Date only from TextBoxFor()

🗒️ A Guide to Displaying Only the Date from TextBoxFor() Using ASP.NET MVC

Are you struggling to display only the date part of a DateTime in a TextBoxFor() using ASP.NET MVC? Don't worry, you're not alone! Many developers face this challenge when working with date fields in their models. But fear not, I'm here to guide you through this issue and provide you with easy solutions.

💡 The Problem

Let's start by understanding the problem. You have a model based on Linq2SQL, where one of the fields is a DateTime in both SQL and the Entity model. You want to display only the date part of this DateTime in a TextBoxFor(), but so far, your attempts have failed.

⚙️ Failed Solutions

You've already tried a couple of approaches, but unfortunately, they didn't work out. Let's review them and understand why they failed:

Solution 1: Using String.Format()

<%= Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.dtArrivalDate, String.Format("{0:dd/MM/yyyy}", Model.dtArrivalDate)) %>

In this solution, you attempted to use String.Format() to format the date as "dd/MM/yyyy". However, it seems that this trick is deprecated, and any string value in the htmlAttributes parameter is ignored.

Solution 2: Using [DisplayFormat] Attribute

[DisplayFormat(DataFormatString = "{0:dd/MM/yyyy}")]
public string dtArrivalDate { get; set; }

In this solution, you applied the [DisplayFormat] attribute to the dtArrivalDate property, specifying the desired date format. However, this approach still didn't give you the expected result.

🛠️ Easy Solutions

Now, let's explore some easy solutions to achieve the desired output: displaying only the date part of the DateTime field in a TextBoxFor().

Solution 1: Use an Additional Property

One simple solution is to create an additional property in your model that only retrieves the date part of the DateTime field. You can then bind this new property to the TextBoxFor().

public DateTime dtArrivalDate { get; set; }

public string DisplayArrivalDate => dtArrivalDate.Date.ToString("dd/MM/yyyy");

In this solution, we created a new property called DisplayArrivalDate, which retrieves the date part of dtArrivalDate and formats it accordingly. Now, you can bind this property to the TextBoxFor() and achieve the desired result.

<%= Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.DisplayArrivalDate) %>

Solution 2: Use a Custom EditorTemplate

Another approach is to create a custom EditorTemplate for the DateTime field, where you can specify the display format.

Create a new partial view in the "EditorTemplates" folder inside the Shared folder, let's name it "Date.cshtml":

@model DateTime

@Html.TextBox("", Model.Date.ToString("dd/MM/yyyy"), new { @class = "form-control" })

Now, in your view, use the following code to render the TextBoxFor() and specify the EditorTemplate for dtArrivalDate:

<%= Html.EditorFor(model => model.dtArrivalDate, "Date") %>

With this approach, you have more control over the rendering of the DateTime field and can easily customize it according to your requirements.

📣 Take Action!

Now that you have learned about these solutions, it's time to put them into practice. Choose the one that suits your project best and start displaying only the date part of a DateTime field in TextBoxFor() with ease.

If you still have questions or need further assistance, feel free to leave a comment below. I'm here to help you!

#️⃣ Share Your Success

Once you implement one of the solutions and achieve the desired result, don't forget to come back and share your success story with us. Your experience and insights can help other developers facing similar challenges.

Happy coding! 😉🎉