Cannot get Custom Validator to fire - xpages

Question

I am stumped. I have an input field in an xpage where I added a custom validator. I can not get the custom validator to fire no matter what I try. There is a also validateRequired which works as expected. The error message is sent to a "Display Error" control, clientside validation is disabled. The goal of the custom validator is to check if a valid date has been entered. After I get it working, I also plan to add other complicated validation such as checking valid day of the week.
The print statements work correctly, as in "inside true" shows in the console for a valid date, and "inside false" shows for an invalid date. If I add a test print statement after the if statement, it doesn't not execute as you would think. For either condition, the message does not display, and the page is submitted.
I have tried using both getValue() and getSubmittedValue. I have also tried returning a facesMessage and a string. I am also very open to better ways to do this.
<xp:inputText id="datepicker" styleClass="datepicker"
value="#{viewScope.arrivalDate}"
defaultValue="#{javascript:statusBean.arrivalDate}"
disableClientSideValidation="true">
<xp:this.validators>
<xp:validateRequired message="Please enter the arrival date">
</xp:validateRequired>
<xp:customValidator message="err" loaded="true">
<xp:this.validate><![CDATA[#{javascript:var datepicker = getComponent("datepicker").getSubmittedValue();
var testDate = #IsTime(#TextToTime(datepicker));
print("testDate=" + testDate);
if(testDate == 0){
print("inside false");
return false;
} else if(testDate == 1){
print("inside true");
return true;
}}]]>
</xp:this.validate>
</xp:customValidator>
</xp:this.validators>

Answer 1

I haven't tried with a custom validator, but here's the SSJS I put in the validator property for a sample demo at LUGs last year:
<xp:this.validator>
<![CDATA[#{javascript:var sv = this.getSubmittedValue();
print ("Checking submitted value for input1 '" + sv + "' is more than 5 characters");
print ("Value for input1 is " + this.getValue());
if (sv.length < 5) {
var msgStr = "You must enter your FULL name, which will be more than 5 characters!";
var msgObj = new javax.faces.application.FacesMessage(javax.faces.application.FacesMessage.SEVERITY_ERROR, msgStr, msgStr);
facesContext.addMessage(getClientId(this.getId()), msgObj);
this.setValid(false);
}}]]>
</xp:this.validator>
Note that it adds the facesMessage and also sets the component's valid property to false.

Answer 2

The customValidator must return a string with the error message in it - and not true or false.
So in your case, do this instead:
<xp:customValidator message="err" loaded="true">
<xp:this.validate><![CDATA[#{javascript:
var datepicker = getComponent("datepicker").getSubmittedValue();
var testDate = #IsTime(#TextToTime(datepicker));
print("testDate=" + testDate);
if(testDate == 0){
print("inside false");
return "Invalid date";
}
}]]></xp:this.validate>
</xp:customValidator>

Answer 3

Here's my version with using xSnippet - postValidationError.
<xp:customValidator>
<xp:this.validate><![CDATA[#{javascript:
if (#IsTime(#TextToTime(#Trim(value))) == 0){
postValidationError(this, "Please enter a valid Date/Time")
}
}]]></xp:this.validate>
</xp:customValidator>