Problems with Bootstrap datepicker in MVC.NET

Question

So I'm trying to use a datepicker from http://www.eyecon.ro/bootstrap-datepicker/

I'm having the problem to set a default value for this datepicker. It shows me the format "0001-01-01 00:00:00" before I can set a date. What I want to do is to show todays date! I create the DOM as follows, which isn't a problem..

<div>
      @Html.EditorFor(model => model.ValidationValidFrom, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control", @id = "ValidationValidFrom" }})
</div>

This creates the input with the id "ValidationValidFrom". And my jQuery code for the datepicker is as follows:

$("#ValidationValidFrom").datepicker({
        format: 'yyyy-mm-dd',
        defaultDate: new Date()
});

The only thing that works is the attribute format, the defaultDate doesn't work for some reason, I have tried other attributes shown in other threads, but to no avail..

The generated code looks like this:

<input class="form-control text-box single-line" data-val="true" data-val-date="The field ValidationValidFrom must be a date." data-val-required="The ValidationValidFrom field is required." id="ValidationValidFrom" name="ValidationValidFrom" type="datetime" value="0001-01-01 00:00:00">

What value are you setting model.ValidationValidFrom (and please confirm the data type and datatype anotation) in your model in the controller? — fdomn-m
– fdomn-m, Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 8:05
With EditorFor, you don't need to specify ID and it will likely break your binding. — fdomn-m
– fdomn-m, Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 8:06
@freedomn-m tried to remove the ID, but it didn't work either. — Alexein
– Alexein, Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 8:34
Sorry - meant to mark that comment as off-topic. It's not relevant to displaying the data - it will just make it harder when you post to that model - but if you're posting to a different model, it's fine. — fdomn-m
– fdomn-m, Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 8:46
Further to the query above: what does your EditFor render as (with value) before you call the js .datepicker? — fdomn-m
– fdomn-m, Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 8:47

fdomn-m · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-06 09:50:08Z

4

The EditorFor generates an input and sets the value to the value of the model's property.

In this case, the model's property is model.ValidationValidFrom.

Without confirmation, this is most likely a DateTime, ie:

public class MyModel { 
    public DateTime ValidationValidFrom { get; set; }

if a datetime is not given a value, it will be the default value: 0001-01-01.

You can set the value in the controller:

[HttpGet]
public ActionResult MyView() {
    var model = new MyModel();
    model.ValidationValidFrom = DateTime.Today;  // or .Now to include time
    return View(model);

The reason the js defaultDate is not changing it from 0001-01-01 is because the <input> already has a value, so can't be set to a 'default'.

You could change this by changing the property to a DateTime? and leaving it null in the controller. This would generate an input with value="" and then the js should give it a default value.

answered Sep 6, 2016 at 9:50

fdomn-m

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1 Comment

Alexein Over a year ago

Thanks I'll look into this, this looks more logical. You'll hear from me!

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