JSP & EL conflict with JSF 1.x actionListener

Question

I was working on a JSF 1.x example, which has some EL conflict in JSPs. the line actionListener="#{helloBean.addControls} is shooting an issue.

The error is :

HTTP Status 500 - /JSP/hello.jsp (line: 37, column: 2) A literal value was specified for attribute actionListener that is defined as a deferred method with a return type of void. JSP.2.3.4 does not permit literal values in this case

My project Description is as follows :

Package Structure :

POC

Maven Dependencies :

<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <groupId>com.achutha.labs</groupId>
    <artifactId>02JsfExample</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <packaging>war</packaging>
    <name>02JsfExample</name>

    <dependencies>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>javax.faces</groupId>
            <artifactId>jsf-api</artifactId>
            <version>1.2_14</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>javax.faces</groupId>
            <artifactId>jsf-impl</artifactId>
            <version>1.2_14</version>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
            <artifactId>jstl</artifactId>
            <version>1.2</version>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
            <artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>
            <version>2.5</version>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>javax.servlet.jsp</groupId>
            <artifactId>jsp-api</artifactId>
            <version>2.1</version>
        </dependency>

        <!-- EL -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.glassfish.web</groupId>
            <artifactId>el-impl</artifactId>
            <version>2.2</version>
        </dependency>


    </dependencies>


    <build>
        <finalName>JavaServerFaces</finalName>

        <plugins>

            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                <artifactId>tomcat-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <configuration>
                    <url>http://localhost:8090/manager/text</url>
                    <server>TomcatServer</server>
                    <path>/balaji</path>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>

            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.3.1</version>
                <configuration>
                    <source>1.6</source>
                    <target>1.6</target>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

</project>

Faces Configuration :

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE faces-config PUBLIC
     "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD JavaServer Faces Config 1.0//EN"
     "http://java.sun.com/dtd/web-facesconfig_1_0.dtd">

<faces-config>
    <managed-bean>
        <description> The one and only HelloBean.</description>
        <managed-bean-name>helloBean</managed-bean-name>
        <managed-bean-class>com.achutha.bean.HelloBean</managed-bean-class>
        <managed-bean-scope>session</managed-bean-scope>
    </managed-bean>



    <navigation-rule>
        <description>Navigation From the Hello Page.</description>
        <from-view-id>/JSP/hello.jsp</from-view-id>
        <navigation-case>
            <from-outcome>success</from-outcome>
            <to-view-id>/JSP/goodbye.jsp</to-view-id>
        </navigation-case>
    </navigation-rule>

</faces-config>

Deployment Descriptor (web.xml) :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE web-app
    PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD Web Application 2.3//EN"
    "http://java.sun.com/dtd/web-app_2_3.dtd">

<web-app>
    <display-name>Hello, World!</display-name>
    <description>Welcome to JavaServer Faces</description>

    <servlet>
        <servlet-name>Faces Servlet</servlet-name>
        <servlet-class>javax.faces.webapp.FacesServlet</servlet-class>
        <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
    </servlet>

    <servlet-mapping>
        <servlet-name>Faces Servlet</servlet-name>
        <url-pattern>/faces/*</url-pattern>
    </servlet-mapping>

    <welcome-file-list>
        <welcome-file>/JSP/hello.jsp</welcome-file>
    </welcome-file-list>


</web-app>

hello.jsp

<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsf/core" prefix="f"%>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsf/html" prefix="h"%>

<f:view>
    <html>
<head>
<title>JSF In Action - Hello, world!</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h:form id="welcomeForm">
        <h:outputText id="welcomeOutput" value="Welcome to JavaServer Faces !"
            style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 23; color: green;" />

        <p>
            <h:message id="errors" for="helloInput" style="color: red" />
        </p>

        <p>
            <h:outputLabel for="helloInput">
                <h:outputText id="helloInputLabel"
                    value="Enter Number of controls to display: ">

                </h:outputText>

                <h:inputText id="helloInput" value="#{helloBean.numControls}"
                    required="true">
                    <f:validateLongRange minimum="1" maximum="500" />
                </h:inputText>
            </h:outputLabel>
        </p>

        <p>
            <h:panelGrid id="controlPanel" binding="#{helloBean.controlPanel}"
                columns="20" border="1" cellspacing="0" />
        </p>

        <h:commandButton id="redisplayCommand" type="submit" value="Redisplay"
            actionListener="#{helloBean.addControls}" />

        <h:commandButton id="goodbyeCommand" type="submit" value="Goodbye"
            actionListener="#{helloBean.goodbye}" immediate="true"/>

    </h:form>

</body>

    </html>

</f:view>

goodbye.jsp :

<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsf/html" prefix="h"%>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsf/core" prefix="f"%>
<f:view>
    <html>
<head>
<title>Jsf in Action - Hello World!</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h:form id="goodbyeForm">
        <p>
            <h:outputText id="welcomeOutput" value="Good Bye"
                style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 24; font-style: bold; color: green;" />

        </p>
        <p>
            <h:outputText id="helloBeanOutputLabel"
                value="Number of controls displayed: " />
            <h:outputText id="helloBeanOutputLabel"
                value="#{helloBean.numControls}" />
        </p>
    </h:form>

</body>
    </html>
</f:view>

Bean class :

package com.achutha.bean;

import java.util.List;

import javax.faces.application.Application;
import javax.faces.component.UIComponent;
import javax.faces.component.html.HtmlOutputText;
import javax.faces.component.html.HtmlPanelGrid;
import javax.faces.context.FacesContext;
import javax.faces.event.ActionEvent;

public class HelloBean {

    private int numControls;
    private HtmlPanelGrid controlPanel;

    public int getNumControls() {
        return numControls;
    }

    public void setNumControls(int numControls) {
        this.numControls = numControls;
    }

    public HtmlPanelGrid getControlPanel() {
        return controlPanel;
    }

    public void setControlPanel(HtmlPanelGrid controlPanel) {
        this.controlPanel = controlPanel;
    }

    public void addControls(ActionEvent actionEvent) {
        Application application = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance()
                .getApplication();

        List<UIComponent> children = controlPanel.getChildren();

        children.clear();

        for (int count = 0; count < numControls; count++) {
            HtmlOutputText output = (HtmlOutputText) application
                    .createComponent(HtmlOutputText.COMPONENT_TYPE);
            output.setValue(" " + count + " ");
            output.setStyle("color: blue");
            children.add(output);
        }
    }

    public String goodbye() {
        return "success";
    }

}

Clean Deployment : The application is deploying itself fine on Tomcat 7. I checked the deployed package structure on &tomcat_home%/webapps and everything is in proper place as expected.

But when i run the application on a browser I get the following error :

HTTP Status 500 - /JSP/hello.jsp (line: 37, column: 2) A literal value was specified for attribute actionListener that is defined as a deferred method with a return type of void. JSP.2.3.4 does not permit literal values in this case

type Exception report

message /JSP/hello.jsp (line: 37, column: 2) A literal value was specified for attribute actionListener that is defined as a deferred method with a return type of void. JSP.2.3.4 does not permit literal values in this case

description The server encountered an internal error that prevented it from fulfilling this request.

exception

org.apache.jasper.JasperException: /JSP/hello.jsp (line: 37, column: 2) A literal value was specified for attribute actionListener that is defined as a deferred method with a return type of void. JSP.2.3.4 does not permit literal values in this case
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.DefaultErrorHandler.jspError(DefaultErrorHandler.java:42)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.ErrorDispatcher.dispatch(ErrorDispatcher.java:408)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.ErrorDispatcher.jspError(ErrorDispatcher.java:149)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Validator$ValidateVisitor.checkXmlAttributes(Validator.java:1151)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Validator$ValidateVisitor.visit(Validator.java:875)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Node$CustomTag.accept(Node.java:1539)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Node$Nodes.visit(Node.java:2376)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Node$Visitor.visitBody(Node.java:2428)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Validator$ValidateVisitor.visit(Validator.java:894)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Node$CustomTag.accept(Node.java:1539)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Node$Nodes.visit(Node.java:2376)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Node$Visitor.visitBody(Node.java:2428)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Validator$ValidateVisitor.visit(Validator.java:894)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Node$CustomTag.accept(Node.java:1539)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Node$Nodes.visit(Node.java:2376)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Node$Visitor.visitBody(Node.java:2428)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Node$Visitor.visit(Node.java:2434)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Node$Root.accept(Node.java:475)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Node$Nodes.visit(Node.java:2376)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Validator.validateExDirectives(Validator.java:1795)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.generateJava(Compiler.java:217)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:373)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:353)
    org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:340)
    org.apache.jasper.JspCompilationContext.compile(JspCompilationContext.java:646)
    org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:357)
    org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:390)
    org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:334)
    javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:728)

I am not finding a suitable one stop solution for this issue. It is the EL used on the line actionListener="#{helloBean.addControls} which is raising the complications. Please let me know the solution.

Daniel · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-13T10:48:11.343

3

Change inside your web.xml

<webapp>

into

<web-app version="2.5"
      xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"
      xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
      xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee
      http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd">

in addition to the above try adding

to your web-app...

like this

 <web-app version="2.5"
      xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"
      xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
      xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee
      http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd"
      xmlns:web="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd"
      id="WebApp_ID">

edited Dec 13 '12 at 10:48

answered Dec 13 '12 at 10:41

Daniel

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i tried it out, It is giving me an error on eclipse : Multiple annotations found at this line: - Attribute "xmlns:xsi" must be declared for element type "web-app". - Attribute "version" must be declared for element type "web-app". - Attribute "xsi:schemaLocation" must be declared for element type "web-app". Any solution to remove this ? – bali208 Dec 13 '12 at 10:43
1

eclipse errors are not always correct... try and see if the web app works for you... – Daniel Dec 13 '12 at 10:44
Issue solved, But my project looks crappy with all the red marks..! Please let me know any other solutions if you come across. Till then this will do fine for me.! – bali208 Dec 13 '12 at 10:48
1

well google about the exact warning that you are getting... dunno.... some eclipse settings will fix that I guess... – Daniel Dec 13 '12 at 10:50
Issue dint get solved, instead i am getting org.apache.jasper.JasperException: An exception occurred processing JSP page /JSP/hello.jsp at line 4 root cause java.lang.RuntimeException: Cannot find FacesContext javax.faces.webapp.UIComponentClassicTagBase.getFacesContext(UIComponentClassicTagBase.java:1855) – bali208 Dec 13 '12 at 11:08
1

try to access your `hello.jsp` with a `faces/` prefix , like `faces/hello.jsp` or /JSP/faces/hello.jsp – Daniel Dec 13 '12 at 11:29
Oh my god!... You saved me One more time daniel. Thank you, Thank you sooooo much...! Entire application up and running! – bali208 Dec 13 '12 at 13:04
let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/21080/discussion-between-bali208-and-daniel) – bali208 Dec 13 '12 at 13:10
1

change `public String goodbye() {...` into `public void goodbye(ActionEvent event){....` – Daniel Dec 13 '12 at 15:14

JSP & EL conflict with JSF 1.x actionListener

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