BotDetect JSF CAPTCHA Integration Quickstart

Unlike Recaptcha the Stalker -- BotDetect CAPTCHA works in China! Licensable source-code; self-hosted -- doesn't stalk -- nor does it slurp your form-data! Think: GDPR & LGPD!

1. Add BotDetect Java CAPTCHA Library Dependency

Install BotDetect Java CAPTCHA dependencies

The free version Maven artifacts are available from our public repository; while the enterprise version jars are available in the root folder of the enterprise version's archive.

To reference the BotDetect dependency from our public repository, the repository itself has to be declared first -- add the highlighted lines to your app's pom.xml file:

<repository>
  <id>captcha</id>
  <name>BotDetect Captcha Repository</name>
  <url>https://git.captcha.com/botdetect-java-captcha.git/blob_plain/HEAD:/</url>
</repository>

Then, in the same file, declare the BotDetect dependency, too:

<dependency>
  <groupId>com.captcha</groupId>
  <artifactId>botdetect-jsf20</artifactId>
  <version>4.0.beta3.7</version>
</dependency>

2. Show a CAPTCHA Challenge on the Form

To protect your JSF form use dedicated jsfCaptcha tag.
Adding jsfCaptcha tag to JSF form is pretty straightforward but there are some differences between standard JSF (.jsp) and Facelets (.xhtml) presentation techologies:

  • declare taglib at the begining of the .jsp file:
    • <%@taglib prefix="botDetect" uri="https://captcha.com/java/jsf"%>
  • add attribute prependId="false" to <h:form> opening tag
    this is not mandatory but enables some added functionality to jsfCaptcha tag
  • within the form insert:
    • <h:outputLabel for="captchaCode" 
  value="Retype the characters from the picture:"/>
  
<botDetect:jsfCaptcha id="exampleCaptcha" 
                      userInputID="captchaCode"
                      binding="#{captchaExampleBean.captcha}"/>
                      
<h:inputText id="captchaCode" value="#{captchaExampleBean.captchaCode}"/>

3. Check User Input During Form Submission

In order to perform CAPTCHA validation jsfCaptcha tag must be bound with the corresponding property of the backing bean. This backing bean property should be of the JsfCaptcha type, and include both getter and setter access:

[...]

import com.captcha.botdetect.web.jsf.JsfCaptcha;

@ManagedBean(name="captchaExampleBean")
@RequestScoped
public class ExampleCaptcha {

  private String captchaCode;
  private JsfCaptcha captcha;

  public ExampleCaptcha() {
  }

  public String getCaptchaCode() {
    return captchaCode;
  }

  public void setCaptchaCode(String captchaCode) {
    this.captchaCode = captchaCode;
  }

  public JsfCaptcha getCaptcha() {
    return captcha;
  }

  public void setCaptcha(JsfCaptcha captcha) {
    this.captcha = captcha;
  }

  public void validate() {
    // validate the Captcha to check we're not dealing with a bot
    boolean isHuman = captcha.validate(captchaCode);

    if (isHuman) {
      // TODO: Captcha validation passed, perform protected action
    } else {
      // TODO: Captcha validation failed, show error message
    }

    this.captchaCode = "";
  }
}

4. Configure your Application

Update your application configuration (web.xml) file.

<servlet>
  <servlet-name>BotDetect Captcha</servlet-name>
  <servlet-class>com.captcha.botdetect.web.servlet.CaptchaServlet</servlet-class>
</servlet>
<servlet-mapping>
  <servlet-name>BotDetect Captcha</servlet-name>
  <url-pattern>/botdetectcaptcha</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>

In-Depth JSF CAPTCHA Instructions and Explanations

Detailed JSF Captcha instructions and explanations can be found in the JSF Captcha integration how to guide.


Please Note

BotDetect Java Captcha Library v4.0.Beta3.7 is an in-progress port of BotDetect 4 Captcha, and we need you to guide our efforts towards a polished product. Please let us know if you encounter any bugs, implementation issues, or a usage scenario you would like to discuss.

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BotDetect, BotDetect CAPTCHA, Lanap, Lanap CAPTCHA, Lanap BotDetect, Lanap BotDetect CAPTCHA, Lanapsoft, Lanapsoft CAPTCHA, Lanapsoft BotDetect, Lanapsoft BotDetect CAPTCHA, and Lanap Software are trademarks of Captcha, Inc. All other product, brand, and company names are mentioned for identification purposes only and are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Captcha, Inc. -- formerly: Lanapsoft, Inc. / Lanap, Inc.