title: bootstrap-datepicker.js and jquery.maskedinput.js don't play nice
body: <p>I have to use bootstrap-datepicker.js for my project but it doesn't work well with mask. </p>
  
  <p><strong>problem 1:</strong>
  It you you are tabbing through fields it will auto populate the date field with today's date.  Ideally it won't populate it at all.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Problem 2:</strong>
  It's difficult to blank-out a the date field once it's populated.</p>
  
  <pre><code>first name: &lt;input type="text"&gt;
  birthdate:  &lt;input type="text" class="date"&gt;
  city:       &lt;input type="text"&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>js:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$(function() {
      $(".date").mask("99/99/9999");
      $('.date').datepicker({
          format: 'mm/dd/yyyy'
      });
  });
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The problem is all originates from the fact that mask is populating the field with example format characters( "_ _ / _ _ / _ _ _ _" ) during focus and when the focus leaves datepicker is attempting to parse the example characters BEFORE mask has a chance to remove them.  datepicker can't parse these special characters into a date therefore it is selecting today's date.</p>
  
  <p>I think that if I can figure out a way to remove the example characters before bootstrap-datepicker attempts to parse them my problem would be fixed.</p>
  
  <p>I would provide a jsfiddler example but I can't figure out how to add bootstrap-datepicker.js and jquery.maskedinput.js on their site.</p>
  
  <p>Thanks for your help.</p>