You want to use the sfWidgetFormDateJQueryUI widget but you cannot configure it to display the date in your culture ?

I had the same problem, and there is what I did to fix it.

I start to override the sfWidgetFormDateJQueryUI class to add a “format_date” option. Add a new class here lib/widget/adinWindgetFormDateJQueryUI.class.php and override the configure fonction to add the format_date option.

 protected function configure($options = array(), $attributes = array())
  {
    $this->addOption('format_date', null);
    parent::configure($options, $attributes);
  }

In the render function, format the value

   if($this->getOption('format_date') != null){
        $dateFormat = new sfDateFormat();
        $value = $dateFormat->format($value, $this->getOption('format_date'));
    }

(The complete class source is at the end of this post.)

In your formClass, configure the widget :

class DemandeForm extends BaseDemandeForm
{
    public function configure()
    {
       $this->widgetSchema['date_creation'] = new adinWidgetFormDateJQueryUI(
                array("change_month" => true, 
                      "change_year" => true, 
                      "culture" => 'fr', 
                      "show_button_panel" => true, 
                      "format_date" => 'dd/MM/y' //define here format
                      )
                 );

        $this->validatorSchema['date_creation'] = new sfValidatorDate(   
                array("date_format" => '~(?P<day>\d{2})/(?P<month>\d{2})/(?P<year>\d{4})~' , //regex,
                      "date_output" => "Y-m-d",  //format the value after validation to send to BDD
                      "required" => true
                      )
                 );
    }
}

Here the complete adinWidgetFormDateJQueryUI source code

<?php
class adinWidgetFormDateJQueryUI extends sfWidgetFormDateJQueryUI
{
 protected function configure($options = array(), $attributes = array())
  {
    $this->addOption('format_date', null);
    parent::configure($options, $attributes);
  }

  /**
   * @param  string $name        The element name
   * @param  string $value       The date displayed in this widget
   * @param  array  $attributes  An array of HTML attributes to be merged with the default HTML attributes
   * @param  array  $errors      An array of errors for the field
   *
   * @return string An HTML tag string
   *
   * @see sfWidgetForm
   */
  public function render($name, $value = null, $attributes = array(), $errors = array())
  {
    $attributes = $this->getAttributes();

    $input = new sfWidgetFormInput(array(), $attributes);

   if($this->getOption('format_date') != null){
        $dateFormat = new sfDateFormat();
        $value = $dateFormat->format($value, $this->getOption('format_date'));
    }
    $html = $input->render($name, $value);

    $id = $input->generateId($name);
    $culture = $this->getOption('culture');
    $cm = $this->getOption("change_month") ? "true" : "false";
    $cy = $this->getOption("change_year") ? "true" : "false";
    $nom = $this->getOption("number_of_months");
    $sbp = $this->getOption("show_button_panel") ? "true" : "false";

    if ($culture!='en')
    {
    $html .= <<<EOHTML
<script type="text/javascript">
        $(function() {
    var params = $.datepicker.regional['$culture'];
    params.changeMonth = $cm;
    params.changeYear = $cy;
    params.numberOfMonths = $nom;
    params.showButtonPanel = $sbp;
    $("#$id").datepicker(params);
        });
</script>
EOHTML;
    }
    else
    {
    $html .= <<<EOHTML
<script type="text/javascript">
        $(function() {
    var params = {
    changeMonth : $cm,
    changeYear : $cy,
    numberOfMonths : $nom,
    showButtonPanel : $sbp };
    $("#$id").datepicker(params);
        });
</script>
EOHTML;
    }

    return $html;
  }
}

Don’t forget to run

php symfony cc

to clear your cache and enable this new class on prod environment.

You may have to use in your model class or somewhere else the “context instance” in your code but when this code is used by a task, a test or data fixture, you get a “The default contect does not exist” error.
To avoid that, you can use the sfContext::hasInstance() fonction. See below

class Demande extends BaseDemande
{
   public function save(Doctrine_Connection $con = null)
   {
       if(sfContext::hasInstance())
       {
          $id_service = sfContext::getInstance()->getUser()->getAttribute('id_service', false, 'sfMatchlib/user');        
          $this->setIdService($id_service);
        }
        parent::save($con);
    }
}