jQuery ui - datepicker prevent refresh onSelect

Question

I\'m using jQuery ui Datepicker to display a yearly inline calendar full of \"special dates\" (with colors).

Answer 1

I was having a similar problem. I was adding custom buttons to the bottom of the datepicker (using $(id).append), but when I would select a date the datepicker would refresh and destroy them.

This is the date selection function for the datepicker in the jquery-ui library:

_selectDate: function(id, dateStr) {
  ...
    if (onSelect)
        onSelect.apply((inst.input ? inst.input[0] : null), [dateStr, inst]);
  ...
    if (inst.inline)
        this._updateDatepicker(inst);
  ...
},

As you can see, the function first calls the onSelect event, and then calls _updateDatepicker (which is what redraws the form) if inst.inline is true.

This is my workaround to prevent the form from refreshing while maintaining the selection functionality:

$("#cal_id").datepicker({
  onSelect: function(date, inst){

    //This is the important line.
    //Setting this to false prevents the redraw.
    inst.inline = false;

    //The remainder of the function simply preserves the 
    //highlighting functionality without completely redrawing.

    //This removes any existing selection styling.
    $(".ui-datepicker-calendar .ui-datepicker-current-day").removeClass("ui-datepicker-current-day").children().removeClass("ui-state-active");

    //This finds the selected link and styles it accordingly.
    //You can probably change the selectors, depending on your layout.
    $(".ui-datepicker-calendar TBODY A").each(function(){
      if ($(this).text() == inst.selectedDay) {
        $(this).addClass("ui-state-active");
        $(this).parent().addClass("ui-datepicker-current-day");
      }
    });
  }
});