component more easily in the Outline window than in the Visual Designer, especially if you want to change its location in a hierarchy of subcomponents. You can right-click a component's node in the Outline window and select the same pop-up menu items as in the Visual Designer.
- See Also
- Working With Components
- Component Tasks: Quick
Reference
- About Pages
- Tutorials
- Delving Into Components Tutorial
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