Getting Substring using JSF

Question

I am new to JSF , (using JSF and struts application ) .I was wondering how I could do basic functions like string manupilation using the JSF core tages ...
For Example if I have
<h:outputText value="#{gen.Name}" />
and I would like to get not the name but say the substring(0,5) ..how would I do this with JSF ...
Also could you please direct me to a resource where I can learn more about the Core (helpful) functions using JSF

Answer 1

Perhaps you could use a converter.
package com.test.converter;
import javax.faces.component.UIComponent;
import javax.faces.context.FacesContext;
import javax.faces.convert.Converter;
public final class SubstringConverter implements Converter  {
    public SubstringConverter() {
        super();
    public Object getAsObject( FacesContext arg0, UIComponent arg1, String d ) {
        return d;
    public String getAsString( FacesContext arg0, UIComponent arg1, Object arg2) {
        return ((String)arg2).substring(0,5);
The corresponding entry in faces-config.xml
<converter>
    <converter-id>mySubstringConverter</converter-id>
    <converter-class>com.test.converter.SubstringConverterr</converter-class>
</converter>
Now use it!<h:outputText value="#{gen.Name}" converter="mySubstringConverter"/>