A simple Masked Date box

[Andrew Empson]

I have seen several requests for a masked date box. Here's a simple one for anyone who's interested. It's messy, but feel free to post better ones.

Make a new form and place a text box on it called Text1

Dim Selected As Integer 'The selected aspect of the date
Dim curDate As String 'The current text (before invalid keypresses)
Dim BadKey As Boolean

Private Sub SelectIt()
    'Select a particular aspect of the date
    Select Case (Selected)
    Case 0 'No selection
        Text1.SelStart = 0
        Text1.SelLength = 0
    Case 1 'Day
        Text1.SelStart = 0
        Text1.SelLength = 2
    Case 2 'Month
        Text1.SelStart = 3
        Text1.SelLength = 2
    Case 3 'Year
        Text1.SelStart = 6
        Text1.SelLength = 4
    End Select
End Sub

Private Function ValidateDate(DateStr As String) As Boolean
    'Returns False for an invalid date, or True for a valid one
    Dim dTemp As Date
    ValidateDate = True
    On Error GoTo BadDate
        'This will cause an error if the date is invalid
        dTemp = Day(DateStr) & "/" & Month(DateStr) & "/" & Year(DateStr)
    On Error GoTo 0
    Exit Function
BadDate:
    ValidateDate = False
End Function

Private Sub Form_Load()
    'Put todays date in text1
    Text1.Text = Format$(Date, "DD/MM/YYYY")
    curDate = Text1
    Selected = 0
End Sub

Private Sub Text1_KeyDown(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)
    Dim TempVal As Integer
    Dim TempStr As String
        
    SelectIt
    BadKey = False
    Select Case (KeyCode)
        Case vbKeyRight
            curDate = Text1
            If Selected < 3 Then Selected = Selected + 1
        Case vbKeyLeft
            curDate = Text1
            If Selected > 1 Then Selected = Selected - 1
        Case vbKeyEnd
            curDate = Text1
            Selected = 3
        Case vbKeyHome
            curDate = Text1
            Selected = 1
        Case vbKeyUp
            curDate = Text1
            TempVal = Val(Text1.SelText)
            TempVal = TempVal + 1
            TempStr = Trim(Str(TempVal))
            If Len(TempStr) = 1 Then TempStr = "0" & TempStr
            Text1.SelText = TempStr
            If ValidateDate(Text1) = False Then
                Text1 = curDate
            End If
        Case vbKeyDown
            curDate = Text1
            TempVal = Val(Text1.SelText)
            TempVal = TempVal - 1
            TempStr = Trim(Str(TempVal))
            If Len(TempStr) = 1 Then TempStr = "0" & TempStr
            Text1.SelText = TempStr
            If ValidateDate(Text1) = False Then
                Text1 = curDate
            End If
        Case Else
            BadKey = True
    End Select
    SelectIt
End Sub

Private Sub Text1_KeyUp(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)
    If BadKey = True Then
        Text1 = curDate
    End If
    SelectIt
End Sub

Private Sub Text1_MouseUp(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)
    If Text1.SelStart < 3 Then
        Selected = 1
    ElseIf Text1.SelStart > 2 And Text1.SelStart < 6 Then
        Selected = 2
    Else
        Selected = 3
    End If
    SelectIt
End Sub

At least with vb5 & 6 you get the MS Masked Edit Control. Why not simple add to your project????

[Andrew Empson]

I think some people don't like using the masked edit control because they think it's ugly, and another ocx control to add to your setup list. If you're not worried about the look of the masked edit control, then by all means use it.

[BruceG]

I like the Date/Time Picker control (introduced in VB6) even better!

[HeSaidJoe]

masked edit is great..but take it further and use
the calendar or date picker ctrl...I think that's what
it's called...can't screw up the date with that one.

[Andrew Empson]

The date picker control is very cool, but again, it's an extra 630 Kb to add to your distributed app. If the date part of that set is the only control you use, it's a bit of a waste of resourses, particularly if your end users are downloading your software.

[HeSaidJoe]

it is..that's why people are buying 20 g hard drives...
there's room to spare these days and everyone is getting
in on using some. Look at the size of programs today!!!
Why not use the best, even it is the biggest!The whole y2k issue started because they didn't want to use the extra 2 digits...space was an issue...look what it cost in the end...a lot more that the extra space would have.

Go for it..do it big and beautiful!

Have fun!

Ok any line of code you include in a project is a potential bug. Therefore aren't you better off using the standard controls, rather than replacing them and possibly introducing additional bugs to your projects?

Just a thought

[Andrew Empson]

True, but I'm not worried about the drive space - the database my app uses could easily get up to 50Mb, but that is created by the user, not downloaded. Unless you have a wide bandwidth modem (which many do these days), you don't want to download unnessecarily large files. I want as many people as possible to have access to my software. I guess it's up to the individual developer how they approach the size issue.