Format Telephone # With Extension

[Neil N]

I've got a column with telephone numbers, some with extensions, entered via a RadMaskedTextBox with Mask="(###) ###-#### ####".  Is it possible to have a DataFormatString which shows the entries properly? DataFormatString="{0:(###) ###-#### ####}" shifts everything to the right for numbers with no extensions.

[Princy]

Hi,

One suggestion is that you can use a MaskedColumn as shown below.
aspx:

<telerik:GridMaskedColumn DataFormatString="{0:(###) -#### ##}" Mask="(###) ###-####" UniqueName="TelephoneNumber" HeaderText="Phone" DataField="Phone" > </telerik:GridMaskedColumn>

Thanks,
Princy

[Neil N]

Weird. Following up on your suggestion I looked at the online demo for GridMaskedColumn which had this code:

<telerik:GridMaskedColumn Mask="(###) ###-####" UniqueName="HomePhone" SortExpression="HomePhone"
    HeaderText="Masked Column" DataField="HomePhone" FooterText="MaskedColumn footer">
    <ItemStyle Width="100px"></ItemStyle>
</telerik:GridMaskedColumn>

My test code:

<telerik:GridBoundColumn DataField="sPhone"
    FilterControlAltText="Filter sPhone column" HeaderText="sPhone"
    SortExpression="sPhone" UniqueName="sPhone">
</telerik:GridBoundColumn>
<telerik:GridMaskedColumn DataField="sPhone" DisplayMask="(###) ###-####"
    FilterControlAltText="Filter column column" Mask="(###) ###-####" HeaderText="test"
    UniqueName="column">
</telerik:GridMaskedColumn>

The demo uses the Northwind db which has the phone number stored as a string as does my database.  Yet the mask doesn't take effect in my test.

[Eyup]

Hello Neil,

The GridMaskedColumn generates a RadMaskedTextBox control for its edit mode, however, it does not modify the column content on view mode:
http://www.telerik.com/help/aspnet-ajax/grid-column-types.html

Also, please note that you can use this specific # DataFormatString with numeric values only:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0c899ak8.aspx

For a string type field, you can use the following approach:

protected void RadGrid1_ItemDataBound(object sender, GridItemEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.Item is GridDataItem)
    {
        GridDataItem dataItem = e.Item as GridDataItem;
        RadMaskedTextBox maskedBox = new RadMaskedTextBox();

        maskedBox.Mask = "(aaa) aaa-aaaa aaa";
        maskedBox.Text = dataItem["ColumnUniqueName"].Text;

        dataItem["ColumnUniqueName"].Text = maskedBox.TextWithLiterals;
    }
}

Hope this helps. Please give it a try and let me know if it works for you.

Kind regards,
Eyup
the Telerik team