Entering ISO formatted date with input mask and full validation in Microsoft Access

Gustav BrockMVP
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Entering a date in Microsoft Access can be tricky. A typo can cause month and day to be shuffled, entering the day only causes an error, as does entering, say, day 31 in June. This article shows how an inputmask supported by code can help the user and avoid errors.

To enter a date is tricky

The Date Picker is a safe method to always ensure valid dates to be entered without noisy error messages disturbing the user. However, for many scenarios like accounting and statistics, the Date Picker method is way to slow for the fast-typing user because of the many mouse-clicks needed.

Entering a date in a textbox is the fast method but, in case of a typo, navigating in the textbox is not optimal, and the user will meet an unfriendly error message. In many cases, applying an inputmask may help, but not for dates because the validation options are far too limited; you can still easily input day 31 for, say, June and an error message is popped..


To sort this out, code is needed. The inputmask adds the option that the code always will know where the user is typing, thus it can prevent and correct many typing errors. For example, if the first month digit is zero, the second month digit can be any digit except zero, but if the first is one, the second can be zero, though not higher than two. And the last day of February is 29 in leap years and not 28 as in common years. Does the user input 2014-02-29, the code will silently correct to 2014-02-28.

 

How it should work

To have a textbox that just works for entering date takes several steps:

 

  • Define an input mask that makes sense to the user
  • Handle positioning of the cursor no matter how the user enters the textbox
  • Enable entering of digits no matter how the user navigates in the textbox
  • Catch all invalid inputs
  • Provide reasonable default values to correct invalid inputs
  • Set a format for the textbox

 

That may seem like a lot, but the outcome is a highly optimised control demonstrating the true power of an input mask.

 

It takes a lot to get it right

The first and the last item are quite simple.


The input mask is, as no digit is optional (it is assumed that years must be larger then 1000):

"0000/00/00;1;0"

and the format is:

"yyyy/mm/dd"

This makes the textbox contain as default (where the slash  will be replaced by your local date separator ):

0000/00/00

These can be set when the form loads. Note, that a default date should be set to avoid an "all-zeroes" invalid date:


Option Compare Database
Option Explicit

    Dim DefaultDate         As Date
    Dim DefaultFormat       As String
    Dim DefaultInputMask    As String


Private Sub Form_Load()
    
    Dim InitialDate         As Date
    
    ' Set initial date.
    InitialDate = Date
    
    ' Format and length of DefaultFormat and
    ' first part of DefaultInputMask must match.
    DefaultFormat = "yyyy/mm/dd"
    DefaultInputMask = "0000/00/00;1;0"
    
    Me!Logon.Format = DefaultFormat
    Me!Logon.InputMask = DefaultInputMask
    Me!Logon.ShowDatePicker = False
    SetDefaultDate InitialDate

End Sub

That's not much, but then comes the code behind for the control.


First, set a default date. This may be dynamic (controlled by other code), but here it is static for simplicity:


Private Sub Logon_Enter()
    
    With Me!Logon
        If IsNull(.Value) Then
            .Value = DefaultDate
        End If
    End With

End Sub

Second, when clicking in the control, avoid ever having to select one of the separators (slash):


Private Sub Logon_Click()

    Dim SelStart            As Integer
    
    With Me!Logon
        If .SelStart = 4 Or .SelStart = 7 Then
            ' Move the cursor off the separator (slash)
            ' to the first digit of months or days.
            .SelStart = .SelStart + 1
        End If
        SelStart = .SelStart
        .SelStart = SelStart
        .SelLength = 1
    End With

End Sub

Now comes the fun part -- to try to be smart, helping the user by correcting invalid values while still allowing the normal key entries for navigating inside the control as well as away from the control:


Private Sub Logon_KeyPress(KeyAscii As Integer)
  
    Dim Text                As String
    Dim Length              As Integer
    Dim SelStart            As Integer
    
    With Me!Logon
        Select Case KeyAscii
            Case vbKeyBack, vbKeyTab, Asc(vbLf), vbKeyReturn, vbKeyEscape, vbKeyF16
                ' Allow navigation etc. with
                ' BackSpace, Tab, Ctrl+Enter, Enter, Escape, Ctrl+BackSpace
            Case Is > 0
                Text = .Text
                Length = Len(Text)
                SelStart = .SelStart
                
                If KeyAscii < vbKey0 Or KeyAscii > vbKey9 Then
                    ' Replace any invalid entry with a zero.
                    KeyAscii = vbKey0
                End If
                
                If SelStart < Length Then
                    Select Case SelStart
                        
                        ' Year part.
                        Case Is = 0
                            ' First digit of year.
                            If KeyAscii = vbKey0 Then
                                ' No year before 1000.
                                KeyAscii = vbKey1
                            End If
                            
                        ' Month part.
                        Case Is = 5
                            ' First digit of month.
                            If KeyAscii > vbKey1 Then
                                ' No month with tens beyond 1.
                                KeyAscii = vbKey1
                            End If
                        Case Is = 6
                            ' Second digit of month.
                            Select Case Val(Mid(.Text, 6, 1))
                                Case Is = 0
                                    ' Month is < 10.
                                    If KeyAscii = vbKey0 Then
                                        ' Month cannot be 00.
                                        KeyAscii = vbKey1
                                    End If
                                Case Is > 0
                                    ' Month is 10+.
                                    If KeyAscii > vbKey2 Then
                                        ' No month beyond 12.
                                        KeyAscii = vbKey2
                                    End If
                            End Select
                        
                        ' Day part.
                        Case Is = 8
                            ' First digit of day.
                            Select Case Val(Mid(.Text, 6, 2))
                                Case Is = 2
                                    ' Month is February.
                                    If KeyAscii > vbKey2 Then
                                        ' No day with tens beyond 2 for February.
                                        KeyAscii = vbKey2
                                    End If
                                Case Else
                                    If KeyAscii > vbKey3 Then
                                        ' No day with tens beyond 3.
                                        KeyAscii = vbKey3
                                    End If
                            End Select
                        Case Is = 9
                            ' Second digit of day.
                            Select Case Mid(.Text, 9, 1)
                                Case Is = 3
                                    ' Days of 30.
                                    Select Case Val(Mid(.Text, 6, 2))
                                        Case 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12
                                            If KeyAscii > vbKey1 Then
                                                ' No day beyond 31.
                                                KeyAscii = vbKey1
                                            End If
                                        Case 4, 6, 9, 11
                                            If KeyAscii > vbKey0 Then
                                                ' No day beyond 30.
                                                KeyAscii = vbKey0
                                            End If
                                    End Select
                                Case Is = 2
                                    ' Days of 20.
                                    Select Case Val(Mid(.Text, 6, 2))
                                        Case 2
                                            If KeyAscii = vbKey9 Then
                                                ' Check for leap year.
                                                If Month(DateAdd("d", 1, DateSerial(Val(Mid(.Text, 1, 4)), 2, 28))) = 3 Then
                                                    ' Not a leap year.
                                                    KeyAscii = vbKey8
                                                End If
                                            End If
                                    End Select
                                Case Is = 0
                                    ' Days of 00.
                                    If KeyAscii = vbKey0 Then
                                        ' No day of 00.
                                        KeyAscii = vbKey1
                                    End If
                            End Select
                            
                    End Select
                End If
                
        End Select
    End With

End Sub

You will notice, that first the position where the user enters a digit is found, then what part (year, month, day) is current, and then what to correct. Please study the in-line comments for the subtle details.


The method is, that - from left to right - the user can enter whatever digit, but - as he/she proceeds - the input for the next digit is corrected if needed. For example, if February is entered, no day in the thirties can be entered, thus a or higher is silently changed to a 2.


Not all validation can be done this way - for example, the user may click directly on a digit and delete it, leaving a zero which might add up to an invalid date expression. These situations are handled by the form:


Private Sub Form_Error(DataErr As Integer, Response As Integer)
  
    Dim ctl                 As Control
    
    Dim SelStart            As Integer
    
    On Error Resume Next
    
    Set ctl = Screen.ActiveControl
    
    Select Case ctl.Name
        Case "Logon"
            SelStart = ctl.SelStart
            ' Clear deleted digits by resetting the input mask.
            ctl.InputMask = DefaultInputMask
            ctl.SelStart = SelStart
            ctl.SelLength = 1
            Response = acDataErrContinue
    End Select

    Set ctl = Nothing

End Sub

Note, that it will always leave some date value in the control.


When done, you may set a new default value:


Private Sub Logon_AfterUpdate()

    With Me!Logon
        If IsNull(.Value) Then
            ' Rem this line out to allow the textbox to be cleared.
            .Value = DefaultDate
        ElseIf .Value < DateSerial(9999, 12, 31) Then
            SetDefaultDate DateAdd("d", 1, .Value)
        Else
            SetDefaultDate .Value
        End If
    End With
    
End Sub


Private Sub SetDefaultDate(ThisDate As Date)

    DefaultDate = ThisDate
    Me!Logon.DefaultValue = Format(ThisDate, "\#yyyy\/mm\/dd\#")

End Sub

Note the conversion of the date value as a formatted string expression, as DefaultValue is a string.

 

Check it out

To test it for yourself, download and run the demo application. It is a simple form created in Access 2013 that should work as is for all versions of Access from 2007 to 2019/365. However, the code should be adoptable with minor changes for any version of Access.

 


The zip file also contains the Time Entry  form from the previous and related article:

Entering 24-hour time with input mask and full validation in Microsoft Access​​​


You can also obtain the code from Github: VBA.DateEntry

 

I hope you found this article useful. You are encouraged to ask questions, report any bugs or make any other comments about it below.


Note: If you need further "Support" about this topic, please consider using the Ask a Question feature of Experts Exchange. I monitor questions asked and would be pleased to provide any additional support required in questions asked in this manner, along with other EE experts.


Please do not forget to press the "Thumbs Up" button if you think this article was helpful and valuable for EE members.


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Gustav BrockMVP
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Comments (9)

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Commented:
David, I can only find the weird yyyy-dd-mm format listed for Kazakhstan:

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_format_by_country

Do you have a reference for its use in the US?

/gustav
David Johnson, CDThe More I know, the more I don't know
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Commented:
from experience if someone can screw it up they will screw it up. I always have to check if it is dd/mm/yy or mm/dd/yy having a pop out or a hover box that shows the long form.  We have to code for the normal person.  If you were to survey 100 people on the street how many of them do you think could answer the question of entering in the date in iso format? Or how many people even know what you are talking about?
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Commented:
Depends on the street - there is a world outside the US  - but apparently you'll have to visit Kazakhstan to meet the yyyy-dd-mm format.

/gustav
David Johnson, CDThe More I know, the more I don't know
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Commented:
Depends on the street - there is a world outside the US Try and explain it to the full 73 percent of American citizens are incapable of identifying their home country on a map of the United States. :->
http://recoilmag.com/poll-73-percent-of-americans-unable-to-locate-america-on-map-of-america-2/
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Commented:
Great. On the other hand, extremely few Europeans can point out all the states of the US. Most can label Hawaii, Alaska, California, and Florida, perhaps Texas, but that's it.

/gustav

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