CompareValidator Revealed

I have always had an issue with the CompareValidator control when it comes to date validation. Its main limitation is that it seems to force the end user into entering a specific date format which is not always obvious or logical. In the case of DotNetNuke it wants the date in DD/MM/YYYY format. However, the GetMediumDate general localization function returns DD-MMM-YYYY which causes validation errors.

This behaviour is unacceptable and prompted me to dig a little deeper into the .NET Framework. If I type Dim datTest as Date = CDate("11-Sep-2003") I get a valid date returned as I would expect. But if I type Dim blnTest As Boolean = BaseCompareValidator.CanConvert("11-Sep-2003", ValidationDataType.Date) it returns False. Huh? Epiphany - the CompareValidator control is client side ( not server side ) which means I need to look elsewhere for the source of the problem.

Performing a View Source in my browser reveals the following javascript:

var Page_ValidationActive = false;
if (typeof(clientInformation) != "undefined" && clientInformation.appName.indexOf("Explorer") != -1) {
if (typeof(Page_ValidationVer) == "undefined")
alert("Unable to find script library '/aspnet_client/system_web/1_1_4322/WebUIValidation.js'. Try placing this file manually, or reinstall by running 'aspnet_regiis -c'.");
else if (Page_ValidationVer != "125")
alert("This page uses an incorrect version of WebUIValidation.js. The page expects version 125. The script library is " + Page_ValidationVer + ".");
else
ValidatorOnLoad();
}

Very Interesting... it appears that I need to examine the "/aspnet_client/system_web/1_1_4322/WebUIValidation.js" file. I find the file in the C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\aspnet_client\system_web\1_1_4322 folder on my system. Reviewing the contents of the file ( javascript is not my specialty ) I stumble upon the following function: