Type API variable-resolver is deprecated after JSF 1.1. Use el-resolver instead

Question

We recently upgraded from WebSphere Portal v6.1 to v7.0 and in the process we now have JSF 1.2 available. Creating a new Portlet project in Rad 8 creates a faces-config.xml with the following entry

<application>
    <state-manager>com.ibm.faces.application.DevelopmentStateManager</state-manager>
    <variable-resolver>com.ibm.faces.portlet.PortletVariableResolver</variable-resolver>
</application>

And then complains: Type API variable-resolver is deprecated after JSF 1.1. Use el-resolver instead.

Unfortunately i could not find an answer on the IBM pages which el-resolver to use.

Edit:

System.out.println("Resolver: " + PortalUtil.getFacesContext().getApplication().getELResolver());

=> Resolver: com.sun.faces.el.FacesCompositeELResolver@696e696e

Adding an entry in faces-config

<el-resolver>com.sun.faces.el.FacesCompositeELResolver</el-resolver>

With or without removing the variable-resolver leads to:

java.lang.IllegalStateException: Application was not properly initialized at startup, could not find Factory: javax.faces.context.FacesContextFactory
    at javax.faces.FactoryFinder.getFactory(FactoryFinder.java:270)
    at javax.faces.webapp.FacesServlet.init(FacesServlet.java:164)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.init(ServletWrapper.java:358)
    ... 89 more

PMR with IBM opened ...

Answer 1

IBMs response to the PMR:

Q - What might be the consequences of ignoring the warning?

Ans - User can still use variable resolver, the functionality will not be affected. [This tag will be maintained for backwards compatibility]

Q - Why does the generated faces-config.xml still use the deprecated method ?

Ans - We are using variable resolver to resolve the portlet variables, which would work well even with JSF 1.2

Q - Will there be or is there an el-resolver for portlets?

Ans - There will be an el-resolver for portlets. It will be provided in JSF portlet bridge 2.0 which will be shipped as an update to WAS. It is currently in the planning stages so I cannot give you a precise version that this will be found in.

Answer 2

I hate to say it, but if we're talking about an asynchronous web application, then you're dead in the water.

JSF 1.2 introduced a "known bug" (I always loved that phrase) is the FaceletsRenderer class that prevents you from asynchronously rendering JSF components (because all aynchronousity in JSF uses a faked FacesContext; not a functional one that can be used for rendering). You need JEE6-friendly JSF 2.1 for that, otherwise you'll need a different solution altogether, as @D1e pointed out in his/her comment. Best of luck to your organization.