Struts2 Input Validation using Annotations

[Freddy Wong]

I'm new to Struts2. When I use Struts2 validator annotations, does the error message always get displayed next to the invalid field name? I want to display the error message only in the place where I specify the <s:fielderror>. I've tried to specify the fieldName attribute in the annotation, but that doesn't seem to work.

My Action class looks like this.

    
    @RequiredStringValidator(message = "Enter your first name", key = "validation.firstname", 
        trim = true)
    public void setFirstName(String firstName)
    {
        this.firstName = firstName;
    }

    public String getLastName()
    {
        return lastName;
    }

    @RequiredStringValidator(message = "Enter your last name", key = "validation.lastname", 
        trim = true)
    public void setLastName(String lastName)
    {
        this.lastName = lastName;
    }

My JSP file looks like this

    
    <s:form action="displayUser" method="post">
        <s:fielderror name="fieldErrors" />
        
        <s:textfield key="text.firstname" name="firstName" />
        <s:textfield key="text.lastname" name="lastName" />
        
        <s:submit key="text.create" />
    </s:form>

My UI theme is XHTML.

I know I can use perform the validation inside the validate() method and call addFieldError(), but I want to use annotations. Is it possible? Thanks.

[David Newton]

The "xhtml" theme has two options for field error message placement; see the tag documentation for the attribute name. If that doesn't work for you, the easiest thing to do is to create your own theme (I usually just copy the "xhtml" or "css_xhtml" theme and start from there).

Remember: the supplied, default theme is just a starting point for your own application's look-and-feel requirements. While it may work for many people, not every application will be laid out the same way.

The way things are being validated doesn't have anything to do with where the messages are put.