Validator expected behaviour

Question

Hi,
I have been using validators to validate my form items and I have a question in the expected behaviour of the Validator object.
Validators have a "required" property and from my knowledge it's only used at two locations:
private function validateRequired(value:Object):ValidationResult
and
    public function validate(
                        value:Object = null,
                        suppressEvents:Boolean = false):ValidationResultEvent
        if (value == null)
            value = getValueFromSource();  
        // if required flag is true and there is no value
        // we need to generate a required field error
        if (isRealValue(value) || required)
            return processValidation(value, suppressEvents);
        else
            // Just return valid
            return new ValidationResultEvent(ValidationResultEvent.VALID);
As we can see, in the validate(...) function, processValidation(...) will be called as long as isRealValue(value) is held true. All isRealValue is
    protected function isRealValue(value:Object):Boolean
        return (value != null);
So if I had a field with text = "" validation still occurs.
This behaviour is still be acceptable but it raises the question whether "required" is needed in the function and what significance does it have?
I am not entirely sure whether this should be a bug. I hoping someone on the Flex SDK team will be able to answer my question.
Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi Frank
I've recorded this following ScreenToaster session to show you the behaviour under Firefox. It's a standard search form dragged straight from the data control window. I haven't modified the columns attr at all, each component column is bound #{bindings.<fieldname>.hints.displayWidth}.
Note when the Find button is pressed the fields change size to set defined width, then after the Execute button is pressed they go back to their dynamic sizes (presumably coming from the binding):
http://www.screentoaster.com/watch/stWUtSQUVLRl1XRlpVXVta
Let me know if you can't access the ScreenToaster video, it's my first try in publlishing a video via it.
Cheers,
CM.