htmlfill, errors and examples

Hi guys,

I use formencode to validate my forms, I do the form presentation by
hand (I don't use any form generator), in my page I insert some tags
to be replaced by the error message (<form:error name="field">).

I had an idea, I want to be able to replace the tag by an example when
there is not error (the first time the form is loaded). Look:

    # the raw code
    Date: <input type="text" name="date"> <form:error name="date">

    # the first time the form is loaded
    Date: _____________ (ex: 2006/09/20)

    # if there was an error
    Date: 2006/02/31 the data is not valid

Is this a good idea? The validator class could have an attribute
called exampleMessage, It could have an attribute called showExample
too, that defaults to False, then I keep backward compatibility:

    class DateValidator(FancyValidator):
        showExample = False
        def exampleMessage(self):
            return datetime.datetime.now().strftime('%Y/%m/%d')

    DateValidator(showExample=True).to_python('date')

Then htmlfill should check the need to show the example, and should
replace the error-wildcard by the example...

Before I get on the code I want to know opinions and suggestions, what
do you think about my idea?

Thanks for help!

-- 
Michel Thadeu Sabchuk
Curitiba - Brasil

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