Ajas, I recommend reading the Adobe Live Docs concerning validation and form fields. In the below snippet, you will see some curious behavior:
<cfparam name="form.test" default="" /> <cfdump var="#form#"> <cfform name="foo" action="untitled2.cfm"> <cfinput type="text" name="absence_date_1" size="10" value="" validate= "date" validateat="onBlur" message="You have entered an invalid date. Date's should be in this format MM/DD/YYYY or MM-DD-YYYY."> <cfinput type="text" name="absence_date_2" size="10" value="" validate= "date" validateat="onSubmit" message="You have entered an invalid date. Date's should be in this format MM/DD/YYYY or MM-DD-YYYY."> <cfinput type="text" name="absence_date_3" size="10" value="" validate= "date" validateat="onServer" message="You have entered an invalid date. Date's should be in this format MM/DD/YYYY or MM-DD-YYYY."> <cfinput name="submit" type="submit" value="submit"> </cfform> What you will see is that the data will return a string for OnBlur and OnSubmit validation types, but OnServer is giving you the data expression format. According to LiveDocs, the validation schema for each data type varies based upon your validate choice du jour. Snippet from Live Docs: Validation differences The preceding table describes the general validation behavior. The underlying validation code must differ depending on the validation method and the form type. As a result, the algorithms used vary in some instances, including the following: - The validation algorithms used for date/time values varies between onSubmit/OnBlur and OnServer. - The algorithms used for onSubmit/OnBlur validation in Flash vary from those used for HTML/XML format, and generally follow simpler rules. The table describes the onSubmit/OnBlur behavior in HTML format. For detailed information on the OnServer validation algorithms, see "Data validation types" <http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/8/htmldocs/validateData_05.html#1176140>in "Data validation types" <http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/8/htmldocs/validateData_05.html#1176140>in the *ColdFusion Developer's Guide*. For more information on validation, including discussions of the advantages and disadvantages of different validation types, see "Validating Data" <http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/8/htmldocs/validateData_01.html#1096836>in the *ColdFusion Developer's Guide*.
