Constants in EL 3.0 - Function 'T' not found

Question

I believe the syntax for constants in EL 3.0 is #{T(java.lang.Integer).MIN_VALUE} but then glassfish throws a javax.el.ELException: Function 'T' not found. Here's the full stack trace:

javax.el.ELException: Function 'T' not found
    at com.sun.el.parser.AstFunction.getValue(AstFunction.java:186)
    at com.sun.el.parser.AstValue.getBase(AstValue.java:151)
    at com.sun.el.parser.AstValue.getValue(AstValue.java:200)
    at com.sun.el.ValueExpressionImpl.getValue(ValueExpressionImpl.java:226)
    at org.jboss.weld.el.WeldValueExpression.getValue(WeldValueExpression.java:50)
    at com.sun.faces.facelets.el.TagValueExpression.getValue(TagValueExpression.java:109)
    at javax.faces.component.ComponentStateHelper.eval(ComponentStateHelper.java:194)
    at javax.faces.component.html.HtmlInputText.getSize(HtmlInputText.java:600)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:601)
    at javax.faces.component.UIComponentBase$AttributesMap.get(UIComponentBase.java:2389)
    at org.primefaces.renderkit.CoreRenderer.renderPassThruAttributes(CoreRenderer.java:111)
    at org.primefaces.component.inputtext.InputTextRenderer.encodeMarkup(InputTextRenderer.java:82)
    at org.primefaces.component.inputtext.InputTextRenderer.encodeEnd(InputTextRenderer.java:51)
    at javax.faces.component.UIComponentBase.encodeEnd(UIComponentBase.java:924)
    at org.primefaces.renderkit.CoreRenderer.renderChild(CoreRenderer.java:63)
    at org.primefaces.renderkit.CoreRenderer.renderChildren(CoreRenderer.java:47)
    at org.primefaces.component.fieldset.FieldsetRenderer.encodeContent(FieldsetRenderer.java:90)
    at org.primefaces.component.fieldset.FieldsetRenderer.encodeMarkup(FieldsetRenderer.java:72)
    at org.primefaces.component.fieldset.FieldsetRenderer.encodeEnd(FieldsetRenderer.java:46)
    at javax.faces.component.UIComponentBase.encodeEnd(UIComponentBase.java:924)
    at javax.faces.component.UIComponent.encodeAll(UIComponent.java:1863)
    at javax.faces.render.Renderer.encodeChildren(Renderer.java:176)
    at javax.faces.component.UIComponentBase.encodeChildren(UIComponentBase.java:894)
    at javax.faces.component.UIComponent.encodeAll(UIComponent.java:1856)
    at javax.faces.component.UIComponent.encodeAll(UIComponent.java:1859)
    at javax.faces.component.UIComponent.encodeAll(UIComponent.java:1859)
    at com.sun.faces.application.view.FaceletViewHandlingStrategy.renderView(FaceletViewHandlingStrategy.java:443)
    at com.sun.faces.application.view.MultiViewHandler.renderView(MultiViewHandler.java:131)
    at javax.faces.application.ViewHandlerWrapper.renderView(ViewHandlerWrapper.java:337)
    at javax.faces.application.ViewHandlerWrapper.renderView(ViewHandlerWrapper.java:337)
    at com.sun.faces.lifecycle.RenderResponsePhase.execute(RenderResponsePhase.java:120)
    at com.sun.faces.lifecycle.Phase.doPhase(Phase.java:101)
    at com.sun.faces.lifecycle.LifecycleImpl.render(LifecycleImpl.java:219)
    at javax.faces.webapp.FacesServlet.service(FacesServlet.java:647)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapper.service(StandardWrapper.java:1682)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:318)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:160)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.doInvoke(StandardPipeline.java:734)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.invoke(StandardPipeline.java:673)
    at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebPipeline.invoke(WebPipeline.java:99)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:174)
    at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.doService(CoyoteAdapter.java:357)
    at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:260)
    at com.sun.enterprise.v3.services.impl.ContainerMapper.service(ContainerMapper.java:188)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.http.server.HttpHandler.runService(HttpHandler.java:191)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.http.server.HttpHandler.doHandle(HttpHandler.java:168)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.http.server.HttpServerFilter.handleRead(HttpServerFilter.java:189)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.filterchain.ExecutorResolver$9.execute(ExecutorResolver.java:119)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.filterchain.DefaultFilterChain.executeFilter(DefaultFilterChain.java:288)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.filterchain.DefaultFilterChain.executeChainPart(DefaultFilterChain.java:206)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.filterchain.DefaultFilterChain.execute(DefaultFilterChain.java:136)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.filterchain.DefaultFilterChain.process(DefaultFilterChain.java:114)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.ProcessorExecutor.execute(ProcessorExecutor.java:77)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.nio.transport.TCPNIOTransport.fireIOEvent(TCPNIOTransport.java:838)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.strategies.AbstractIOStrategy.fireIOEvent(AbstractIOStrategy.java:113)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.strategies.WorkerThreadIOStrategy.run0(WorkerThreadIOStrategy.java:115)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.strategies.WorkerThreadIOStrategy.access$100(WorkerThreadIOStrategy.java:55)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.strategies.WorkerThreadIOStrategy$WorkerThreadRunnable.run(WorkerThreadIOStrategy.java:135)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.threadpool.AbstractThreadPool$Worker.doWork(AbstractThreadPool.java:564)
    at org.glassfish.grizzly.threadpool.AbstractThreadPool$Worker.run(AbstractThreadPool.java:544)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:722)

Answer 1

The #{T(java.lang.Integer).MIN_VALUE} syntax was indeed mentioned as such in both EL 3.0 early draft review and EL 3.0 proposal homepage. However, in EL 3.0 final release, it was at the last moment removed and replaced by a simpler #{Integer.MIN_VALUE} syntax.

However, the new syntax has in turn a bug in GlassFish4: it was implemented by the new standalone EL processor API, but not by the JSP API. This is already reported as issue 20778 and fixed just half a hour ago. In other words: you need to upgrade GlassFish4.

Answer 2

In this case T stands for "type." In your actual code, you'd refer to the EL name of the class to which you are referring. So, for example, for the following backing bean class:

@Named
public class MyBackingBean {
  public static final Integer MIN_VALUE = new Integer(10);
...
}

In the EL, you'd refer to it as:

#{myBackingBean.MIN_VALUE}

Although I personally wouldn't use Integer here for a constant, when an int would work.