I am trying to call validateLength in JSF (xhtml file of seam)

```
<f:validateLength minimum="2" maximum="512"/>

```

It works for values such as text length 513 and 1 (i.e. it shows a warning, but not for 0)

The input text filed for which it is being used is set to required=false (so that it can use a4j support for empty fields, I have to show a preview based on the input)

The problem that I see is that there a validator method in a helper class but it gets ignored when the length of input is 0 (ie I put nothing , it works for non-empty values). 

I also have a NullableStringConverter here but what I have noticed that as soon as that converter sets the value of null of empty string, the validator gets skipped. Here is the complete snippet of in the inputText

```
<h:inputText id="linkNameInput" 
    value="#{someHelper.name}"
    validator="#{someHelper.validateMethod}"
    required="false">
      <f:validateLength minimum="2" maximum="512"/>
      <f:converter  converterId="NullableStringConverter" />
</h:inputText>

```

I would just like the ability to validate an empty string in a validator.