.

NET Controls: The Date Time Picker - Date Picker

1 of 4

http://www.functionx.com/vcsharp/controls/datepicker.htm

.NET Controls: The Date Time

Picker - Date Picker
The Date and Time Picker
Overview
The Date and Time Picker is a control that allows the user to select either a
date or a time value. This control provides two objects in one:

One of the advantages of the Date and Time Picker control is that it allows the
user to select a time or a date value instead of typing it. This tremendously
reduces the likelihood of mistakes.

Creating a Date Picker

To create a Date or Time Picker control, add a DateTimePicker control
to a
form or other container. The DateTimePicker control is based on the
DateTimePicker class. In reality, the DateTimePicker control can be
considered as two controls in one: you just have to choose which one of both
controls you want to use.

The Date Picker

The Format of the Date
After adding the DateTimePicker control to the form, to allow the user to set
the dates and not the times on the control, set its Format property either to
Long or to Short.

Showing an UpDown Control

After adding a DateTimePicker control and setting its Format to either Long
(the default) or Short, the control becomes a combo box (the default). If you
do not like the combo box, you can display a spin button instead. This
characteristic is controlled by the ShowUpDown Boolean property. When its
value is set to False (the default), the control appears as a combo box. It you
set it to True, it appears as a spin button:

12-04-2006 18:04

.NET Controls: The Date Time Picker - Date Picker

2 of 4

http://www.functionx.com/vcsharp/controls/datepicker.htm

The Alignment of the Calendar

If the control displays a combo box, if the user clicks the arrow on the Date
control, a calendar object similar to the MonthCalendar control:

This calendar displays to the bottom-left or the bottom-right side of the

combo box. To control this alignment, change the value of the
DropDownAlign property whose default value is Left. The other value is
Right.
The displayed MonthCalendar object allows the user to select a date using the
same techniques we described for the MonthCalendar control. The
MonthCalendar part of the DateTimePicker control displays using the same
colors and other properties as the MonthCalendar control. After the user has
selected a date, the date value displays in the text box section of the combo
box and the calendar disappears.

Showing a Check Box

In some cases, you may want to decide when to allow the user to select a
date or when to disable it. There are two ways you can do this. You can use
the Control's Enabled property that all other controls inherit. Another
technique you can use is to display a check box on the left side of the text box
section of the control. The presence or absence of the check box is controlled
by the ShowCheckBox Boolean property whose default value is False. If
you set it to True, a check box appears:

When the check box is checked, the user can change the displayed date.
When the check box is unchecked, the control is displayed and the user
cannot change the date. The user must first put a check mark in the check
box in order to be able to change the date.
If the control displays a spin button, the object is divided in different sections
that can each be changed individually. To change either the day, the month,
or the year, the user must click the desired section and use either the arrows
of the button or the arrow keys on the keyboard to increase or decrease the
selected value.

The Minimum and Maximum Dates

If you want to control the range of dates the user can select, use the MinDate
and the MaxDate properties as we mentioned them from the MonthCalendar

12-04-2006 18:04

.NET Controls: The Date Time Picker - Date Picker

3 of 4

http://www.functionx.com/vcsharp/controls/datepicker.htm

control.

The Value of the Control

When you add the DateTimePicker control to your form or container, it
displays the date of the computer at the time the control was added. If you
want the control to display a different date, set the desired value in the Value
field of the Properties window. At any time, you can find out what value the
Date Picker has by retrieving the value of the Value property.

Custom Formats
If you set the Format property to Long, the date displays using the Long Date
formats of Control Panel. If you set the Format to Short, the control uses the
Short Date value of Control Panel. If you want to customize the way the date
is displayed, set the Format property to Custom. After setting the Format to
Custom, use the CustomFormat property to create the desired format. The
format is created by combining the following characters:
Format Used For Description
d

Days

Displays the day as a number

from 1 to 31

dd

Days

Displays the day as a number

with a leading 0 if the number
is less than 10

ddd

Weekdays

Displays a weekday name with

3 letters as Mon, Tue, etc

dddd

Weekdays

Displays the complete name of

a week day as Monday, etc

Months

Displays the numeric month

from 1 to 12

MM

Months

Displays the numeric month

with a leading 0 if the number
is less than 10

MMM

Months

Displays the short name of the

month as Jan, Feb, Mar, etc

MMMM

Months

Displays the complete name of

the month as January, etc

yy

Years

Displays two digits for the year

as 00 for 2000 or 03 for 2003

yyyy

Years

Displays the numeric year with

4 digits

This means that you should be reluctant to let the users type whatever they
want. The less they type, the less checking you need to do.

The Date Picker Events

The Value Has Changed
Whenever the user changes the date or time value of the control, a
ValueChanged event fires. You can use this event to take some action such
as indicating to the user that the new date is invalid.

Drop Down
If the Format property of the control is set to Date and if the ShowUpDown
property is set to False, when the user clicks the arrow of the combo box to

12-04-2006 18:04

.NET Controls: The Date Time Picker - Date Picker

4 of 4

http://www.functionx.com/vcsharp/controls/datepicker.htm

display the MonthCalendar part of the DateTimePicker control, the DropDown

event fires.

Close Up
On the other hand, if the user clicks the arrow to retract the calendar, an
CloseUp event fires. Both events are of EventArgs type.

Home

Copyright 2004 FunctionX, Inc.

12-04-2006 18:04