If you need to have control over the format of the date (in other words not just the yyyy-mm-dd format is acceptable), another solution could be adding a helper property that is of type string and add a date validator to that property, and bind to this property on UI.
[Display(Name = "Due date")]
[Required]
[AllowHtml]
[DateValidation]
public string DueDateString { get; set; }
public DateTime? DueDate
{
get
{
return string.IsNullOrEmpty(DueDateString) ? (DateTime?)null : DateTime.Parse(DueDateString);
}
set
{
DueDateString = value == null ? null : value.Value.ToString("d");
}
}
And here is a date validator:
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property, AllowMultiple = true, Inherited = true)]
public class DateValidationAttribute : ValidationAttribute
{
public DateValidationAttribute()
{
}
protected override ValidationResult IsValid(object value, ValidationContext validationContext)
{
if (value != null)
{
DateTime date;
if (value is string)
{
if (!DateTime.TryParse((string)value, out date))
{
return new ValidationResult(validationContext.DisplayName + " must be a valid date.");
}
}
else
date = (DateTime)value;
if (date < new DateTime(1900, 1, 1) || date > new DateTime(3000, 12, 31))
{
return new ValidationResult(validationContext.DisplayName + " must be a valid date.");
}
}
return null;
}
}