# Date entry without date\_select

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/date-entry-without-date-select/123171>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [December 14, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/date-entry-without-date-select/123171 "2007-12-14T16:47:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ian](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@ian](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ian)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/date-entry-without-date-select/123171/1 "2007-12-14T16:47:51Z")

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I’m trying to display and edit dates without using select boxes (which  
we don’t like from a UI perspective) and without displaying the date  
values in MySQL date format (i.e., YYYY-MM-DD).

My preference would be to have a text input that displays the date in  
MM/DD/YYYY format. And when the data is updated or created, it would  
be saved to the database in the proper MySQL format.

Is this a case where I should build my own solution, probably by  
extending the text\_field function. Or is there a built-in solution  
that I’m missing?

Thanks,

Ian

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**Author:** ![ian](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@ian](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ian)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/date-entry-without-date-select/123171/2 "2007-12-15T17:26:39Z")

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On Dec 14, 2007 4:47 PM, Ian [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:

> I’m trying to display and edit dates without using select boxes (which  
> we don’t like from a UI perspective) and without displaying the date  
> values in MySQL date format (i.e., YYYY-MM-DD).

I seem to remember a railscast dealing with this.

take a look at [#32 Time in Text Field - RailsCasts](http://railscasts.com/episodes/32) and see if it helps.

- Martin (my first post here, hello everybody)

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**Author:** ![ian](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@ian](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ian)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/date-entry-without-date-select/123171/3 "2007-12-16T01:57:34Z")

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Check out the calendar\_date\_select plugin.

> **[Extremely Simple Calendar Integration for Rails](https://bparanj.blogspot.com/2007/10/extremely-simple-calendar-integration.html)**
>
> Finally found a calendar that is very easy to install and use. Nice calendar . I had to change the width for the select in css to 60px, sinc...

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**Author:** ![ian](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@ian](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/ian)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/date-entry-without-date-select/123171/4 "2007-12-17T16:34:05Z")

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That railscast worked perfectly for me. Thanks!

The calendar plugin looks good too. I can see using that elsewhere in  
this application.