When using separate text inputs, the value of the date_format attribute still kicks in, but with the following differences:

Here are some examples:

1. Delimiter Parsing

Any delimiters you may have specified are ignored, as they only make sense in a single date display.

Single:

Date:

Separate:

Month: Date: Year:

Date Component Order

Again, the order of the month, date and year definitions are only meaningful in a single date display. When using separate inputs, the order in which the date components are displayed is the order in which your HTML includes the input elements in the page.

Single:

A DHTML Lab Popup Calendar with three ( month/date/year ) associated text inputs, generated by an image click:   ( dlcalendar1.2 )

Date:

Separate:

Month: Date: Year:

Unused Date Component

If the date_format includes a definition for a date component without a corresponding input, the script simply discards it. In the following example, there is no input available to display the date ( dd ); only the month ( mm ) and year ( yyyy ) components are used.

Single:

Date:

Separate:

Month: Year:

There are a couple of additional things you need to consider when using separate <select>lists.