⁠9.10. Workspace management

Workspace management is the ability to 'switch' conversations in a single window. Seam workspace management is completely transparent at the Java level. To enable workspace management:
  • Provide description text for each view ID (when using JSF or Seam navigation rules) or page node. Workspace switchers display this description text.
  • Include one or more workspace switcher JSF or Facelets fragments in your page. Standard fragments support workspace management via a drop-down menu and a list of conversations, or "breadcrumbs".

⁠9.10.1. Workspace management and JSF navigation

Seam uses JSF or Seam navigation rules to switch to a conversation by restoring the current view-id for that conversation. The descriptive text for the workspace is defined in the pages.xml file, which Seam expects to find in the WEB-INF directory alongside faces-config.xml file: 
​<pages> 
​  <page view-id="/main.xhtml"> 
​    <description>Search hotels: #{hotelBooking.searchString}</description> 
​  </page> 
​  <page view-id="/hotel.xhtml"> 
​    <description>View hotel: #{hotel.name}</description> 
​  </page> 
​  <page view-id="/book.xhtml"> 
​    <description>Book hotel: #{hotel.name}</description> 
​  </page> 
​  <page view-id="/confirm.xhtml"> 
​    <description>Confirm: #{booking.description}</description> 
​  </page> 
​</pages>

Note

The Seam application works even if the pages.xml file is not present. However, workplace switching is not available in this case.

⁠9.10.2. The conversation switcher

Include the following fragment in your JSF or Facelets page to include a drop-down menu that allows you to switch to any current conversation, or any other page of the application: 
​<h:selectOneMenu value="#{switcher.conversationIdOrOutcome}"> 
​  <f:selectItem itemLabel="Find Issues" itemValue="findIssue"/> 
​  <f:selectItem itemLabel="Create Issue" itemValue="editIssue"/> 
​  <f:selectItems value="#{switcher.selectItems}"/> 
​</h:selectOneMenu> 
​<h:commandButton action="#{switcher.select}" value="Switch"/>
This example includes a menu that contains an item for each conversation, and two additional items that allow you to begin an additional conversation.
Only conversations with a description (specified in pages.xml file) are included in the drop-down menu.

⁠9.10.3. The conversation list

The conversation list is similar to the conversation switcher, except that it is displayed as a table: 
​<h:dataTable value="#{conversationList}" var="entry" 
​   rendered="#{not empty conversationList}">
​  <h:column>
​    <f:facet name="header">Workspace</f:facet>
​    <h:commandLink action="#{entry.select}" value="#{entry.description}"/>
​    <h:outputText value="[current]" rendered="#{entry.current}"/>
​  </h:column>
​  <h:column>
​    <f:facet name="header">Activity</f:facet>
​    <h:outputText value="#{entry.startDatetime}">
​      <f:convertDateTime type="time" pattern="hh:mm a"/>
​    </h:outputText>
​    <h:outputText value=" - "/>
​    <h:outputText value="#{entry.lastDatetime}">
​      <f:convertDateTime type="time" pattern="hh:mm a"/>
​    </h:outputText>
​  </h:column>
​  <h:column>
​    <f:facet name="header">Action</f:facet>
​    <h:commandButton action="#{entry.select}" value="#{msg.Switch}"/>
​    <h:commandButton action="#{entry.destroy}" value="#{msg.Destroy}"/>
​  </h:column>
​</h:dataTable>
You can customize the conversation list for your applications.
Only conversations with a description are included in the list.
Note that the conversation list also allows you to destroy workspaces.

⁠9.10.4. Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs are a list of links to conversations in the current conversation stack. They are useful for applications with a nested conversation model: 
​<ui:repeat value="#{conversationStack}" var="entry"> 
​  <h:outputText value=" | "/> 
​  <h:commandLink value="#{entry.description}" action="#{entry.select}"/> 
​</ui:repeat>