Java EE Applications: Calling a JSF page from a non-JSF page

Lab 6 replaces the CustomerController servlet with the ustomerDetails.xhtml JSF page.
Existing JSP pages need to be adapted to call the JSF page. Here's how you call a JSF page from a JSP or plain HTML page and pass a parameter to it.

1. Change the AllCustomers.jsp page to call the JSF page.
• Existing call to the servlet

 <a href="CustomerController?customerIdentity=<%= customers[i].getId()%>&submit=Get Customer">

• New call to the JSF page

<a href="CustomerDetails.xhtml?customerIdentity=<%= customers[i].getId()%>">  

• Change the JSF backing bean to receive parameters and call code when it is created by a GET request.
1. Receive a GET parameter in an attribute

@ManagedBean(name="customerDetails")
@RequestScoped
public class CustomerManagedBean {

   @ManagedProperty("#{param.customerIdentity}")
   private String customerId = "";
   ...
}

2. Call a method when the bean is created. The method looks up data using the value stored in the attribute in the previous step.

@PostConstruct
public void initCustomer() {
  if (customerId != null && customerId.length()!= 0){
    retrieveCustomer();
  }
}