DateInput2
DateInput2 is a box for a java.util.Date, with a calendar to pick from and a
button that fills in today.
DateInput2 released = new DateInput2(); // a date
DateInput2 ordered = new DateInput2(true); // a date and a time
FormBuilder fb = new FormBuilder(cp);
fb.label("Released").control(released);
fb.label("Ordered at").control(ordered);
It is a Text2
DateInput2 extends Text2<Date>, so everything on the
Text2 page applies: setMandatory(), addValidator(),
setReadOnly(), setDisabledBecause(), getValue() reporting on the control
and throwing, hasError(), the change handler.
The two buttons are the ordinary Text2 add-on buttons: a calendar button whose
click is handled in the browser, and a today button that sets the value on the
server, marks the control modified and calls the change handler. Both are
hidden when the control is read only and greyed out when it is disabled.
Date, or date and time
| Method | What it does |
|---|---|
new DateInput2() |
a date only |
new DateInput2(true) |
a date and a time |
setWithTime(boolean) |
the same afterwards; it swaps the converter and resizes the box |
setWithSeconds(boolean) |
seconds as well as hours and minutes |
setHideTodayButton(boolean) |
leave the today button off |
setWithTime() does three things at once: it chooses DateTimeConverter
instead of DateConverter, sets the maximum input length (10 characters for a
date, 16 with a time, 19 with seconds) and sizes the box to match. Call it
before adding a validator that depends on the converter.
The value is always a java.util.Date. A date-only control still hands back a
Date - one whose time part is midnight.
The format follows the locale
What may be typed depends on the locale of the request, because the
conversion does. DateConverter has three branches: Dutch, English, and
everything else.
| Locale | Format | How it is read |
|---|---|---|
nl |
dd-MM-yyyy |
leniently: the short forms below are all accepted |
en |
yyyy-MM-dd |
strictly - anything else is Invalid date |
| anything else | the JDK's SHORT format for that locale | strictly |
In a Dutch locale 13/3/2012, 13-3-13, 13/3 (this year) and 13032012 all
arrive as the same date - /, . and - are interchangeable, a two-digit year
is 19yy above 29 and 20yy otherwise, and a missing year is the current one. The
browser rewrites what was typed into the full format as soon as the field is
left, and it does that in the order of the locale's own pattern: the same short
forms in an English locale are 2012-3-13, 2012-3 and 20120313, all
rewritten to 2012-03-13. The control tells the browser which pattern to use by
rendering the server's own date pattern on its input, so what the field ends up
holding is always what the server is about to parse.
Input the browser cannot make a date of at all opens a browser alert saying Invalid date, rather than reporting the error the way every other control does.
Where the locale of a request comes from, and how to change it, is described under metadata and internationalization.
Making one from a property
DateInput2 di = DateInput2.createDateInput(Invoice.class, "invoiceDate", true);
createDateInput(clz, property, editable) and its PropertyMetaModel variants
build a control configured from the property: the time part is switched on when
the property's temporal presentation is DATETIME, and the property's
validators are added.
A form builder does the same by itself - ControlCreatorDate claims every
java.util.Date property - so fb.property(invoice, Invoice_.invoiceDate())
already yields a DateInput2.