I was trying to accomplish this very thing, that is, empty the datepicker so that filters entered by the user could be removed. Googling a bit I found this sweet piece of code:
You can add the clear feature even on read only fields. Just add the following code to your datepicker:
}).keyup(function(e) {
if(e.keyCode == 8 || e.keyCode == 46) {
$.datepicker._clearDate(this);
}
});
People will be able to highlight (even Read Only fields) and then use backspace or delete key to remove the date using _clearDate
function.