While I have managed to get what I want to do to work, I am not
particularly satisfied with the solution cause I am convinced that
this isn't an elegant way to go about things.  That is, it feels like
a hack.

The simple problem is I have a query form that is re-displayed with
the results of the query.  I would like to retain the values the user
submitted in the form; however, one of the fields, if it is empty, I
want to change the value to a hint string like "type in X here."

On first glance, I thought I could use the adjust_value method on the
form to check if the current value for that field is empty, and, if
so, set "type in X here"; however, this adjustment promptly gets
ignored during page rendering.

The reason why seems to be in the code for InputWidget:

    def adjust_value(self, value, **params):
        if hasattr(request, "input_values") and self.is_validated:
            input_submitted = True
            iv = retrieve_value_by_path(request.input_values,
self.name_path)

This seems to be subverting whatever value assignment I make for the
form to use cherrypy.request.input_values instead.

Now, my workaround is simply to set
cherrypy.request.input_values['field'] = "type in X here" when
adjusting the values.  Is there no other way to force a value
adjustment that will also override user input?

Jeremy