Setting MinDate/MaxDate in EditItemTemplate of RadGrid

[Jon]

I am having trouble setting the default values I want to use for MinDate and MaxDate within the EditItemTemplate of a GridTemplateColumn within a RadGrid. Since this control is nested so deeply, I don't have direct access to it in code-behind, so I wanted to set the MinDate and MaxDate in-line in the page (.aspx) markup.

Here's what I have currently for the GridTemplateColumn (I have omitted the MaxDate for the time being, which would be set to the current date, i.e. DateTime.Today):

<telerik:GridTemplateColumn DataField="ScheduleDate" HeaderButtonType="None"
    HeaderText="Day" SortExpression="ScheduleDate" UniqueName="ScheduleDate">
    <EditItemTemplate>
        <asp:Label ID="Label_ScheduleDate" runat="server" AssociatedControlID = "RadDatePicker_ScheduleDate"></asp:Label>
        <telerik:RadDatePicker ID="RadDatePicker_ScheduleDate" UniqueName="RadDatePicker_ScheduleDate" runat="server" Width="80px"
            Skin="Outlook" MinDate='<%= System.DateTime.Today().AddDays(-30) %>'>
            <DateInput onclick="$find('<%= RadDatePicker_ScheduleDate.ClientID %>').showPopup();">
            </DateInput>
            <Calendar DayNameFormat="FirstTwoLetters" FirstDayOfWeek="Default">
            </Calendar>
            <DatePopupButton Visible="true" />
        </telerik:RadDatePicker>
    </EditItemTemplate>
    <ItemTemplate>
        <asp:Label ID="ScheduleDateLabel" runat="server"
            Text='<%# Eval("ScheduleDate", "{0:d}") %>'></asp:Label>
    </ItemTemplate>
</telerik:GridTemplateColumn>

In the Visual Studio 2008 designer, I get an error from the parser:

"Error Creating Control - RadGrid_StaffBreakout: Cannot create an object of type 'System.DateTime' from its string representation '<%= System.DateTime.Today().AddDays(-30) %>' for the 'MinDate' property."

According to the MSDN documentation, this returns a DateTime structure (not an object, since DateTime is a value type). I tried several work arounds like using ToString() and also combining ToString with DateTime.Parse, but none of these worked.

How can I set the MinDate and MaxDate values in the mark-up of the page?

I am using "RAD Controls for ASP.NET AJAX Q2 2010 - SP2"

Thanks,

Jon

[Shinu]

Hello Jon,

You can access the DatePicker from codebehind and set the min date like below.
C#:

protected void rad_ItemDataBound(object sender, GridItemEventArgs e)
    {
if (e.Item is GridEditFormItem && e.Item.IsInEditMode)//popup&editform
        {
            GridEditFormItem edititem = (GridEditFormItem)e.Item;
            RadDatePicker txt1 = (RadDatePicker)edititem.FindControl("RadDatePicker_ScheduleDate");
            txt1.MinDate = System.DateTime.Now.AddDays(-30);
         }
     }

Thanks,

Shinu.

[Jon]

Shinu,

Thank you for your suggestion. I ended up using the server-side idea, but still think and wish this could be done client-side (which to me seems to be a bug). IMHO, the syntax I used was standard aspx markup, so I'm puzzled why the RadGrid is not honoring this client-side.

Thanks again,

Jon

[Radoslav]

Hello Jon,

Could you please try using the following code snippet and let me know if the issue still exists:

<telerik:GridTemplateColumn DataField="ScheduleDate" HeaderButtonType="None"
    HeaderText="Day" SortExpression="ScheduleDate" UniqueName="ScheduleDate">
    <EditItemTemplate>
        <asp:Label ID="Label_ScheduleDate" runat="server" AssociatedControlID = "RadDatePicker_ScheduleDate"></asp:Label>
        <telerik:RadDatePicker ID="RadDatePicker_ScheduleDate" UniqueName="RadDatePicker_ScheduleDate" runat="server" Width="80px"
            Skin="Outlook" MinDate='<%# System.DateTime.Today().AddDays(-30) %>'>
            <DateInput onclick="$find('<%= RadDatePicker_ScheduleDate.ClientID %>').showPopup();">
            </DateInput>
            <Calendar DayNameFormat="FirstTwoLetters" FirstDayOfWeek="Default">
            </Calendar>
            <DatePopupButton Visible="true" />
        </telerik:RadDatePicker>
    </EditItemTemplate>
    <ItemTemplate>
        <asp:Label ID="ScheduleDateLabel" runat="server"
            Text='<%# Eval("ScheduleDate", "{0:d}") %>'></asp:Label>
    </ItemTemplate>
</telerik:GridTemplateColumn>

Additionally I am sending you a simple example which demonstrates the desired functionality.

I hope this helps.

Greetings,
Radoslav
the Telerik team

[Bill]

I tried the way Radoslav suggested and it worked for me.

[Mark Mazzitello]

Thank you - I searched a long time to find out how to set the minDate to the current date from client side code.  
This example from Radoslav works perfectly, except I was getting a compile error and I had to remove the () after the "Today" so it reads:  
MinDate='<%# System.DateTime.Today.AddDays(-30) %>'

[Kiran]

Hello.. can anyone please explain why this is not working with the code below. With the below code, the RadDateTimePicker still allows me to select the previous dates.  I could not attach the sample project here but please let me know if needed so that i can attach the same. Attached the screenshot of the sample page though, having the below controls.  And the version of Telerik is 2012.2.815.40

<Telerik:RadDateTimePicker runat="server" ID="dtNeedBy" MinDate="<%# DateTime.Today %>" />
<Telerik:RadDateTimePicker runat="server" ID="RadDateTimePicker1" MinDate="<%# DateTime.Today.AddDays(-30) %>" />

[Shinu]

Hi Kiran,

Please try invoking the Page.DataBind() in Page_Load event which worked as expected.
 
ASPX:

<telerik:RadDateTimePicker runat="server" ID="dtNeedBy" MinDate="<%# DateTime.Today %>" />
<telerik:RadDateTimePicker runat="server" ID="RadDateTimePicker1" MinDate="<%# DateTime.Today.AddDays(-30) %>" />

C#:

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    Page.DataBind();
}

Thanks,
Shinu.

[Kiran]

Thank you very much Shinu. It worked.