JSF portlet developers often must enable the end-user to personalize portlets
in some way. To meet this requirement, the Portlet 2.0 specification lets you
define portlet preferences for each portlet. Preference names and default values
are defined in the WEB-INF/portlet.xml descriptor. Portal end-users start
out interacting with the portlet user interface in portlet VIEW mode, but
switch to portlet EDIT mode in order to select custom preference values.
Here’s an example portlet preference descriptor that sets a date pattern:
<portlet-preferences>
<preference>
<name>datePattern</name>
<value>MM/dd/yyyy</value>
</preference>
</portlet-preferences>
Additionally, Portlet 2.0 lets you specify support for EDIT mode in the
WEB-INF/portlet.xml descriptor file. You can add EDIT mode by specifying the
element <portlet-mode>edit</portlet-mode> in your portlet.xml file’s
<supports> element. The following example snippet specifies EDIT mode in
addition to the VIEW and HELP modes.
<supports>
<mime-type>text/html</mime-type>
<portlet-mode>view</portlet-mode>
<portlet-mode>edit</portlet-mode>
<portlet-mode>help</portlet-mode>
</supports>
Although support for portlet EDIT mode has been specified, the portlet
container doesn’t necessarily know which JSF view should be rendered when the
user enters portlet EDIT mode. JSF portlet developers must specify the
facelet view in the WEB-INF/portlet.xml descriptor that should be displayed
for each supported portlet mode. The following example snippet specifies a
facelet file /preferences.xhtml as the view, by mapping it to the
javax.portlet.faces.defaultViewId.edit init parameter.
<init-param>
<name>javax.portlet.faces.defaultViewId.edit</name>
<value>/preferences.xhtml</value>
</init-param>
Terrific! You’re now familiar with specifying and using portlet preferences in your JSF portlet.
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