This is a very common JSF problem. required=true must be specified because JSF will not kick off any validation for empty fields. This means that you are limited to the REQUIRED message unless you do your own custom handling. The approach I've used in the past can be found at: http://www.oracle.com/webapps/online-help/jdeveloper/10.1.3/state/content... Under "Add Field Reference Information to a Message." I've also seen slightly different takes on this approach in a number of blogs. Hope that helps. View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4113628#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...