Proper way to mark initial page load as such?

[Ti...@wellsfargo.com]

At work we have a situation where we have a common
action delegating to some sub-actions.  The delegating
action sets up some parameters, and the child action
ALSO sets up some parameters specific to itself that
are required for the initial page display.

However, there are other things done in the child action --
for example, performing a search, doing 2nd-level input
validation, etc.  The problem is, I don't want these more
complex tasks done on the initial page load.

What would be a "standard" way to avoid this kind of thing?
Should I add a "marker" request parameter to the initial
call to the child action?  Should I use field(s) that *should*
have been checked in the form validation (i.e. set the initial
page validation value to "false", and check for a supposedly-validated
field, and if it's not set, validation was never called, so
it's the initial page load)?  This second method was something
suggested by a co-worker, but I think it's pretty sketchy.

Opinions?

- Tim


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