Date validation with ASP.NET validator

Question

I'm trying to use an ASP.NET RangeValidator to validate a date on a textbox. The format of the date entered on the textbox is dd MMMM yyyy.

How can I use the range validator to validate a valid date? If I enter 1 January 1000 as the min or max value I get an error saying value cannot be converted to type date, but if I use another format it picks up my entered text as invalid.

Below is my code:

<asp:TextBox 
    runat="server" 
    ID="txtDatecompleted" 
/>
<cc2:CalendarExtender
    ID="datecompletedExtender" 
    runat="server"
    TargetControlID="txtDatecompleted"
    Format="dd MMMM yyyy"
/>  
<asp:RangeValidator 
    runat="server" 
    ID="RangeValidator1" 
    Type="Date" 
    ControlToValidate="txtDatecompleted" 
    MaximumValue="9999/12/28" 
    MinimumValue="1000/12/28" 
    ErrorMessage="enter valid date" 
    Display="None"
/>
<cc2:ValidatorCalloutExtender 
    ID="RangeValidator1_ValidatorCalloutExtender" 
    runat="server"
    Enabled="True"
    TargetControlID="RangeValidator1">
</cc2:ValidatorCalloutExtender>

Answer 1

Best option would be

Add a compare validator to the web form. Set its controlToValidate. Set its Type property to Date. Set its operator property to DataTypeCheck.

Answer 2

I believe that the dates have to be specified in the current culture of the application. You might want to experiment with setting CultureInvariantValues to true and see if that solves your problem. Otherwise you may need to change the DateTimeFormat for the current culture (or the culture itself) to get what you want.

Answer 3

A CustomValidator would also work here:

<asp:CustomValidator runat="server"
    ID="valDateRange" 
    ControlToValidate="txtDatecompleted"
    onservervalidate="valDateRange_ServerValidate" 
    ErrorMessage="enter valid date" />

Code-behind:

protected void valDateRange_ServerValidate(object source, ServerValidateEventArgs args)
{
    DateTime minDate = DateTime.Parse("1000/12/28");
    DateTime maxDate = DateTime.Parse("9999/12/28");
    DateTime dt;

    args.IsValid = (DateTime.TryParse(args.Value, out dt) 
                    && dt <= maxDate 
                    && dt >= minDate);
}