The Bindings view provides a logical representation of the data available to the portlet in the design canvas. In the Bindings view, you can bind data or methods to the user interface (UI) controls enabling the controls to display data or perform some action. The Bindings view facilitates defining data bindings for data elements. The Bindings view is active when a view in the design canvas or another editor contains a control that needs data. When you select a node in the Bindings view, properties for that node are displayed in the Properties view.

The Bindings view contains several types of managed beans and other assets used by the portlet.

The Bindings view filters data to the portlet page visible in the design canvas. You should leave this filter in place to avoid using data from a different portlet. You need to create binding expressions to data associated with the current portlet.

The Bindings view has automatic user interface generation. If you drag an object from the Bindings view to the design canvas, the canvas is populated with controls appropriate to the object. For some objects, such as Web service connectors, there are multiple sets of controls. You can choose among available input controls. Also in the case of complex objects such as Web connectors, you can choose which elements of the object to include. For a simple example of this, see Wiring Portlets with Preferences.