title: How to input a date with a specific date format in struts 2.2.3.1?
body: <p>I want to know if there is a way to force the input format for a date in struts, something like dd/MM/yyyy .<br/>
  The date is written in a text field. I read that this is a locale sensitive subject, but it seems a too much to switch locales for a simple changing of format.<br/><br/>
  I know I could call <code>addFieldError(fieldName, errorMessage)</code> inside the method of my Action class but to me it feels like a date format should have been thought of to be configured in an Action-validation.xml file. I searched to configure this with properties file but found no working example. <br/><br/>
  Is using a custom <code>StrutsTypeConverter</code> and <code>addFieldError(fieldName, errorMessage)</code> the only way to do it? Or is there another version of struts in which the date format inputed in a text field can be specified?<br/>
  <b>UPDATE:</b>
  I assumed I made myself clear enough but some answers demostrate otherwise.<br/>
  The use case is: User enters manually a date in an arbitrary format in a textfield, afterwards struts2 validates the date format as corresponding to the format set by the programmer or not, displaying a message accordingly. <br/>
  A jQuery date picker with a <code>&lt;s:date&gt;</code> tag can be an alternative to what I want to achieve, but it it <b>NOT</b> what I asked. Furthermore, Javascript can be disabled, rendering the date picker useless, jQuery being a Javascript library as far as I understand it. </p>