ExtJS4: How to show validation error message next to textbox, combobox etc

Question

I need to implement validation messages that appear right next to invalid field. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

The msgTarget: 'elementId' can work, but it seem very limited, particularly when you want multiple instances of one reusable ExtJs component (and therefor multiple instances of the same msgTarget element). For example I have an MDI style editor where you can open multiple editors of one type in a tab interface. It also doesn't seem to work with itemId or recognize DOM/container hierarchy.

I therefor prefer to turn off the default handling if I don't want exactly one of the built in message display options by setting msgTarget: none and then performing my own message display by handling the fielderrorchange event which is designed for exactly this scenario. In this case I can now respect hierarchy of my forms even with multiple instances of the same editor form as I can select the error display element relative to the editor.

Here's how I do it:

{
    xtype: 'fieldcontainer',
    fieldLabel: 'My Field Label',
    layout: 'hbox',   // this will be container with 2 elements: the editor & the error
    items: [{
        xtype: 'numberfield',
        itemId: 'myDataFieldName',
        name: 'myDataFieldName',
        width: 150,
        msgTarget: 'none',  // don't use the default built in error message display
        validator: function (value) {
            return 'This is my custom validation message. All real validation logic removed for example clarity.';
        }
    }, {
        xtype: 'label',
        itemId: 'errorBox', // This ID lets me find the display element relative to the editor above
        cls: 'errorBox'     // This class lets me customize the appearance of the error element in CSS
    }],
    listeners: {
        'fielderrorchange': function (container, field, error, eOpts) {
            var errUI = container.down('#errorBox');
            if (error) {
                // show error element, don't esape any HTML formatting provided
                errUI.setText(error, false);
                errUI.show();
            } else {
                // hide error element
                errUI.hide();
            }
        }
    }
}