OmniFaces is an open source utility library for the JavaServer Faces 2 framework. It was developed using the JSF API, and its aim is to make JSF life easier by providing a set of artifacts meant to improve the functionality of the JSF framework. Omnifaces was created in response to seeing the same questions and the same example and utility code posted over and over again.[1] It simply comes as an answer to day-by-day problems encountered during working with JSF (e.g. bug fixing, pitfalls, missing features, missing utilities, common questions, etc.). Many of these problems were collected from StackOverflow.[2]
OmniFaces was developed by two members of the JSF Expert Group (JSF EG), Bauke Scholtz (aka BalusC)[3] and Arjan Tijms.[4]
automatically setting label of associated input component
include Servlets and JSP pages in Facelets
Ajax aware exception handler
extensionless URLs
passing a method expression into Facelets tag, multi-field validators
OmniFaces 1.1
July 10, 2012
form with support to include view parameters in action URL
HTML5 render kit
new Messages builder
new validator which validates if ALL of the given inputs have been filled out
OmniFaces 1.2
October 20, 2012
support for programmatically executing callback scripts in Ajax response
fix for dealing with ViewExpiredException
buffers the Ajax response fully until buffer size
OmniFaces 1.3
December 20, 2012
new Ajax#updateRow() and Ajax#updateColumn()
new <o:enableRestorableView>
new <o:validateBean>
new SelectItemsIndexConverter
new <o:commandScript>
OmniFaces 1.4
March 11, 2013
new for attribute in <o:validator> so that it can target inputs in composites
UnmappedResourceHandler which removes the JSF prefix/suffix mapping from resource paths
<o:importFunctions> taghandler to import public static non-void methods of a given type as EL functions
<o:param> which extends <f:param> with support for a Converter
OmniFaces 1.5
June 10, 2013
added new includeRequestParams attribute to <o:form>
<o:messages> which extends <h:messages> with support for multiple client IDs in for attribute
ability to disable HTML escaping and ability to perform markupless rendering like <ui:repeat>
message interpolator for Bean Validation that allows a component's label to be inserted in the middle of a message
added converters for an Iterable to List and DataModel
new protected methods FullAjaxExceptionHandler#findExceptionRootCause() and #findErrorPageLocation() so that it can easier be subclassed
OmniFaces 1.6
September 19, 2013
OmniFaces depends on CDI from this version on
injecting, converting and validating HTTP request parameters via CDI @Param
transparent support for dependency injection (CDI and EJB) inside @FacesConverter and @FacesValidator
new JNDI utility class
CDI compatible @ViewScoped annotation specifically for JSF 2.0/2.1
useRequestURI attribute for <o:form> to submit to exactly the same URL as in browser's address bar (with query string)
OmniFaces 1.7
January 13, 2014
new ValueChangeValidator
new CacheControlFilter which can control cache-related headers of the response
added SortedTreeModel which holds the <o:tree> children in a TreeSet
OmniFaces 1.8.1
June 2, 2014
added <o:deferredScript> which is capable of deferring JavaScript resources to window.onload
<o:massAttribute> which sets the given attribute on all nested components
FacesMessageExceptionHandler which sets any caught exception as a global FATAL faces message
<o:cache> has new disabled attribute to temporarily disable the cache and pass-through children directly
<o:viewParam> skips converter for null model values so that query string doesn't get polluted with an empty string
OmniFaces 2.0
November 24, 2014
NoAutoGeneratedIdViewHandler which throws a runtime exception when an autogenerated JSF client ID is being rendered
<o:viewParamValidationFailed> which enables sending either a redirect or error status on validation failure of view parameters
<o:graphicImage> which is capable of referencing a byte[] or InputStream property with optional support for data URI format
<o:moveComponent> via which components, facets and behaviors can be moved at runtime to a target component in various ways
<o:resolveComponent> via which a component can be looked up by its ID and a reference to it put in various scopes
<o:validateBean> now supports validating beans at the class level
OmniFaces 2.1
June 3, 2015
<o:tagAttribute> to explicitly declare a tagfile attribute which is only exposed in tagfile's own EL scope, to prevent pollution in EL scope of nested tagfiles
FacesConfigXml to get faces-config.xml entries which are not available via native JSF API (currently only a mapping of all <resource-bundle> entries can be obtained)
<o:graphicImage> now also supports SVG images with explicit type="svg" attribute and fragment attribute for SVG view modes
@Cookie to inject a HTTP request cookie in a CDI managed bean
CombinedResourceHandler now supports server-side caching of combined resources via org.omnifaces.COMBINED_RESOURCE_HANDLER_CACHE_TTL context param
@Eager now also supports JSF 2.2 javax.faces.view.ViewScoped
OmniFaces 2.2
November 24, 2015
Second life for @ViewScoped
FileServlet - New FileServlet with advanced HTTP range and caching support
<o:viewAction> - Fix unintuitive "if" attribute of <f:viewAction>
OmniFaces 2.3
April 1, 2016
@ViewScoped - Improved
<o:socket> - For web socket based push which can be accessed via CDI @Push
<o:skipValidators> - To skip all validation during a UICommand action or an ajax request
FileServlet - Supports customizing 404 error handling and attachment file name
