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set the format of the textbox to D?
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if those fields are textboxes, why not setting their values to {} if it's for data entry? 
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I agree with Mike that is the easiest solution. &nbsp;You cannot depend on taking CTOD of a variable because when you check it with the TYPE command it returns date to any value that isn't a date i.e., 01/32/2010... so if you cannot use Mike's suggestion you will not only have to convert it to a date but also check the values in each field MM/DD/YYYY to ensure they are valid for your application. &nbsp;I have never used CaptainCyril's suggestion and I tested it with an invalid date and it too said it was a date field.
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My suggestion is a validation. It takes the value of a string date and it will it say if it's valid or not and it also depends on your SET DATE.<br />
<br />
<br />
? isValidDate(table.field)<br />
<br />
.T. means it is valid<br />
.F. means it is not<br />
<br />
FUNCTION isValidDate<br />
LPARAMETERS cDate<br />
RETURN CTOD(cDate) &lt;&gt;&nbsp;{}<br />

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<br />
CaptainCyril's suggestion solvs the problem.<br />
Ii try to put property format D, mikegagnon suggestion and &nbsp;the field accept data like: 33/02/2010. how can i do this property format results?
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<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
I have fields that are a char type, but contents a date in format like 08/11/2010. how can i validate the entry for a valid date?<br />
thanks
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I have fields that are a char type, but contents a date in format like 08/11/2010. how can i validate the entry for a valid date?
thanks

how can i validate a date field

Visual FoxPro (VFP), and its predecessor FoxPro, is a data-centric, object-oriented, procedural, database programming language and IDE from Microsoft last released in 2007 that still has some active use due to its low cost of deployment and fairly rapid development. In 2008, Microsoft released a set of add-ons for VFP's xBase components to allow interoperability with various Microsoft technologies. It allows data processing against its native file-based data tables or database servers such as SQL Server.