title: jQuery Datepicker w/ no year in format using altField
body: <p>I'm trying to use the jQuery datepicker control to show only the Day, Month and date to the user, something like: </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Fri. Aug. 24</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>But behind the scenes I need to track the year. To accomplish this I tried using the altField option and having the altField format be mm/dd/yyyy. </p>
  
  <p>It is updating the altField as expected but it fails when the user spans a year. For example if today is 1/18/2012 and I pick any date in 2012 it works perfect. If i pick 3/1/2013 in the calendar control it updates the altField correctly but as soon as i open the calendar again 3/1/2012 is selected. </p>
  
  <p>It looks like the datepicker control doesn't look to the altField to set the value of the popup calendar. </p>
  
  <p>I tried reading and parsing the date in the altField onSelect and beforeShow and then setting the date of the normal control to the parsed date but it basically ignores the set. I end up on the date reflected in the datepicker textbox and not the altField. </p>
  
  <p>Anyone ever tried to wire something like this up before? </p>
  
  <p>For an example of the setup check out Google Hotel Search - <a href="http://www.google.com/hotelfinder/" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/hotelfinder/</a></p>