Question

I need to persist just one object in session scope of my JSF application. Where do I define a session variable, and how do I get and set it from either a view file or backing bean?

Answer 1

Two general ways:

• Store it in ExternalContext#getSessionMap()

  ExternalContext externalContext = FacesContext.getCurrentInstance().getExternalContext();
  Map<String, Object> sessionMap = externalContext.getSessionMap();
  sessionMap.put("somekey", yourVariable);
  

  And then later:

  SomeObject yourVariable = (SomeObject) sessionMap.get("somekey");
  

• Or, make it a property of a @SessionScoped bean which you inject in your @RequestScoped bean.

  sessionBean.setSomeVariable(yourVariable);
  

  And then later:

  SomeObject yourVariable = sessionBean.getSomeVariable();
  

  You can get a @Named @SessionScoped into a @Named @RequestScoped via @Inject.

  @Inject
  private SessionBean sessionBean;
  

  Or, if you’re not using CDI yet, you can get a @ManagedBean @SessionScoped into a @ManagedBean @RequestScoped via @ManagedProperty.

  @ManagedProperty("#{sessionBean}")
  private SessionBean sessionBean; // +getter+setter