How can PHP developers prevent the insertion of default values, such as '0000-00-00', into date fields when the form input is left empty?

When a form input for a date field is left empty, PHP may insert a default value like '0000-00-00' into the database, which is not a valid date. To prevent this, PHP developers can check if the input is empty before inserting it into the database and only insert a NULL value instead of a default date if the input is empty. 

// Assuming $dateInput is the input from the form for the date field

if(empty($dateInput)) {
    $dateValue = NULL;
} else {
    $dateValue = $dateInput;
}

// Insert $dateValue into the database

Keywords

PHP form input date fields validation default values

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