I have a whole bunch of VB code in the OnValidate routine for a field.
This code captures data entry errors and displays messages to the
user.   That's fine, but now i realize the user can still attempt to
save the form anyway if they don't change the value (since the
OnValidate is only triggered when a change is made).   At that point
they would get the standard InfoPath error message which indicate a
field has a validation error, which is sure to confuse the users.

I could copy all the validation code into the Submit button routine,
but that's pretty ugly.  i guess i could create a module with the code
and call it from OnValidate and Submit.  Still seems wrong.

There must be a "normal" way of handling this situation (obviously i
don't do this everyday).  Any suggestions?

thanks