[JSF 2] File upload. Is this feature handled already?

Question

Hello,
I need to allow a user to upload many files through the same form.
This is what I would have done with Struts with this HTML code:
<input type="file" name="file1" size="62" value="" />
<input type="file" name="file2" size="62" value="" />
<input type="file" name="file3" size="62" value="" />and the use of the org.apache.struts.upload.+FormFile+.
However, I see no direct access to this feature through the JSF 2.0.
no special <h:> tag.
Reading old JSF code on the web, Tomahawk or Icefaces were used for this task.
But today, Tomahawk doesn't support JSF 2, and Icefaces has an 2.0 Alpha 2 version that offers many features except File Upload that is still not working (for their update of the month of January: no updates since?).
More than that, I was trapped few days ago by a strange behavior of JSF 2.0.
Setting a "+multipart/form-data+" enctype to my form made JSF 2.0 loop on form validation, without ever submitting it.
I am sure I didn't dreamed when it happened to me. And removing that enctype made the <h:form> returning to its default "+application/x-www-form-urlencoded+" enctype generation, and everything went fine then.
But I know that attempting to upload files form a web page involve setting a "+multipart/form-data+" enctype on it... I feel doomed.
All these questions make me return to you all, again. I wonder if you have succeed in using file upload with JSF 2.0 already.
What mean do you use for that? Any component already exist that is compliant with JSF 2.0?
Thanks for your help,
Grunt.

Answer 1

Are you aware that multi-part forms are not supported by Servlet implementations out of the box? You need to add a filter or manually invoked multi-part processing to support file uploads in any Servlet based solution.You're right. Until JSF 2 takes benefits from Servlet 3.0 who offers a getPart() function, a filter looks mandatory.
Therefore, I tried the most advanced "faces" available for file upload: Primefaces 2.0.2, who provides a filter. However, it's not enough. The whole Primefaces solution for file uploading works chaotically. For me, it handles the multipart request well, but isn't able to join the listener the uploadFile tag defines, at submission time. I won't enter into details because this is not the good forum to discuss of that specific trouble of Primefaces. I did post my problem on Primefaces forum, and learned that this feature isn't working well yet.
Icefaces doesn't offer the file uploading currently. Even its compatilibilty mode to version 1.8 is told (by the release note) not being able to handle file uploading yet.
Richfaces just began its version 4.0.0 and is far from offering file uploading.
If creating a working file upload was something possible yet, I can say for sure that any of these "faces" would had offered a working feature the sooner they could. But rather than that, I am reading ideas about some Mojarra 2 low level bugs that would disallow this feature to be implemented at the moment.
It can't be only a story of a filter to write. That filter would have been written already hundred of times, else. A complete working solution would be shown everywhere.
Currently, to summarize all, whatever a theorical reason is given, or a practical one (RFE missing, no time to write it, not a critical feature, or even unwished feature, depending of everyone thoughts in the previous replies to this post), file uploading is not available for JSF 2.0 by any existing way. No tier API or Faces is able to provide it, as it could be easily proven by the fact... that no samples are currently existing, working.
Myself, but I might be alone believing it, I consider this missing feature like a JSF 2 flaw.
I guess its a mojarra internal bug that disallows developers to provide a solution yet. This is not abnormal: JSF 2.0 has six months only, and can't work perfectly yet.
But the more the correction of that feature will be delayed, and the more the developers will be in trouble, as nothing else is able to work in compatibility with JSF 2.0 (no existing working sample, I need to repeat it). And worst than that, this kind of flaw is one of those that in enterprise, at decision time, can makes JSF 2 discarded for another framework, less smart, but doing everything expected. It would be a shame, then.
So, I think this problem should not be taken disdainfully. It's not a matter of "+You should only put a filter here+", "+It's not our work+", "+Please write our specs+", "+Wait, only wait, it will come for sure one day...+". Its more significant than that. It requires your study. The one of competent people like you are, and having goodwill. Because I understand that this is a problem that has been thrown away since a long time! But it is returning back to us like a boomerang at great speed.
Among the features that JSF 2 offers and the ones that are currently under development, they are many, many of them, that will look secondary if at the end of all, file uploading isn't available.
Regards,
Grunt.