DateTimePicker

Microsoft .NET Framework, ASP.NET, Visual C# (CSharp, C Sharp, C-Sharp) Developer Training, Visual Studio

Exam 70-526 Preparation Guide: Add and configure date-setting controls on a Windows Form

1 Inheritance hierarchy
2 Useful calendar properties
3 Useful properties
4 Adding a DateTimePicker manually
5 Customizing a DateTimePicker
6 Spinning the control
7 Showing the time
8 MSDN references

DateTimePicker is ideal for choosing a single date amd/or time value and requires the same amount of space as an ordinary drop-down list box. When the user clicks the drop-down button, a month calendar appears. The operation of the control from this point is exactly the same as the MonthCalendar control.

[edit]

Inheritance hierarchy

System.Object 
  System.MarshalByRefObject 
    System.ComponentModel.Component 
      System.Windows.Forms.Control 
        System.Windows.Forms.DateTimePicker

[edit]

Useful calendar properties

CalendarFont - Determines the font style applied to the calendar.

CalendarForeColor - GeDetermines the foreground color of the calendar.

CalendarMonthBackground - Determines the background color of the calendar month.

CalendarTitleBackColor - Determines the background color of the calendar title.

CalendarTitleForeColor - Determines the foreground color of the calendar title.

CalendarTrailingForeColor - Determines the foreground color of the calendar trailing dates.

[edit]

Useful properties

BackColor - Indicates the background color of the DateTimePicker control.

CustomFormat - Determines the custom date/time format string.

DropDownAlign - Determines the alignment of the drop-down calendar on the DateTimePicker control. Takes a value of either Left or Right.

ForeColor - Indicates the foreground color of the DateTimePicker control.

Format - Determines the format of the date and time displayed in the control.

MaxDate - Determines the maximum date and time that can be selected in the control.

MaximumDateTime - Gets the maximum date value allowed for the DateTimePicker control.

MinDate - Determines the minimum date and time that can be selected in the control.

MinimumDateTime - Gets the minimum date value allowed for the DateTimePicker control.

ShowCheckBox - Indicates whether a check box is displayed to the left of the selected date.

ShowUpDown - Indicates whether a spin button control (also known as an up-down control) is used to adjust the date/time value.

Value - Determines the date/time value assigned to the control.

[edit]

Adding a DateTimePicker manually

You can add a DateTimePicker to a form at run time in the following manner:

private void AddDateTimePicker()
{
  DateTimePicker DateTimePicker1 = new DateTimePicker();
 
  //Set size and location.
  DateTimePicker1.Location = new Point(40, 88);
  DateTimePicker1.Size = new Size(160, 21);
    
  // Set the alignment of the drop-down MonthCalendar to right.
  DateTimePicker1.DropDownAlign = LeftRightAlignment.Right;
 
  // Set the Value property to 50 years before today.
  DateTimePicker1.Value = System.DateTime.Now.AddYears(-50);
 
  //Set a custom format containing the string "of the year"
  DateTimePicker1.Format = DateTimePickerFormat.Custom;
  DateTimePicker1.CustomFormat = "MMM dd, 'of the year' yyyy ";
 
  // Add the DateTimePicker to the form.
  this.Controls.Add(DateTimePicker1);
}

[edit]

Customizing a DateTimePicker

In the above sample, the Format of the DateTimePicker control is set to DateTimePickerFormat.Custom. Then in the next line, a CustomFormat string is applied.

When the Format property is set to DateTimePickerFormat.Custom, a custom display setting for the DateTimePicker control can be used. The CustomFormat property contains the string value to use which may include a number of format codes. These codes are managed by the sealed DateTimeFormatInfo class. The following table shows a number of these codes, along with some corresponding properties in the DateTimeFormatInfo class.

Pattern	Description	Default U.S. English Values	`DateTimeFormatInfo` Property
d	Day of the month.	1 to 31
dd	Two-digit day of the month.	01 to 31
ddd	Abbreviated day of the week.	Sun to Sat	`AbbreviatedDayNames`
dddd	Full day of the week.	Sunday to Saturday	`DayNames`
M	Numeric month.	1 to 12
MM	Two-digit numeric month.	01 to 12
MMM	Abbreviated month name.	Jan to Dec	`AbbreviatedMonthNames`
MMMM	Full month name.	January to December	`MonthNames`
y	Year without century.	1 to 99
yy	Two-digit year without century.	01 to 99
yyyy	Four-digit century.	0001 to 9999
gg	Period or era, if any.	B.C. or A.D.
h	Hour on a 12-hour clock.	1 to 12
hh	Two-digit hour on a 12-hour clock.	01 to 12
H	Hour on a 24-hour clock.	1 to 24
HH	Two-digit hour on a 24-hour clock.	01 to 24
m	Minute.	0 to 59
mm	Two-digit minute.	00 to 59
s	Second.	0 to 59
ss	Two-digit second.	00 to 59
tt	AM/PM designator.	AM or PM	`AMDesignator` and `PMDesignator`
:	Default time separator.	: ( a colon)	`TimeSeparator`
/	Default date separator.	/ (a slash)	`DateSeparator`
‘c’	Displays the specified character.	For example, ‘s’ will display the character s rather than the number of seconds.

[edit]

Spinning the control

To use a spin button control (also known as an up-down control) to adjust the date/time value, set the ShowUpDown property to true. The calendar control will not drop down when the control is selected. The date and time can be adjusted by selecting each element individually and using the up and down buttons to change the value.