The framework adds support for client-side validation on top of the standard validation framework.

Client-side validation can be enabled on a per-form basis by specifying validate="true" in the form tag.

<saf:form name="test" action="javascriptValidation" validate="true">
  ...
</saf:form>

If a name for the form is not given, the action mapping name will be used as the form name. Otherwise, a correct action and namespace attributes must be provided to the <saf:form> tag.

<saf:form namespace="/user" action="submitProfile" validate="true">
  ...
</saf:form>

Technically, the form's action attribute can refer to a "path" that includes the namespace and action as a URI. But, client-side validation requires that the action name and namespeact to be set separately.

<saf:form action="/user/submitProfile.action" validate="true">
  ...
</saf:form>

All the usual validation configuration steps apply to client-side validation. Client-side validation uses the same validation rules as server-side validation. If server-side validation doesn't work, then client-side validation won't work either.

The left hand doesn't know ... The required attribute on many Struts Tags is not integrated with client-side validation! The tag attribute is used by certain themes (like xhtml) to put a visual marker (usually '*') next to the field. The tag doesn't know if the validation system actually "requires" the field or not.

Client Side Validation Types

There are two styles of client side validation.