Question

How can I choose where the error message from the validator required appear?
The error message is now displayed at the bottom of my page but I want it next to my inputbox.

<p>Firstname: <h:inputText value="#{userBean.firstname}" required="true"/></p>
<p>Lastname: <h:inputText value="#{userBean.lastname}" required="true"/></p>

Answer 1

Those appearing at the bottom are actually unhandled messages which will only appear when the javax.faces.PROJECT_STAGE is been set to Development in web.xml.

You need a <h:message> to declare the location where the message should be shown. Further, you also need a <h:outputLabel> to represent the labels (which has semantic and usability advantages).

Here’s the complete set:

<p>
    <h:outputLabel for="firstname" value="Firstname:"/>
    <h:inputText id="firstname" label="Firstname" value="#{userBean.firstname}" required="true"/>
    <h:message for="firstname" />
</p>
<p>
    <h:outputLabel for="lastname" value="Lastname:"/>
    <h:inputText id="lastname" label="Lastname" value="#{userBean.lastname}" required="true"/>
    <h:message for="lastname" />
</p>