CHtml::inputField() protected?

Can't use CHtml::inputField() in a view since it's protected. Is this intentional?

I can make it into public, but why would you need to use it directly?

Wanted to use it for non-model related input fields, for consistency.

For every model-related input fields, there is already a corresponding non-model input fields. What do you need in particular?

Ah, sorry, need to use textField()… Didn't read the manual close enough.