Form input fields +form_validation required but not equal to default???

[eluser]123wesweat[/eluser]
Is this the way to do it for each input field?????

Code:

$fname = isset($_REQUEST['fname']) ? $_REQUEST['fname'] : 'fname';
$data = array(
              'name'        => 'fname',
              'id'          => 'fname',
              'value'       => $fname
            );

echo form_label('fname').form_input($data);