RenderKitId and ViewHandler in JSF1.2

Question

I've been reading the JSF 1.2 spec, and I am a bit confused about how the ViewHandler interacts with the view's renderKitId.
From the JSF 1.2 Final Draft (May 2006), Section 9.4.20 (f:view) indicates that the renderKitId attribute is set in this order:
1) user supplied value
2) Application.getDefaultRenderKitId if not null
3) RenderKitFactory.HTML_BASIC_RENDER_KIT
Section 7.5.1 (View Handler) indicates that the ViewHandler .createView calls .calculateRenderKitId "to find out which renderKitId should be used for rendering the view."
Section 2.4.2.2 (Configure the Desired RenderKit) indicates "the default ViewHandler must call calculateRenderKitId() on itself and set the result into the UIViewRoot's renderKitId property."
Does this mean that it is the responsibility of the default ViewHandler .calculateRenderKitId method to follow the steps described in section 9.4.20 for determining the renderKitId to put on the UIViewRoot?
I'm trying to figure this out because I want to know how a custom ViewHandler should act.
I created a ViewHandler implementation for JSF 1.1_01 which delegated everything except .calculateRenderKitId. In .calculateRenderKitId, I determine the type of device that is connecting. If it is a "telnet device" (actually a server sitting between the telnet emulator and the application), I return the renderKitId for a telnet RenderKit. Otherwise, I would delegate (which, in the default case, the default-render-kit-id in faces.config.xml would be used).
I'm trying to figure out how similar functionality would work with JSF 1.2. Ideally, a user-supplied value for the f:view renderKitId should be used if present. Only if it is not present should I check for the telnet device, and, if not, then delegate.
But if my understanding of the JSF 1.2 spec is correct, I would be "interjecting" myself in the middle of the standard processing.

Answer 1

Some people have indicated that they have had success making custom component out of existing components by using a delegation strategy for rendering, decodes, etc.
Alternatively you might need to override the state saving and restore methods to overcome your problems with your existing code.
Another possibility is to use a page fragment, if you are using Facelets or another templating library which supports it.