Retrieving Selected Dates from Bootstrap Datepicker on Change: Handling User Input

Learn how to efficiently retrieve the date selected by a user from a Bootstrap datepicker. This tutorial explains how to use the `changeDate` event, format the selected date, and handle date changes for integrating datepicker functionality into your forms and triggering actions based on user date selections.

Getting the Date from a Bootstrap Datepicker on Change

This guide explains how to retrieve the selected date from a Bootstrap datepicker when the date changes. This is often needed to handle date selections in forms or to trigger other actions based on the chosen date.

Understanding Bootstrap Datepicker and Events

Bootstrap's datepicker provides a user-friendly way to select dates. It's more intuitive than manual date entry and helps prevent user errors. The datepicker triggers events at various points (e.g., when a date is selected).

Handling the Change Event

While you can use the `onChange` event for manual date entry, it's not triggered when the date is selected via the datepicker's calendar. The `changeDate` event is more suitable for handling datepicker selections.

Retrieving the Date in a Specific Format

Often you need the date in a particular format (e.g., MM/DD/YYYY, DD-MM-YYYY). Here's how to get the date in your desired format using the `changeDate` event and a formatting function.

Example

This example shows how to get the selected date in `mm/dd/yyyy` format using the `changeDate` event.

$('#event_date').datepicker({
  format: 'mm/dd/yyyy',
}).on('changeDate', function(e) {
  console.log(e.format());
});

This code attaches a `changeDate` event handler to the datepicker. The `e.format()` method provides the formatted date.