What is the equivalent of JSTL <c:forTokens> in JSF or PrimeFaces?

Question

Assume we have the following JSP code:

<c:forTokens items="${someBean.aStringOfIntNumbersSeparatedBySemicolons}" 
             delims=";" 
             var="item" 
             varStatus="stat">
  ${item}
  <c:if test="${!stat.last}">;</c:if>
  <c:if test="${stat.count %5 == 0}">
    <br/>
  </c:if>
</c:forTokens>

Of which the output is rendered in rows with 5 columns each, like so:

How can I possibly do this with the JSF or Primefaces tags?

Answer 1

There is no direct equivalent, you should transform your token into a list in the managed bean and consume the list in the framework components.

List<String> tokens = Arrays.asList("car1,car2,car3,car4".split(","));

For such simple scenario you might not need the primefaces components. When you go for a Object Oriented model, you can take advantage of PF components to iterate through the list and present its fields using data binding. For instance:

DataList - For each Car type in the cars1 list, a line will be added in the list.

<p:dataList value="#{dataListView.cars1}" var="car" type="ordered">
    <f:facet name="header">
        Basic
    </f:facet>
    #{car.brand}, #{car.year}
</p:dataList>

DataTable - For each car in cars list, a row is added to the table component.

<p:dataTable var="car" value="#{dtBasicView.cars}">
    <p:column headerText="Id">
        <h:outputText value="#{car.id}" />
    </p:column>

    <p:column headerText="Year">
        <h:outputText value="#{car.year}" />
    </p:column>

    <p:column headerText="Brand">
        <h:outputText value="#{car.brand}" />
    </p:column>

    <p:column headerText="Color">
        <h:outputText value="#{car.color}" />
    </p:column>
</p:dataTable>

Using such component framework you might speed your development focusing on the business logic instead of UI design.

Answer 2

The only working solution I've found

For now, the only working solution I've found lies partly in the JSF and partly in the back-end code:

1. Edit the back-end code so that it adds a <br/> after every fifth element of that String field aStringOfIntNumbersSeparatedBySemicolons .

2. Add escape="false" to the <h:outputText> tag that holds the data on the front end. (The default value is escape="true" , which renders <br/> as <br/> )