DataBinder--mark fields as required? always, blank

amy

I'm trying to use SpringBindingActionForm with a Struts-based application to eliminate the need for ActionForm subclasses across my application.  I'm currently using the DataBinder mechanism and the associated PropertyEditor support to register binding errors, etc.  What I don't see is a way to tell the DataBinder that certain fields are required.  That is, when I leave a certain field blank, Spring always tries to convert that value instead of recognizing it as blank.  So instead of quot;lt;propertygt; is a required field.quot;, I always get the typeMismatch message code.

Am I going about this the wrong way?  If not, what is the easiest way to customize this behavior?

Thanks in advance...