Does IE need special code for parameters?

I have some simple HTML in my JSP:

<tr>

<td>

First Available Date

</td>

<td>

<%

String startFormattedDate = sdf.format(theTerm.getFirstAvailableDate());

%>

<input type="text" name="start_date" value=<%=startFormattedDate%> />

</td>

</tr>

In Netscape and Firefox, if the user does not change the data that is displayed and submits the page, which is okay, the value for start_date is returned to my servlet and processed. In Internet Exploder, however, the value of start_date that the servlet gets is null, even though there is a value there to begin with. Why is this and do I need special code for IE to deal with this? Thanks.

[813 byte] By [klitwaka] at [2007-10-2 20:28:16]