I've built a PageBlockTable that allows users to enter multiple records at one time. The table itself is working fine, I can iterate through and grab the values I need without issue. I'm trying to add some dynamic error messaging to the table to let users know which fields/cells need their attention. I'm using outputText for the error messaging, and my hope is to have a dynamic style for each one, and just toggle "display:inline" and "display:none" from the Apex Controller.

However, I can't seem to access a paricular pair of outputText fields. My code ends up turning them on or off for an entire column. Any ideas? Thanks!

Visualforce page:

<apex:form id="theForm">
    
    <apex:sectionHeader title="New Lab Project Hours" subtitle="Lab Project Hour Edit"/>
        
    <apex:pageBlock title="Lab Project Hour Quick Entry" mode="edit">
    <apex:pageMessages id="error" />
        <apex:pageblockButtons >
            <apex:commandButton value="Save" style="padding-left:6px;padding-right:6px" action="{!save}" rerender="error,theForm" />
            <apex:commandButton value="Cancel" style="padding-left:6px;padding-right:6px" action="{!cancel}" rerender="error" />
        </apex:pageblockButtons>
        
        <apex:pageblockSection title="Record Information" columns="2">
            <apex:inputField value="{!Lab_Project_Hours__c.Lab_Project_Name__c}" id="LabProjectName"/>
            <apex:inputField value="{!Lab_Project_Hours__c.Lab_Overflow_Resource__c}" id="LabOverflowResource"/>
            <apex:inputField value="{!Lab_Project_Hours__c.Employee_Name__c}" id="EmployeeName"/>
            <apex:inputField value="{!Lab_Project_Hours__c.Hourly_Utilization_Rate__c}" id="HourlyUtilizationRate"/>
        </apex:pageblockSection>
        
        <apex:pageBlockSection columns="1" title="Hours Worked">
        
            <apex:pageBlockTable HeaderClass="centerHeader" style="width:600px;margin-left:15%" value="{!lphs}" var="a" id="hourTable">
                <apex:column headerValue="Date Worked" styleClass="columnStyle" style="width:35%">
                    <apex:inputField value="{!a.TimeDate__c}" styleClass="{!dateFieldError}" /> <br />
                    <apex:outputText value="Error:" styleClass="errorTextBold" style="{!dateError}" />
                    <apex:outputText value=" Invalid number" styleClass="errorTextBold" style="{!dateError}" />
                </apex:column> 
                
                <apex:column headerValue="Type of Hours" styleClass="columnStyle" style="width:25%">
                    <apex:inputField value="{!a.Type_of_Hours__c}" styleClass="{!typeFieldError}" /> <br />               
                    <apex:outputText value="Error:" styleClass="errorTextBold" style="{!typeError}" />
                    <apex:outputText value=" Invalid number" styleClass="errorText" style="{!typeError}" />
                </apex:column>                
                
                <apex:column headerValue="Number of Hours Worked" styleClass="columnStyle" style="width:40%">
                    <apex:inputField value="{!a.Number_of_Hours_Worked__c}" styleClass="{!numFieldError}" /> <br />                    
                    <apex:outputText value="Error:" styleClass="errorTextBold" style="{!numError}" />
                    <apex:outputText value=" Invalid number" styleClass="errorText" style="{!numError}" />
                </apex:column>
            </apex:pageBlockTable>
        </apex:pageBlockSection>
            
        <div style="text-align:center;width:600px;margin-left:15%;font-weight:bold">
            <apex:commandLink value="Add Row" action="{!addRow}" rerender="hourTable,error" immediate="true" /> 
                &nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp;
            <apex:commandLink value="Remove Row" action="{!removeRow}" rerender="hourTable,error" immediate="true" />
        </div>
            
    </apex:pageBlock>
    </apex:form>

Apex Controller (the relevant piece)

public class ControllerSetLabProjectHourEmployeeName{

  private final Lab_Project_Hours__c objLabProject;
  public List<Lab_Project_Hours__c> lphs {get; set;}
  public String returnURL {get; set;}
  
  public String dateError {get; set;}
  public String typeError {get; set;}
  public String numError {get; set;}
  public String dateFieldError {get; set;}
  public String typeFieldError {get; set;}
  public String numFieldError {get; set;}

  // Constructor method
  public ControllerSetLabProjectHourEmployeeName(ApexPages.StandardController stdController){    
    this.objLabProject = (Lab_Project_Hours__c) stdController.getRecord();
    
    dateError = 'display:none;';
    typeError = 'display:none;';
    numError = 'display:none;';
    dateFieldError = '';
    typeFieldError = '';
    numFieldError = '';
         
    lphs = new List<Lab_Project_Hours__c>();
    for(Integer i=0; i<5; i++)
       lphs.add(New Lab_Project_Hours__c());
       
    try{
       User currentUser = [Select Id, Employee_Page__c From User Where Id = : UserInfo.getUserId() Limit 1];
       if(currentUser.Employee_Page__c != null){
         List<Employee__c> listEmployee = [Select Id, Name From Employee__c where Id = : currentUser.Employee_Page__c Limit 1];
         if(listEmployee.size() > 0){
            objLabProject.Employee_Name__c = listEmployee.get(0).Id;
         }  
       } 
     }
     catch(Exception ex){
       ApexPages.addMessage(new ApexPages.Message(ApexPages.Severity.FATAL,'Something unexpected happened, please contact an Administrator.'));
     }  
               
     Map<String, String> parentURL = ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters();
     returnURL = parentURL.get('retURL'); 
  }
  
  public void save(){
    Integer numOfRows = lphs.size();
    Integer count=0, totalCount=0, i=0, dateBlank=0, typeBlank=0, numBlank=0;
    String incompleteRows = '';
    
    //Make sure that the entire table isn't blank, and report an error if it is
    for(i=0; i<numOfRows; i++)
      if(lphs[i].TimeDate__c == null && lphs[i].Type_of_Hours__c == null && lphs[i].Number_of_Hours_Worked__c == null)
        count++;
    if(count == numOfRows)
      ApexPages.addMessage(new ApexPages.Message(ApexPages.Severity.ERROR,'You must fill out at least one row to submit hours.'));
    
    count=0;
    totalCount=0;
    
    for(i=0; i<numOfRows; i++) {
      if(lphs[i].TimeDate__c == null){
        count++; dateBlank=1;}
      if(lphs[i].Type_of_Hours__c == null){
        count++; typeBlank=1;}
      if(lphs[i].Number_of_Hours_Worked__c == null){
        count++; numBlank=1;}
            
      totalCount = totalCount + count;
      if(count > 0 && count <3){
        incompleteRows = incompleteRows + (i+1) + ' ';
        
        if(dateBlank == 1){
          dateError = 'display:inline;';
          dateFieldError = 'errorField';
        }
        if(typeBlank == 1){
          typeError = 'display:inline;';
          typeFieldError = 'errorField';
        } 
        if(numBlank == 1){
          numError = 'display:inline;';
          numFieldError = 'errorField';
        } 
      }
         
      count=0;
      dateBlank=0;
      typeBlank=0;
      numBlank=0;
    }
      
    if(totalCount == numOfRows)
      ApexPages.addMessage(new ApexPages.Message(ApexPages.Severity.ERROR,'You must fill out at least one row to submit hours.'));

    if(incompleteRows.length() > 0)
      ApexPages.AddMessage(new ApexPages.Message(ApexPages.Severity.ERROR,'The following rows are incomplete and need to be fixed: ' + incompleteRows));
    
   // PageReference pageRef = new PageReference(returnURL);
   // return pageRef;
  }
}