How to setup the Eclipse Faces Config Visual Editor

Summary By default, the ArcGIS Web Project template that come with the ArcGIS Server Java Web ADF plug-in for Eclipse IDE extends the Eclipse Dynamic Web Project template. This provides the base for a Web Mapping Application which is a Java Server Faces (JSF) application. To take advantage of Eclipse Web Tools Platform (WTP) JSF tools you need to associated your Web Project as a JavaServer Faces Facet in Eclipse. This topic will cover the steps required to set up this association such that you can take advantage of the Faces Config visual editor.

The Eclipse Web Tools Platform (WTP) JSF tools has been provided with Eclipse Java EE bundles since the Ganymede release and to take advantage of the faces-config visual editor in your ArcGIS Web Project you need to do the following in your Eclipse Developer Environment:
  1. Create a Web ADF Project using the Eclipse ESRI Web ADF templates or use an existing Web ADF Project. 
  2. Rename your projects web.xml (e.g. web_orig.xml) as this process will create a new web.xml file and overwrite the projects web.xml.  The Web ADF Project depends on the web.xml file that the Web ADF plug-in creates so we don't want to overwrite it. 
  3. Right click on your Project and select Properties.
  4. In the Properties dialog select 'Project Facets' from the left hand selection and check the 'JavaServer Faces' Project Facet. 
  1. Click on the 'Further configuration required' link near the bottom of the dialog. 
  2. Accept the 'Server Supplied JSF Implementation' in the JSF capabilities dialog and click OK.
  1. Now click the OK button in the Project Properties dialog. 
  2. Finally, delete the web.xml file that was generated by the JSF Facets dialog and rename your original file you changed in step 1 back to web.xml.
When you double click on your faces-config.xml file, the Faces Configuration Introduction page should open and you are now ready to use the visual editor capabilities to edit your faces-config file. If this did not happen, simply right click on your faces-config.xml file and select 'Open With' to ensure that the 'Faces Config Editor' is the default editor.
Once your faces-config file is opened inside the visual editor you will notice different tab options at the bottom of the editor which allows you to visually edit different aspects of the file.  For example, to edit the Managed Beans in your application, you can click on the 'ManagedBean' tab to open the editor, then add/remove beans or select a bean to edit.
While many of our Eclipse Plug-in tools take care of editing your projects faces-config editor, enabling the visual capabilities on your project simplifies situations when you need to do some manual edits to the file. 





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