The jQuery UI Datepicker is a widely used tool for selecting dates on web applications. It provides a user-friendly interface for users to choose a date from a calendar. However, one issue that many developers face is setting a default month in the Datepicker.
By default, the Datepicker displays the current month and year when it is first opened. But what if you want to set a different month as the default? In this article, we will explore how to achieve this using jQuery.
First, let's start by setting up our HTML page. We will include the necessary jQuery and jQuery UI scripts and stylesheets, along with an input field where the Datepicker will be attached.
```html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Setting Default Month in jQuery UI Datepicker</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.12.1/themes/base/jquery-ui.css">
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.5.1.js"></script>
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.12.1/jquery-ui.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<label for="datepicker">Choose a date:</label>
<input type="text" id="datepicker">
</body>
</html>
```
Next, we need to initialize the Datepicker on our input field. We will use the `datepicker()` method and pass in some options to customize its behavior.
```javascript
$( function() {
$("#datepicker").datepicker({
defaultDate: "01/01/2020" // setting the default date to January 1st, 2020
});
});
```
As you can see, we have used the `defaultDate` option to specify the default date. This option accepts a `Date` object, a `string` in the format of "mm/dd/yy", or a `number` representing the number of days from today. In our case, we have passed in a string to set the default date to January 1st, 2020.
But what if we want to set a default month instead of a specific date? For example, we want the Datepicker to always open on March of the current year. To achieve this, we can use the `defaultViewDate` option.
```javascript
$( function() {
$("#datepicker").datepicker({
defaultViewDate: { month: 2 } // 2 represents March (zero-based index)
});
});
```
Here, we have passed in an object with the `month` property set to 2, which represents March. This will set the default month to March of the current year, and the Datepicker will open on that month when it is first initialized.
But what if we want to set a default month and year? For this, we can use the `defaultViewDate` option with the `year` property as well.
```javascript
$( function() {
$("#datepicker").datepicker({
defaultViewDate: { year: 2020, month: 2 } // default month and year set to March 2020
});
});
```
In this case, we have passed in an object with both the `year` and `month` properties set. This will set the default month to March and the default year to 2020.
Additionally, we can also set the `defaultViewDate` option to a `Date` object or a `string` in the format of "mm/dd/yy". This will set both the default month and year to the ones specified in the `Date` or `string`.
In conclusion, setting a default month in the jQuery UI Datepicker is quite simple. By using the `defaultViewDate` option, we can specify the default month and year that we want the Datepicker to open on. This adds more flexibility to the Datepicker, making it more user-friendly for our web applications.
