>1) Use an unbound input character based control and in the lost focus, validate and replace your date field.
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>2) Overlay two controls, one for display (unbound character) and one for input (bound date). In the got and lost focus events make the the appriate ones visible/invisible.
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Thats a pretty cool idea, it made me think of using a combobox with two columns, the one with lines, the other without. Then maybe put it in a container where it cuts of the downarrow at the end, but then youd have to prevent all the default combo behaivor and would just be more work than its worth. I like Barbra's Idea too.