RequiredAttribute for DateTime if field empty or wrong

Question

The RequiredAttribute works for string but not DateTime. For example:

    [Required]
    [DisplayFormat(ConvertEmptyStringToNull = false)]
    public string Name { get; set; }

    [Required]
    [DataType(DataType.DateTime)]
    [DisplayFormat(ApplyFormatInEditMode = true, DataFormatString = "{0:dd-MMM-yyyy}", ConvertEmptyStringToNull = false)]
    public DateTime Birthdate { get; set; }

If Name is empty the Validation shows error, but if Birthdate is empty then nothing happens. I looked at:

ASP MVC 5 Client Validation for Range of Datetimes

and

MVC Model Range Validator?

but still doesn't work for the DateTime

The [Required] attribute does work for DateTime and if you clear the value in the textbox, then a validation message will be shown assuming your view is correct. — user3559349
– user3559349, Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 23:46

Vadim Ovchinnikov · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-28 08:57:56Z

7

DateTime is a struct, structs are "value type", not "reference type", so their default value are not null, for DateTime it is 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM, int has its default value as 0.

string type is a "reference type", all reference type have their default value as null.

So if you want to check if a value type is null you should create it as Nullable.

Like this:

public DateTime? Birthdate { get; set; }

Or

public Nullable<DateTime> Birthdate { get; set; }

edited Oct 28, 2018 at 8:57

Vadim Ovchinnikov

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answered Mar 9, 2016 at 18:56

Raphael Ribeiro

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Comments

Axel Bouttelgier · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-09 14:20:10Z

5

i think DateTime has a standard value so instead of required you should add a range attribute

[Range(typeof(DateTime), "01/01/1900", "01/01/2100", ErrorMessage="Date is out of Range")]

somthing like this should do the trick

answered Mar 9, 2016 at 14:20

Axel Bouttelgier

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Comments

BCA · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-25 15:33:34Z

4

If you don't want to make DateTime nullable, yet still interpret the default value of 0001-01-01 12:00:00 AM (DateTime.MinValue) as "missing", simply create your own validator:

public class RequiredDateTimeAttribute : ValidationAttribute
{
    public RequiredDateTimeAttribute()
    {
        ErrorMessage = "The {0} field is required";
    }

    public override bool IsValid(object value)
    {
        if (!(value is DateTime))
            throw new ArgumentException("value must be a DateTime object");

        if ((DateTime)value == DateTime.MinValue)
            return false;

        return true;
    }

    public override string FormatErrorMessage(string name)
    {
        return String.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, ErrorMessageString, name);
    }
}

answered Nov 25, 2016 at 15:33

BCA

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1 Comment

John Jang Over a year ago

@NET7 contributor

Martin Staufcik · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-09 14:19:09Z

1

It is because the Birthdate property is not nullable, so it always will have a value, if changed to:

public Nullable<DateTime> Birthdate { get; set; }

then the required attribute will work as expected.

answered Mar 9, 2016 at 14:19

Martin Staufcik

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Comments

Kellen Stuart · Accepted Answer · 2018-11-19 20:08:35Z

1

To expand upon Axel Bouttelgier's answer, the code would look like this:

Server side code

[Display(Name = "Disconnect Service")]
[Range(typeof(DateTime), "01/01/1900", "01/01/2100" )]
public DateTime Disconnect Service { get; set; }

View code

@Html.ValidationSummary()

The validation would look like this:

answered Nov 19, 2018 at 20:08

Kellen Stuart

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Comments

Mostafa Abedi · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-29 09:34:24Z

you can use kendo ui component in EditorTemplates and in Date.cshtml then when default date is DateTime.Now

@using Kendo.Mvc.UI
@model DateTime?
    @if (Model.ToString() == "0001-01-01T00:00:00")
    {
        @Html.Kendo().DatePickerFor(m => m).Format("yyyy/MM/dd").HtmlAttributes(new {style = "width: 20em", type = "text" }).Value(DateTime.Now).Footer("Today -  #=kendo.toString(data, 'dddd  yyyy/MM/dd') #")
    }
    else
    {
        @Html.Kendo().DatePickerFor(m => m).Format("yyyy/MM/dd").HtmlAttributes(new {style = "width: 20em", type = "text"}).Value(Model).Footer("Today-  #=kendo.toString(data, 'dddd  yyyy/MM/dd') #")
    }

and in viewmodel class use

[UIHint("Date")]
public DateTime CreateDate { get; set; }

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