How can I make a DateTimePicker display an empty string?

Question

I would like to be able to display a DateTimePicker that has a default value of nothing, i.e. no date.

For example, I have a start date dtTaskStar

Answer 1

When I want to display an empty date value I do this

            if (sStrDate != "")
            {
                dateCreated.Value = DateTime.Parse(sStrDate);
            }
            else
            {
                dateCreated.CustomFormat = " ";
                dateCreated.Format = DateTimePickerFormat.Custom;
            }

Then when the user clicks on the control I have this:

            private void dateControl_MouseDown(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
            {
                ((DateTimePicker)sender).Format = DateTimePickerFormat.Long;    
            }

This allows you to display and use an empty date value, but still allow the user to be able to change the date to something when they wish.

Keep in mind that sStrDate has already been validated as a valid date string.