!= help in javascript

Hi,
I have a form with a textbox called fldDate. I want to ensure that the user enters DD/MM/YYYY. I am using a simple way of doing this by checking if the value they enter is not 10

this is my code
if (theform.fldDate.length!=10) missing += "\nPlease ensure that Date is in DD/MM/YYYY format\n";

The problem is that even if the vale is 10 characters long it still rejects it. Am is using incorrect syntax?

Thanks


UPDATE
SOlved this issue realised it needed to be .value.lenght!=10

theForm.fldDate is object (of type textbox) while you needs the string which is its value:
if (theform.fldDate.value.length!=10) ...