DataTextFormatString for dates

[christina noel]

Hello,

We are using the following column definition for a button column that should display a DateTime:

<telerik:GridButtonColumn UniqueName="STARTDATE" ButtonType="LinkButton"
       DataTextField="STARTDATE" DataTextFormatString="{0:g}" HeaderText="[START DATE]"
       CommandName="GoToItem" />

The problem is that it is standard in our app to display just the date if the time is "12:00 am", as this usually indicates that the exact time was not entered. Therefore, I need to conditionally use "{0:d}" for my format string instead of "{0:g}" when StartDate.TimeOfDay.Ticks=0.

We have a server-side function with the following format that we usually use for this logic:

public static string GetShortDateTimeString(DateTime? aDateTime)

In the past, we've either called the function in the ItemDataBound event or used a GridTemplateColumn with a LinkButton to call the function:

<telerik:GridTemplateColumn HeaderText="[START DATE]"DataField="STARTDATE" UniqueName="STARTDATE">
    <ItemTemplate>
      <asp:LinkButton ID="lnkSTARTDATE" runat="server"
            Text='<%#GetShortDateTimeString((DateTime?)Eval("STARTDATE"))%>'
            OnCommand="lnkViewGrid_Command" CommandArgument='<%# Eval("OID").ToString() %>'/>
    </ItemTemplate>
     </telerik:GridTemplateColumn>

My question is whether there is something I can do in the GridButtonColumn definition to create this complex formatting logic, or if I have to use one of those two options. I tried using the GridButtonColumn "Text" field but got an error when I tried to load the page:

Databinding expressions are only supported on objects that have a DataBinding event. Telerik.Web.UI.GridButtonColumn does not have a DataBinding event.

--Christina

[Marin]

Hi Christina,

Such conditional formatting of the datetime cannot be achieved only through the markup so you will need some server side logic in order to accomplish this. The ItemDataBound event is a good place to call the custom function and format the column text in a appropriate way.

Regards,
Marin
the Telerik team