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      • 15. Re: Richfaces 4 rich:autocomplete pass selected item id to backing bean
        akaine

        I've seen the RF4 docs (though they've come out too late).

         

        To be more specific:

         

        1. Documentation is very superficial, many functions and configuration related points are mentioned with one or two sentences without any specific examples or references.

        2. The is close to none information anywhere about JSF/RF DOM structure patterns required for correct RF scopes functionality (AJAX partial submit, multiple form processing, etc.). There are basic examples in demo section but they just do not work in certain valid facelets configurations and there is no explanation why.

        3. Throughout the RF elements tag library there are many element specific parameters (event names, javascript function parameters, overridden scopes) which are never mentioned in the docs, some of them can be occasionally found in the demo, still users have to guess and explore.

        4. Also as mentioned by Nejc G it's very hard to find CSS related info. The only reliable way for me was to detect CSS classes through Chrome/Firefox built in element inspection. And I wont even mention the part about custom themes, it's painful an ugly.

        5. There is no documentation on built in RF JavaScript functions, though there are many and some of them are necessary to be able to do some complex validations or dynamic DOM updates.

         

        As for the RF architecture in general:

        1. There is a big disadvantage compared to v3.x that consists in almost 100% manual implementation required for iterated data filtering, sorting and validation. Yes, in v3.x it was limited and buggy but it worked with 2 lines of code, now we need the whole classes full of methods to do the same.

        2. Too complex and difficult to implement Push implementation. Some may say I am exaggerating here, but IMHO the first goal of any framework is to standardize and simplify the code needed to implement a certain feature. And as an example in this particular case PrimeFaces has the lead.

        • 16. Re: Richfaces 4 rich:autocomplete pass selected item id to backing bean
          bleathem

          Thanks for the detailed feedback.  My responses are inline.

          Akaine Harga wrote:

           

          I've seen the RF4 docs (though they've come out too late).

          What do you mean by out to late?  Updated docs are published with every Final release of RichFaces.

          To be more specific:

           

          1. Documentation is very superficial, many functions and configuration related points are mentioned with one or two sentences without any specific examples or references.

          We need to do a better job of documenting and promoting the examples we have available.  This is one of the goals of RichFaces 5.0 where the examples have already been greatly simplified.

          2. The is close to none information anywhere about JSF/RF DOM structure patterns required for correct RF scopes functionality (AJAX partial submit, multiple form processing, etc.). There are basic examples in demo section but they just do not work in certain valid facelets configurations and there is no explanation why.

          If you have code samples that don't work (and are expected to), be sure to file jira issues.  We can't fix what we don't know is broken.

          3. Throughout the RF elements tag library there are many element specific parameters (event names, javascript function parameters, overridden scopes) which are never mentioned in the docs, some of them can be occasionally found in the demo, still users have to guess and explore.

          The VDL docs describe all component attributes.  We are working at integrating the VDL docs with the RichFaces showcase in RF 5 to make this information more accessible. For an idea of what we have in mind, see the RichFaces Bootstrap demo.

          4. Also as mentioned by Nejc G it's very hard to find CSS related info. The only reliable way for me was to detect CSS classes through Chrome/Firefox built in element inspection. And I wont even mention the part about custom themes, it's painful an ugly.

          The RichFaces 4 Developer guide documents all component CSS classes which use skinning parameter values.  Further customization of the stock skins will require DOM inspection.  As for wanting to edit the CSS files directly (referring to someone else's comment earlier in this thread), that's the whole point of CSS - namely that stylesheets cascade.  You are meant to provide your own CSS file that overrides stock values.  This will not be any more or less compatible then modifying the ecss files directly.

           

          However, making custom skins does need to be easier.  We will address this in RF 5 with a move to using LESS/Bootstrap for our styling approach.

          5. There is no documentation on built in RF JavaScript functions, though there are many and some of them are necessary to be able to do some complex validations or dynamic DOM updates.

          Agreed. We are addressing this with our "standalone widgets" approach to component development, where the js impl of components will function independently of the RichFaces/JSF backend.  Part of making this approach work will require more well-defined, rigorous, and documented JavaScript APIs.

          As for the RF architecture in general:

          1. There is a big disadvantage compared to v3.x that consists in almost 100% manual implementation required for iterated data filtering, sorting and validation. Yes, in v3.x it was limited and buggy but it worked with 2 lines of code, now we need the whole classes full of methods to do the same.

          Have you seen the "built-in" sorting and filtering controls introduced in RichFaces 4.3?

          2. Too complex and difficult to implement Push implementation. Some may say I am exaggerating here, but IMHO the first goal of any framework is to standardize and simplify the code needed to implement a certain feature. And as an example in this particular case PrimeFaces has the lead.

          Have you seen Lukas' blog on using RichFaces push in 4 simple steps?  What pain points have you come across in using RichFaces push?

           

          Thanks again for the feedback.

           

          Brian Leathem

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