Using JSlider to create a date chooser?

Question

I want to implement a date chooser using a JSlider. The user should be able to use the slider to freely choose between two previously known dates. I've seen examples like this one:

But I want to do the same, using only one slider. The minimal distance between two points (tick) should be one day. Any hints how to implement that?

Answer 1

First to answer your question: you can just use a JSlider, use the number of days between your start and end date to determine the range, and use custom labels (by using for example the setLabelTable method)

Now for user-friendliness, avoid this since

1. Nobody is familiar with this concept. Every site/application nowadays uses a textfield, most of the time in combination with a calendar widget. That is what users expect, not a slider
2. It will be hard to get all dates as labels on the slider due to the limited width. This means that a user have to interpolate / count to select his correct date
3. If you stick to the slider approach, at least consider to add a textfield as well. Even a non-editable text field which shows the currently selected date would be a huge improvement over a slider (see point 2)

Answer 2

If you want to have a slider with min = 1.1.2012 and max = 10.1.2012 just create a slider with min = 0 and max = number of days in between, then add the selected number to 1.1.2012.

I assume 10.1.2012 means January 10th, thus your slider would have min = 0 and max = 9. Then set the labels accordingly.

Answer 3

I can't to image how to do that with one JSlider, because there you'd have bunch of days, there are some workarounds for Double/RangeSlider, but I think better and easiest would be implements JSpinner with SpinnerDateModel, or best options is look for Custom Java Calendar or DatePicker

EDIT (@Robin)