Using java.util.Map in h:dataTable

Question

I need to display Map using <h:dataTable>. My backing bean has a Map property as below:

public class Bean {

    private Map<Integer,String> map; // +getter

    @PostConstruct
    public void init() {
        map = new TreeMap<Integer,String>();
        map.put(1,"Sasi");
        map.put(2,"Pushparaju");
        map.put(3,"Venkat Raman");
        map.put(3,"Prabhakaran");
    }

}

Then in JSF page I am trying to bind this Map property to the value attribute of <h:dataTable>.

 <h:dataTable border="1" value="#{bean.map}" var="map">
    <h:column id="column1">
        <f:facet name="header">
            <h:outputText value="UserId"></h:outputText>
        </f:facet>
        <h:outputText value="#{map.getKey}"></h:outputText>
    </h:column>
    <h:column id="column2">
        <f:facet name="header">
            <h:outputText value="Email Id"></h:outputText>
        </f:facet>
        <h:outputText value="#{map.getValue}"></h:outputText>
    </h:column>
</h:dataTable>

It is giving en error that getKey and getValue is not present. I can understand that this is not the correct way to do it. How can I present a Map using <h:dataTable>?

Answer 1

Until upcoming JSF 2.3, UIData components such as <h:dataTable>, <p:dataTable>, etc and <ui:repeat> does not support iterating over a Map. This is only supported in <c:forEach>.

One way is to convert the map entries to an array (alone entrySet() won't work as UIData also doesn't support Set until upcoming JSF 2.3).

<h:dataTable value="#{bean.map.entrySet().toArray()}" var="entry">
    <h:column>#{entry.key}</h:column>
    <h:column>#{entry.value}</h:column>
</h:dataTable>

Another way is to wrap the map's entry set in a collection which the <h:dataTable> can iterate over, such as an ArrayList.

public class Bean {

    private Map<Integer, String> map;
    private List<Entry<Integer, String>> entries; // +getter (no setter necessary)

    @PostConstruct
    public void init() {
        map = new TreeMap<>();
        map.put(1, "Sasi");
        map.put(2, "Pushparaju");
        map.put(3, "Venkat Raman");
        map.put(4, "Prabhakaran");
        entries = new ArrayList<>(map.entrySet());
    }

    // ...
}

<h:dataTable value="#{bean.entries}" var="entry">
    <h:column>#{entry.key}</h:column>
    <h:column>#{entry.value}</h:column>
</h:dataTable>

However, more clean, self documenting and reusable is to use a List<User> instead wherein the User class has the necessary properties id and name.

public class Bean {

    private List<User> users; // +getter (no setter necessary)

    @PostConstruct
    public void init() {
        users = new ArrayList<>();
        users.add(new User(1, "Sasi"));
        users.add(new User(2, "Pushparaju"));
        users.add(new User(3, "Venkat Raman"));
        users.add(new User(4, "Prabhakaran"));
    }

    // ...
}

<h:dataTable value="#{bean.users}" var="user">
    <h:column>#{user.id}</h:column>
    <h:column>#{user.name}</h:column>
</h:dataTable>