faces-config.xml is config file

Question

By default when we create a web application faces-config.xml doesnt created automatically. We must create him manually and as I understood faces-config.xml must be located strictly in WEB-INF.

So, my question:

Do I have to register faces-config.xml in web.xml after creation in WEB-INF or other folder or is it registered automatically. I.e. does JSF "know" what is the faces-config.xml and can find him in all project's folder.

Hope, I asked correct question.;)

Answer 1

As taken from FacesServlet documentation:

This servlet must automatically be mapped if it is not explicitly mapped in web.xml or web-fragment.xml and one or more of the following conditions are true.

• A faces-config.xml file is found in WEB-INF.

• A faces-config.xml file is found in the META-INF directory of a jar in the application's classpath.

• A filename ending in .faces-config.xml is found in the META-INF directory of a jar in the application's classpath.

• The javax.faces.CONFIG_FILES context param is declared in web.xml or web-fragment.xml.

• The Set of classes passed to the onStartup() method of the ServletContainerInitializer implementation is not empty.

You can put your configuration file elsewhere in your webapp, but you need to keep in mind the following facts:

1. You don't want to expose the file to be accessible, thus you'd want it to end up under WEB-INF/META-INF folders;

2. You need to add the following entry to your web.xml:

   <context-param>
       <param-name>javax.faces.CONFIG_FILES</param-name>
       <param-value>
           WEB-INF/path/to/faces-config.xml
      </param-value>
   </context-param>
   

Otherwise the faces-config.xml is loaded automatically if found in some predefined locations.