Tutorial: Date Picker
Form Preview

What You'll Build

Forms with date picker fields for selecting dates. Date pickers provide a calendar interface for users to easily select dates, with support for date constraints, validation, and dynamic rules.

What You'll Learn

  • Adding basic date picker fields
  • Making dates required with validation
  • Setting minimum and maximum date constraints
  • Creating dynamic date constraints (e.g., check-out after check-in)
  • Using computed values for automatic date calculation
  • Building a complete event booking form
⚡

Interactive Learning

Every code snippet below is fully editable! Feel free to modify the code, experiment with different values, and see your changes reflected instantly in the live preview on the right.

Use the play button to run different snippet, or the refresh button to restore the original example.

Tutorial Steps

Step 1: Starting Point

Let's start with an empty form function. This is where we'll build our date-based form step by step.

Step 2: Basic Date Picker

Let's add a simple date picker for selecting a birth date. The browser provides a native calendar interface for easy date selection.

💡 Tip:
Use addDatepicker() to add a date field. The value is stored as an ISO date string in YYYY-MM-DD format (e.g., "2024-01-15").

Step 3: Required Date Field

Make a date field required to ensure users select a date before submitting the form.

💡 Tip:
Add isRequired: true to make the date mandatory. The form won't submit until a valid date is selected.

Step 4: Date Constraints

Limit the selectable dates using minDate and maxDate. This is useful for preventing past dates or limiting the booking window.

💡 Tip:
Use new Date().toISOString() directly - the control accepts both full ISO strings and YYYY-MM-DD format. Set to null to remove the constraint.

Step 5: Dynamic Date Constraints

Create dependencies between date fields. In this example, the check-out date must always be after the check-in date.

💡 Tip:
Use a function for minDate to create dynamic constraints. The function runs reactively when referenced values change, automatically updating the constraint.

Step 6: Computed Date Values

Use computedValue to automatically calculate dates based on other form fields. This is useful for delivery estimates, due dates, or any calculated date.

💡 Tip:
The computedValue function runs reactively - when referenced fields change, the date updates automatically. Combine with isReadOnly: true for display-only computed dates.

Step 7: Complete Event Booking Form

Let's build a complete event booking form that combines date pickers with other fields and displays a formatted summary.

💡 Tip:
Access date values with form.datepicker('id')?.value(). You can parse and format dates using JavaScript's Date object and toLocaleDateString().

Try It Yourself

  • Challenge 1: Create a date picker that only allows weekdays (hint: use JavaScript's getDay())
  • Challenge 2: Add a "duration" display that shows how many days between two dates
  • Challenge 3: Create a birthday field that calculates and displays the person's age

Next Steps

Great job! You've learned how to work with date pickers and create date-based forms. Ready to add time selection?

Continue to Time Picker Tutorial

Other learning paths: