GridViewDateTimeColumn with empty/null value

[Robert]

I'm binding a GridView to a datasource with Date/Time fields which may be null or empty. I'd like to either display "none' or a blank string in the column, but no matter what I do it always shows up as "1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM".

How can I at least hide this text?

[Victor]

Hello Robert,

The DateTimePicker editor does not support null values, this is why it displays the earliest possible date.
This functionality works as expected in the Q2 Release - please find attached a screenshot that demonstrates this.

I would suggest upgrading to our latest Q2 release. It includes several major improvements in the framework on which RadControls are based. The most important changes are a refactored RadObject which implements a more efficient property storage and retrieval mechanism which improves both performance and memory usage. In addition, you will find a completely new RadDock control which is more lightweight and flexible than the previous DockingManager.
 

Sincerely yours,
Victor
the Telerik team

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[Tom]

I'm still having this problem even with new release of q1 2010.  When the date field is retrieved from the database and it is empty, grid control automatically enters 1/1/0001 for it in the field.

[Deyan]

Hello Tom,

 Thanks for writing.

I have tried to reproduce the case using the Q1 2010 DLLs but it works as expected on my side, i.e. I have bound my grid to a data table containing rows with Date Time fields and I get empty cells each time the Date Time field is NULL in the database.

Could you please confirm that you are using Q1 2010? I would also like to ask you to prepare a small WinForms application that demonstrates the issue so that we can directly take a look at it.

Please note that you will have to open a new support ticket in order to be able to attach your project.

Thanks for your time.

Regards,
Deyan
the Telerik team

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[David]

I have Q1 2011 and null datetime values in gridViewDateTimeColumn1 still want to display as 1/1/0001.  I have to display an empty date time field.  How is this accomplished?

[Don]

What I've done is check the date value of the data and replaced dates of #12:00:00 AM# or #1/1/0001# with empty strings in the data set used to populate a grid. It was the only way I could get an empty cell in a date column. It's not pretty, but it works.

[Svett]

Hello David,

As an alternative you can use the NullValue property of the GridViewDateTimeColumn. You can read more about this matter in the online documentation.

Kind regards,
Svett
the Telerik team

[David]

Note that the value of the NullValue property should be the same as its column data type. 

Using NullValue = null did not work for a null value on the DateTime column.  Nor did the attempt to chance NullValue = 0, which caused the expected error.  The NullValue = null only shows '01-01-0001' which is System.DateTime.MinValue

I had to add the following to radGridView1_CellFormatting event handler which I found elsewhere on the Telerik site.

GridViewDataColumn dataColumn = e.CellElement.ColumnInfo as GridViewDataColumn;
 
if (dataColumn.Name == "MyDateTime")
{
    DateTime dtValue = (DateTime)e.CellElement.RowInfo.Cells[dataColumn.Name].Value;
    if (dtValue == System.DateTime.MinValue)
    {
        e.CellElement.Text = "";
    }
}

[Svett]

Hello David,

This approach is good as well. Still, in order to use the best practices, you can use the following version:

GridViewDataColumn dataColumn = e.CellElement.ColumnInfo as GridViewDataColumn;

if (dataColumn.Name == "MyDateTime")
{
    DateTime dtValue = (DateTime)e.CellElement.RowInfo.Cells[dataColumn.Name].Value;

    if (dtValue == System.DateTime.MinValue)
    {
        e.CellElement.Text = "";
    }
    else
    {
        e.CellElement.ResetValue(LightVisualElement.TextProperty, ValueResetFlags.Local);
    }
}
else
{
    e.CellElement.ResetValue(LightVisualElement.TextProperty, ValueResetFlags.Local);
}

I hope this helps.

Greetings,
Svett
the Telerik team