How to get the value from Telerik RadDatePicker using jquery?

Question

I have a Telerik RadDatePicker control:

<telerik:RadDatePicker RenderMode="Lightweight" ID="RadDatePicker1" width="100%"  runat="server" DateInput-Label="Boarding Start Date">
</telerik:RadDatePicker>

And I have a button:

<telerik:RadButton RenderMode="Lightweight" runat="server" Text="Search" ID="Button1" OnClick="btnSearch_Click" OnClientClicked="validateDates"></telerik:RadButton>

I need to get a value from that control using jQuery when the button is clicked.

That's what I'm doing so far and it doesn't seem to be working for me:

function validateDates(sender, args) {

     var date1 = $('<%= RadDatePicker1.ClientID %>');
     alert(date1.val());
     return true;
}

What am I missing?

Answer 1

You don't, you must use the ms Ajax way - $find() and the component API, not direct DOM manipulation