Dynamic ui:include inside ui:repeat. Is there a simple solution?

Question

I want to dynamically pick a facelet to render some item in my data list. The first try would be:

<ui:repeat value="#{panels}" var="panel">
  <ui:include src="#{panel.facelet}">
</ui:repeat>

But it won't work since src of ui:include is evaluated too early. The facelet information is truly dynamic, so I cannot use c:forEach (not really recommended to mix with facelets either). I guess it all boils down to finding a component based ui:include alternative.

Is there such thing or I need to write my own?

Answer 1

c:forEach will solve it, why can't you use it?

Interesting article regarding that issue: http://www.ilikespam.com/blog/c:foreach-vs-ui:repeat-in-facelets

Answer 2

I remember trying to do something similar using a custom tag and FaceletHandler etc. In the end all the little rendering-time issues made it not worth the effort. Mind you I was (and still am :-(...) using facelets for jsf 1.1, so not sure if this is better in the later versions.

How dynamic / how many different facelets do you have to deal with? The reason I ask is that you could (to borrow a term from the compiler wizards) unroll your loop. Instead of

<ui:repeat value="#{panels}" var="panel">
  <ui:include src="#{panel.facelet}">
</ui:repeat>

You could do

<custom:panelOneFacelet rendered="#{hasPanel1}" />
<custom:panelTwoFacelet rendered="#{hasPanel2}" />
<!-- etc... -->

And in your facelet, you would have something like :

<c:if test="#rendered" >
    <!-- EVERYTHING IN THE FACELET HERE!!!-->
</c:if>

This sort of low-tech approach is fine for a small controlled set, but if you have a very large and varying set of facelets this may not work.

Might I ask why, b/c sometimes with an understanding of the high-level, SO gurus may suggest much simpler ideas for accomplishing the same goal

Answer 3

you have to write your own tag...nothing else you can do as far asI checked