The <managed-bean> element declares a managed bean, which is created and populated by JSF when it's needed (e.g., when a value binding expression referencing it is evaluated) but it doesn't yet exist in the declared scope.

Syntax

<managed-bean>

  [<description [xml:lang="lang"]>description</description>]*

  [<display-name [xml:lang="lang"]>displayName</display-name>]*

  [<icon [xml:lang="lang"]>

     [<small-icon>iconPath</small-icon>]

     [<large-icon>iconPath</large-icon>]

   </icon>]*

  <managed-bean-name>managedBeanName</managed-bean-name>

  <managed-bean-class>className</managed-bean-class>

  <managed-bean-scope>

    none|request|session|application

  </managed-bean-scope>

  [<managed-property>

    [<description [xml:lang="lang"]>description</description>]*

    [<display-name [xml:lang="lang"]>displayName</display-name>]*

    [<icon [xml:lang="lang"]>

       [<small-icon>iconPath</small-icon>]

       [<large-icon>iconPath</large-icon>]

     </icon>]*

     <property-name>propName</property-name>

     [<property-class>className</property-class>]

     <map-entries>

       [<key-class>className</key-class>]

       [<value-class>className</value-class>]

       <map-entry>

         <key>key</key>

         <null-value/> | <value>value</value>

       </map-entry>*

     </map-entries> |

       <null-value/>] |

       <value>value</value> |

       <list-entries>

         [<value-class>className</value-class>]

         <list-entry>

           <null-value>/ | <value>value</value>

         </list-entry>*

       </list-entries>

   </managed-property>* |

     <map-entries>...</map-entries> |

     <list-entries>...</list-entries>

  ]

</managed-bean>

The managed bean name, the fully qualified class name, and the scope are declared by three mandatory elements: <managed-bean-name>, <managed-bean-class>, and <managed-bean-scope>.

Values for the bean's properties can be declared with <managed-property> elements, with a nested <property-name> element containing the name of the property, an optional <property-class> element declaring the property data type, and one element of type <null-value>, <value>, <map-entries>, or <list-entries> for the property value. The <null-value> element sets the property to null and the <value> element sets the property to the element content; either an explicit value or a JSF EL expression:

<managed-bean>

  <managed-bean-name>myBean</managed-bean-name>

  <managed-bean-class>com.mycompany.MyBean</managed-bean-class>

  <managed-bean-scope>session</managed-bean-scope>

  <managed-property>

    <property-name>myProperty</property-name>

    <value>myValue</value>

  </managed-property>

  <managed-property>

    <property-name>myDynamicProperty</property-name>

    <value>#{anotherBean.aProperty}</value>

  </managed-property>

</managed-bean>

A property of type java.util.Map is populated with the <map-entries> element, containing optional elements declaring the data types for the key and the value and one or more <map-entry> elements with nested <key>, <null-value>, and <value> elements. The key and value is converted to the declared key and value data types before the map entry is put in the Map.

Similarly, a property of type java.util.List of Object[] is populated with the <list-entries> element, containing optional elements declaring the data type for the value and one or more <list-entry> elements with nested <null-value> and <value> elements. The value is converted to the declared value data types before the list entry is added to the List or array.

A concrete implementation of the java.util.Map and java.util.List interfaces can also be declared as a managed bean. The <map-entries> or <list-entries> elements can be used to populate the entries of such a bean:

<managed-bean>

  <managed-bean-name>myMap</managed-bean-name>

  <managed-bean-class>java.util.HashMap</managed-bean-class>

  <managed-bean-scope>session</managed-bean-scope>

  <map-entries>

    <value-class>java.lang.Integer</value-class>

    <map-entry>

      <key>Apple</key>

      <value>1</value>

    </map-entry>

    <map-entry>

      <key>Banana</key>

      <value>2</value>

    </map-entry>

  </map-entries>

</managed-bean>