Rails date format in a text_field

Question

I have a rails form that displays a date in a text_field:

<%= form.text_field :check_in_date  %>

The date is rendered as yyyy-m

Answer 1

Expanding Kamil's answer a bit: add the following method to application_helper.rb:

def date_mdY(date)
  if date.nil?
    ""
  else
    date.strftime("%m-%d-%Y")
  end
end

Then you can modify Kamil's answer slightly:

<%= f.text_field :some_date, :value => date_mdY(@model_instance.some_date) %>

Then you can use this helper method in any other view.

I'm using the jQuery datepicker and the date needed to be in a particular format in order for the default date to be set correctly. Thanks for the answer Kamil!