JSF Scopes Tutorial - JSF/CDI Application Scope

The JSF/CDI application scope lives as long as the web application lives.

An application scope extends the session scope with the shared state across all users' interactions with a web application; this scope lives as long as the web application lives. Since the beans in the application scope lives until the application shuts down (or they are programmatically removed), we can say that this scope lives most. More precisely, objects settled on the application scope can be accessed from any page that is part of the application (for example, JSF, JSP, and XHTML).

The application scope is present in JSF and CDI and functions in the same way. It can be used for non-rich AJAX and non-AJAX requests.

The application scope should be used only for data that is safe to be shared. Since an application scoped bean is shared by all users, you need to be sure that the bean has an immutable state or you need to synchronize access.

Usually, application scope objects are used as counters, but they can be used for many other tasks, such as initializations and navigations. For example, the application scope can be used to count how many users are online or to share that information with all users. Practically, it can be used to share data among all sessions, such as constants, common settings, and tracking variables.

Application Scope Annotations

JSF: The JSF request scope annotation is @ApplicationScoped  (javax.faces.bean.ApplicationScoped). A bean with this scope should be annotated with @ManagedBean (javax.faces.bean.ManagedBean).

CDI: The CDI request scope annotation is @ApplicationScoped (javax.enterprise.context.ApplicationScoped). A bean with this scope should be annotated with @Named (javax.inject.Named).

Simple Example

// index.xhtml

<h:body>  

 <h4>Same view after submit (index.xhtml):</h4>

 <h:form>

  <h:commandButton value="Count" action="#{countBean.countActionVoid()}"/>

 </h:form>

 Current value: #{countBean.count}

 <h4>Forward to another view after submit (count.xhtml):</h4>

 <h:form>

  <h:commandButton value="Count" action="#{countBean.countActionAndForward()}"/>

 </h:form>

 Current value: #{countBean.count}

 <h4>Redirect to another view after submit (count.xhtml):</h4>

 <h:form>

  <h:commandButton value="Count" action="#{countBean.countActionAndRedirect()}"/>

 </h:form>

 Current value: #{countBean.count}

 <h4>AJAX :</h4>

 <h:form>

  <h:commandButton value="Count" action="#{countBean.countActionVoid()}">

   <f:ajax render="currentValueId"/>

  </h:commandButton>

 </h:form>

 <h:outputText id="currentValueId" value="Current value: #{countBean.count}"/>

</h:body>

// count.xhtml

<h:body>           

 Current value: #{countBean.count}        

</h:body>

// CountBean.java

import java.util.logging.Logger;

// for JSF

import javax.faces.bean.ManagedBean;

import javax.faces.bean.ApplicationScoped;

// for CDI

import javax.inject.Named;

import javax.enterprise.context. ApplicationScoped;

// JSF            vs            CDI

@ManagedBean                    @Named

@ApplicationScoped              @ApplicationScoped

public class CountBean {

 private static final Logger LOG = Logger.getLogger(CountBean.class.getName());

 private int count;

 public CountBean() {

  LOG.info("CountBean#Initializing counter ...");

  count = 0;

 }

 public void countActionVoid() {

  LOG.info("CountBean#countActionVoid() - Increasing counter ...");

  count++;

 }

   

 public String countActionAndForward() {

  LOG.info("CountBean#countActionAndForward() - Increasing counter ...");

  count++;

  return "count";

 }

   

 public String countActionAndRedirect() {

  LOG.info("CountBean#countActionAndRedirect() - Increasing counter ...");

  count++;

  return "count?faces-redirect=true;";

 }

 public int getCount() {

  return count;

 }

 public void setCount(int count) {

  this.count = count;

 } 

}

The complete application is available here.

The CountBean constructor is called for creating a new instance only once per application start.  This means that count is initialized with 0 only once per application start. Subsequent requests (GET, POST, POST-REDIRECT-GET) will use this instance. For testing the application scope, you need to open multiple browsers or use multiple machines. The count will be available/shared across all sessions. The application scope doesn't lose the object's state during application run.

Basically you have to pay attention when you provide data from an application scoped bean to multiple

sessions beans (for example, using injection), since the data shared by all sessions can be modified by each session separately. This can lead to inconsistent data across multiple users; therefore, be sure that the exposed application data isn't modified in sessions.

Implements Serializable

JSF and CDI managed beans shouldn't be declared Serializable (implements Serializable). But, you have to keep in mind that there is a tiny chance that the system will give them the same id, so make them Serializable is not a bad practice.

Application Scope Programmatic Access

Programmatically you can interact with application scope like this:

- access the application scope map

// JSF 2.0-2.2

FacesContext context = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance();

Map<String, Object> applicationMap = context.getExternalContext().getApplicationMap();

// JSF 2.3

@Inject

@ApplicationMap

private Map<String, Object> applicationMap;

// OmniFaces

Map<String, Object> applicationMap = Faces.getApplicationMap();

- set a application scoped attribute

// JSF 2.0 - 2.3

applicationMap.put(name, value);

// OmniFaces

Faces.setApplicationAttribute(name, value);

- get a application scoped attribute

// JSF 2.0-2.3

Object value = applicationMap.get(name);

// OmniFaces

<T> value = Faces.getApplicationAttribute(name);

- remove a application scoped attribute

// JSF 2.0-2.3

Object value = applicationMap.remove(name);

// OmniFaces

<T> value = Faces.removeApplicationAttribute(name);

! In JSF pages, you can use the implicit object, #{applicationScope} (e.g. get CountBean instance: #{applicationScope.countBean}).

Among others, the application map will contain instances of managed beans that are declared under the application scope (@ApplicationScoped (JSF/CDI)).

In case of JSF managed beans (not CDI managed beans - in this case, the keys are pretty complex), you can easily identify such beans by their names which becomes keys in the application map. Therefore you will be able to locate an instance of this JSF managed bean in the application map under the key, countBean. If you specify the bean name via @ManagedBean(name="some_name"), then some_name will be the key in the application map. So, via the application map, you can access a property of a application scoped JSF managed bean, like this:

String count = ((CountBean)(Faces.getApplicationAttribute("countBean/some_name"))).getCount();

Is perfectly legal to do this also (this refers to the current bean):

@ManagedBean(name="some_name")

...

String bean_name = getClass().getAnnotation(ManagedBean.class).name();

int count = ((CountBean)(Faces.getApplicationAttribute(bean_name))).getCount();

Now, you can easily intuit how to work with managed beans stored in the application map.

Using @PostConstruct

Typically, in a managed bean, we need to write a method annotated with @PostConstruct for accomplishing initializations tasks based on injected artifacts.  With other words, the @PostConstruct annotation is used on a method that needs to be executed after dependency injection is done to perform any initialization. When the initialization doesn't involve injected artifacts the constructor can be used for initializations. For application scoped beans the method annotated with @PostConstruct will be called only when the application starts. With other words, a method annotated with @PostConstruct will be called only when the application scoped bean is instantiated. Subsequent requests willuse this instance. Usually, this happens when the application starts; therefore, place inside this method the initialization tasks specific to the application in the context of this bean.

JSF managed bean example:

import javax.faces.bean.ManagedBean;

import javax.faces.bean.ApplicationScoped;

@ManagedBean

@ApplicationScoped

public class InitBean {

    private int init;

    public InitBean() {

        init = 5;

    }

    public int getInit() {

        return init;

    }

    public void setInit(int init) {

        this.init = init;

    }

}

import javax.faces.bean.ManagedBean;

import javax.faces.bean.ApplicationScoped;

@ManagedBean

@ApplicationScoped

public class CountBean {

   

 @ManagedProperty("#{initBean}")

 private InitBean initBean;

 @PostConstruct

 public void init(){

  LOG.info("CountBean#Initializing counter with @PostConstruct ...");

  count = initBean.getInit();

 }

 public void setInitBean(InitBean initBean) {

  this.initBean = initBean;

 } 

 ...

}

CDI managed bean example:

import javax.enterprise.context.ApplicationScoped;

import javax.inject.Named;

@Named

@ApplicationScoped

public class InitBean {

 private int init;

 public InitBean() {

  init = 5;

 }

 public int getInit() {

  return init;

 }

 public void setInit(int init) {

  this.init = init;

 }

}

import javax.inject.Inject;

import javax.enterprise.context.ApplicationScoped;

import javax.inject.Named;

@Named

@ApplicationScoped

public class CountBean {

   

 @Inject

 private InitBean initBean;

 @PostConstruct

 public void init(){

  LOG.info("CountBean#Initializing counter with @PostConstruct ...");

  count = initBean.getInit();

 }

 ...

}

Injection and application scoped beans

JSF: For JSF managed beans, injection is accomplished via @ManagedProperty. For example:

CDI: For CDI managed beans, injection is accomplished via @Inject. For example:

JSF & CDI mixed: CDI can be injected in JSF (vice versa is not true!)

JSF Managed Beans Restrictions:

! As a general rule in JSF, don't use objects that have shorter lifespan than the objects you are

calling it from. In other words, use objects whose lifespan is the same as, or longer than, the object being injected into. Breaking this rule will end up in a JSF exception. Base on this rule in a JSF application scoped managed bean you can inject only application managed beans.

JSF managed beans can be injected in other JSF managed beans.

CDI Managed Beans Restrictions:

! When you are using an object that has a shorter lifespan than the object you are calling it from (for example, injecting a request scoped bean into a session scoped bean), CDI classifies the use case as a mismatched injection and fixes the issue via CDI proxies. For each request, the CDI proxy re-establishes the connection to a live instance of the request scoped bean.

CDI managed beans can be injected in JSF managed beans.

Configuring JSF application scoped managed beans programmatically

Starting with JSF 2.2, we can programmatically reproduce the content of faces-config.xml.  For application scoped managed beans, the relevant snippet of code is:

@Override

public void populateApplicationConfiguration (Document toPopulate) {

 String ns = toPopulate.getDocumentElement().getNamespaceURI();

 Element managedbeanEl = toPopulate.createElementNS(ns, "managed-bean");

 Element managedbeannameEl = toPopulate.createElementNS(ns, "managed-bean-name");

 managedbeannameEl.appendChild(toPopulate.createTextNode("countBean"));

 managedbeanEl.appendChild(managedbeannameEl);

 Element managedbeanclassEl = toPopulate.createElementNS(ns, "managed-bean-class");

 managedbeanclassEl.appendChild(toPopulate.createTextNode("beans.CountBean"));

 managedbeanEl.appendChild(managedbeanclassEl);

 Element managedbeanscopeEl = toPopulate. createElementNS(ns, "managed-bean-scope");

 managedbeanscopeEl.appendChild(toPopulate. createTextNode("application"));

 managedbeanEl.appendChild(managedbeanscopeEl);

 ...

 // programmatic create managed-property

 ...

 toPopulate.getDocumentElement().appendChild(managedbeanEl);

}

A complete application can be seen in Mastering JSF 2.2 book .

Configuring JSF request scoped managed beans in XML file

With XML configuration, you can use the old JSF 1.x mechanism to define the managed bean in a normal faces-config.xml file. For example:

...

<managed-bean>

 <managed-bean-name>countBean</managed-bean-name>

 <managed-bean-class>beans.CountBean</managed-bean-class>

 <managed-bean-scope>application</managed-bean-scope>

 ...

 <!-- managed bean properties --> via <managed-property/>

 ...

</managed-bean>

...

Managed beans should be defined in a separate XML file because the faces-config.xml is used to set the application level configurations. Basically, if you prefer this approach, create a new XML file and put the managed beans detail inside. Finally, declare the XML file via javax.faces.CONFIG_FILES context parameter in web.xml file.

...

<context-param>

 <param-name>javax.faces.CONFIG_FILES</param-name>

 <param-value>WEB-INF/my-manage-beans.xml</param-value>

</context-param>

...

See you in the next post about the CDI dependent scope.