The RichFaces framework is a rich component library for JavaServer Faces (JSF). The framework extends the Ajax capabilities of JSF with advanced features for the development of enterprise web applications.
RichFaces leverages several parts of the JSF 2 framework including the lifecycle, validation, conversion facilities, and management of static and dynamic resources. The RichFaces framework includes components with built-in Ajax support and a customizable look-and-feel that can be incorporated into JSF applications.
RichFaces provides a number of advantages for enterprise web application development:
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Create complex application views using out-of-the-box components. The RichFaces user interface (UI) library contains components for adding rich interactive features to JSF applications. It extends the RichFaces framework to include a large set of Ajax-enabled components that come with extensive skinning support. Additionally, the RichFaces framework is designed to be used seamlessly with other 3d-party libraries on the same page, so you have more options for developing applications.
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Write your own customized rich components with built-in Ajax support. The Component Development Kit (CDK), used for the RichFaces UI library creation, includes a code-generation facility and a templating facility using XHTML (extended hyper-text markup language) syntax.
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Generate binary resources on the fly. Extensions to JSF 2 resource-handling facilities can generate images, sounds, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, and more during run-time.
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Create a modern rich user-interface with skinning technology. RichFaces provides a skinning feature that allows you to define and manage different color schemes and other parameters of the look and feel. It is possible to access the skin parameters from page code during run-time. RichFaces comes packaged with a number of skins to get you started, but you can also easily create your own customized skins too.