Installing and configuring PrimeFaces Extensions

The PrimeFaces Extensions library comes with a single JAR and does not require any mandatory third-party libraries. To use the PrimeFaces Extensions library in any web projects, just make sure to add the compatible PrimeFaces library and any JavaServer Faces implementations, such as Oracle Mojarra or Apache MyFaces.

At the time of writing this book, the latest version of PrimeFaces Extensions is 1.2.1, which is compatible with PrimeFaces 4.0.

Official releases

You can download the PrimeFaces Extensions library either manually or through a Maven download from the Maven central repository.

The Maven coordinates for the PrimeFaces Extensions library are as follows:

    <dependency>
      <groupId>org.primefaces.extensions</groupId>
      <artifactId>primefaces-extensions</artifactId>
      <version>1.2.1</version>
    </dependency>

Tip

Downloading the example code

You can download the example code files for all Packt books you have purchased from your account at http://www.packtpub.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit http://www.packtpub.com/support and register to have the files e-mailed directly to you.

All the projects or source code for this book are available in the GitHub repository. You can download it from the following link:

https://github.com/sudheerj/Learning-Primefaces-Extension-Development

Snapshot releases

If you are interested in using snapshot releases in your web project in order to get newly added components that do not exist in the recent major release or bug fixes, then add the Sonatype snapshot repository to your project configurations.

PrimeFaces Extensions uses the CloudBees platform and Jenkins as its continuous integration tool. It builds the PrimeFaces Extensions project resources on a daily basis.

Note

The snapshot releases are not recommended to be used in the applications directly because they are currently in the development stage due to possible bugs and are not production-ready.

Maven users should configure the following repository in the project's pom.xml file:

<repositories>
  <repository>
    <id>sonatype-oss-public</id>
    <url>https://oss.sonatype.org/content/groups/public/</url>
    <snapshots>
      <enabled>true</enabled>
    </snapshots>
  </repository>
</repositories>

If you are not a Maven user, then download the PrimeFaces Extensions distribution directly from the following URL:

https://oss.sonatype.org/content/groups/public/org/primefaces/extensions/

Mandatory dependencies

Apart from the PrimeFaces Extensions library, we need to add the compatible PrimeFaces core library, apache.commons.lang3, and any JavaServer Faces implementations, such as Oracle's Mojarra or MyFaces.

In the following table, there is a list of mandatory dependencies to use the PrimeFaces Extensions library in your project:

Dependency	Version	Description
JSF Runtime	2.0, 2.1, or 2.2	Apache MyFaces or Oracle's Mojarra
PrimeFaces	4.0	The PrimeFaces library
apache.commons.lang3	3.1	Provides extra methods for the manipulation of its core classes

Based on the PrimeFaces Extensions library version, you have to add the compatible JSF and PrimeFaces versions.

Note

The dependency for PrimeFaces is defined as a transitive dependency, so there is no need to include it explicitly. But it is also possible to exclude the PrimeFaces core transitive dependency with the help of the dependencyManagement tag so that you can use other versions apart from the one defined by this transitive dependency.

Proceed with the following usage of the dependencyManagement tag to exclude the transitive dependency and use the other versions of PrimeFaces:

<dependencyManagement>  
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.primefaces.extensions</groupId>
        <artifactId>primefaces-extensions</artifactId>
        <version>1.2.1</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.primefaces</groupId>
        <artifactId>primefaces</artifactId>
        <version>4.0</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencyManagement>

Optional dependencies

Based on the PrimeFaces Extensions library's features that you want to use, you may need to use some third-party libraries. The following table describes the list of optional dependencies needed to use any particular feature:

Dependency	Version	Description
CKEditor	1.2.1	To use the CKEditor component.
CodeMirror	1.2.1	To use the CodeMirror component.
IText	2.1.7	Exporter (PDF).
Apache POI	3.9	Exporter (Excel).
Gson	2.2.4	To use the layout, timeline, and jsonConverter components. For Maven users, this library is available as a transitive dependency.

The list of maven coordinates for the preceding optional dependencies is shown as follows:

  <dependency>
      <groupId>org.primefaces.extensions</groupId>
      <artifactId>resources-ckeditor</artifactId>
      <version>1.2.1</version>
  </dependency>
  <dependency>
      <groupId>org.primefaces.extensions</groupId>
      <artifactId>resources-codemirror</artifactId>
      <version>1.2.1</version>
  </dependency>
  <dependency>
      <groupId>com.lowagie</groupId>
      <artifactId>itext</artifactId>
      <version>2.1.7</version>
  </dependency> 
  <dependency>
      <groupId>org.apache.poi</groupId>
      <artifactId>poi</artifactId>
      <version>3.9</version>
  </dependency>
  <dependency>
      <groupId>org.apache.poi</groupId>
      <artifactId>poi-ooxml</artifactId>
      <version>3.9</version>
  </dependency>

Note

Please refer to the JobHub application's pom.xml file in GitHub for the preceding configuration's details.

If you are using the iText library in your project, then don't forget to add the following exclusions in your iText Maven dependency (these APIs are not required for the PDF Exporter component):

  <exclusions>
  <exclusion>
      <groupId>bouncycastle</groupId>
      <artifactId>bcprov-jdk14</artifactId>
  </exclusion>
  <exclusion>
      <groupId>bouncycastle</groupId>
      <artifactId>bcmail-jdk14</artifactId>
  </exclusion>
  <exclusion>
      <groupId>org.bouncycastle</groupId>
      <artifactId>bctsp-jdk14</artifactId>
  </exclusion>
  </exclusions>

The following section shows the steps to install and configure PrimeFaces Extensions to your project. It has been split up into instructions for Maven users and non-Maven users.

If you are a Maven user, perform the following steps:

1. Add the following PrimeFaces Extensions library's Maven dependency to your pom.xml file; it will download the library from the Maven central repository as follows:

     <dependency>
         <groupId>org.primefaces.extensions</groupId>
         <artifactId>primefaces-extensions</artifactId>
         <version>1.2.1</version>
     </dependency>

2. Add the following PrimeFaces core Maven dependency to your pom.xml file; it will be downloaded to the library from the Maven central repository as follows:

     <dependency>
         <groupId>org.primefaces</groupId>
         <artifactId>primefaces</artifactId>
         <version>4.0</version>
     </dependency>

   For the projects using lower versions of the PrimeFaces library, you have to add the PrimeFaces Maven repository to the repository list in pom.xml as follows:

     <repository>
         <id>prime-repo</id>
         <name>Prime Repo</name>
         <url>http://repository.primefaces.org</url>
     </repository>

   The PrimeFaces core dependency is optional for Maven users because the PrimeFaces Extensions library has transitive dependency for the PrimeFaces core. This step is only required when you are going to use other PrimeFaces versions over the default PrimeFaces transitive dependency with the help of the dependencyManagement tag.

3. Configure the following code for either of the JSF dependencies in your project's pom.xml file:

     <dependency>
         <groupId>com.sun.faces</groupId>
         <artifactId>jsf-impl</artifactId>
         <version>2.2.4</version>
         <scope>compile</scope>
     </dependency> 

   The following is an equivalent block of code:

     <dependency>
         <groupId>org.apache.myfaces.core</groupId>
         <artifactId>myfaces-impl</artifactId>
         <version>2.2</version>
         <scope>compile</scope>
     </dependency>

If you are a non-Maven user, perform the following steps:

1. Download the PrimeFaces Extensions 1.2.1 library from the Maven central repository and add it to the classpath.

2. Download PrimeFaces-4.0.jar from http://www.primefaces.org/downloads.html and add it to the classpath.

3. Download either the Oracle Mojarra or Apache MyFaces JSF implementation from their official site and add it to the classpath.

4. Download the optional dependencies, such as POI, iText, CKEditor, and CodeMirror, and add them to the classpath based on your application requirement.