Limit characters returned in H:Outputtext?

[Dan Acuff]

Is there anyway to limit the number of characters returned in an <h:OUTPUTTEXT/> ? The value attribute I mean...

  <h:outputText id="#{prefix}featuresBenefits#{_item.id}"	value="#{_item.featuresBenefitsSubstring}" escape="false" />  

Or will I need to call a method behind to do the work?

If I build a method.. how will this string of code at least look differently?

Will I use an actionlistener?

[Rory Evans]

The API for outputtext makes no mention of a parameter such as 'maxLength'.

I would have a method on a backing bean which in turn gets the string you want displayed and truncates it.

Maybe something like:

<h:outputText id="#{prefix}featuresBenefits#{_item.id}"  value="#{bean.truncateBenefitsString}" escape="false" />

With a method on your backing bean like:

...
   public String truncateBenefitsString() {
        return getFeaturesBenefitsSubstring().substring(0, 10));
...
        

Where 10 is your desired number of characters to display in the outputtext

[Dan Acuff]

Thanks Rory. That gives me a good start.
Getting it to work in a full blown seam environment is another story ...

Do I have to tie it into the interface in any way?

I am getting an error:
value="#{_item.truncateBenefitsString}": Property 'truncateBenefitsString' not found on type com.thissource.webstore.entity.Item

Or do I need to set Setters and Getters?

Thank you from,
Total Java Newb!

[Rory Evans]

Try renaming the truncateBeansString() method to getTruncateBeanString()