DateTimePicker | .NET Windows Forms in a Nutshell

DateTimePicker

marshal by reference, disposable

System. Windows .Forms (system. windows .forms.dll)

class

This Control class wraps the Win32 date/time selection common control. This is perhaps the least used of all the common controlsmost commercial applications seem to roll their own Outlook-style date and time pickers (or use one of several third-party controls available).

First, you can set the Format of the control. This can cause considerable changes in behavior from a Long or Short date (in which case you are provided with a drop-down calendar date picker and a formatted date edit field) to a Time (in which case you lose the calendar and gain a formatted time edit field). There is also Custom , which requires you to set the CustomFormat property and use your own date-time format string. The standard formats are derived from the system locale settings.

As well as the standard Control appearance properties, you can independently set the CalendarFont , CalendarForeColor , CalendarMonthBackground , CalendarTitleBackColor , CalendarTitleForeColor , and CalendarTrailingForeColor (that's the color of the days from last and next month that are shown on this months calendar grid). You can choose how the calendar drop-down menu is aligned (to the LeftRightAlignment.Left or Right edge of the control), by using the DropDownAlign property.

The control can display a checkbox using the ShowCheckBox property. It indicates whether a value is actually selected ( Checked )this lets you support null dates. You can also add a spin button with ShowUpDown that gives you another way to adjust the date.

The date range available can be set with MaxDate and MinDate (and there are static MaxDateTime and MinDateTime properties, which get the theoretical maximum and minimum values, that can be displayed by the control). However, you can only select a single Value in the control, which defaults to DateTime.Now . Compare this to the MonthCalendar control which allows you to select a range of dates, embolden certain dates, etc.

 public class  DateTimePicker  : Control {  // Public Constructors  public  DateTimePicker  ();  // Public Static Fields  public static readonly DateTime  MaxDateTime  ;  // =12/31/9998 12:00:00 AM  public static readonly DateTime  MinDateTime  ;  // =1/1/1753 12:00:00 AM   // Protected Static Fields  protected static readonly Color  DefaultMonthBackColor  ;  // =Color [Window]  protected static readonly Color  DefaultTitleBackColor  ;  // =Color [ActiveCaption]  protected static readonly Color  DefaultTitleForeColor  ;  // =Color [ActiveCaptionText]  protected static readonly Color  DefaultTrailingForeColor  ;  // =Color [GrayText]   // Public Instance Properties  public override Color  BackColor  {set; get; }  // overrides Control  public override Image  BackgroundImage  {set; get; }  // overrides Control  public Font  CalendarFont  {set; get; }    public Color  CalendarForeColor  {set; get; }    public Color  CalendarMonthBackground  {set; get; }    public Color  CalendarTitleBackColor  {set; get; }    public Color  CalendarTitleForeColor  {set; get; }    public Color  CalendarTrailingForeColor  {set; get; }    public bool  Checked  {set; get; }    public string  CustomFormat  {set; get; }    public LeftRightAlignment  DropDownAlign  {set; get; }    public override Color  ForeColor  {set; get; }  // overrides Control  public DateTimePickerFormat  Format  {set; get; }    public DateTime  MaxDate  {set; get; }    public DateTime  MinDate  {set; get; }    public int  PreferredHeight  {get; }    public bool  ShowCheckBox  {set; get; }    public bool  ShowUpDown  {set; get; }    public override string  Text  {set; get; }  // overrides Control  public DateTime  Value  {set; get; }  // Protected Instance Properties  protected override CreateParams  CreateParams  {get; }  // overrides Control  protected override Size  DefaultSize  {get; }  // overrides Control   // Public Instance Methods  public override string  ToString  ();  // overrides System.ComponentModel.Component   // Protected Instance Methods  protected override AccessibleObject  CreateAccessibilityInstance  ();  // overrides Control  protected override void  CreateHandle  ();  // overrides Control  protected override void  DestroyHandle  ();  // overrides Control  protected override bool  IsInputKey  (Keys  keyData  );  // overrides Control  protected virtual void  OnCloseUp  (EventArgs  eventargs  );    protected virtual void  OnDropDown  (EventArgs  eventargs  );    protected override void  OnFontChanged  (EventArgs  e  );  // overrides Control  protected virtual void  OnFormatChanged  (EventArgs  e  );    protected override void  OnSystemColorsChanged  (EventArgs  e  );  // overrides Control  protected virtual void  OnValueChanged  (EventArgs  eventargs  );    protected override void  SetBoundsCore  (int  x  , int  y  , int  width  , int  height  , BoundsSpecified  specified  );  // overrides Control  protected override void  WndProc  (ref Message  m  );  // overrides Control   // Events  public event EventHandler  CloseUp  ;    public event EventHandler  DropDown  ;    public event EventHandler  FormatChanged  ;    public event PaintEventHandler  Paint  ;  // overrides Control  public event EventHandler  ValueChanged  ; }

Hierarchy

System.Object System.MarshalByRefObject System.ComponentModel.Component(System.ComponentModel.IComponen, System.IDisposable) Control(IOleContro, IOleObject , IOleInPlaceObject , IOleInPlaceActiveObject , IOleWindow , IViewObject , IViewObject2 , IPersist , IPersistStreamInit , IPersistPropertyBag , IPersistStorage , IQuickActivate , System.ComponentModel.ISynchronizeInvoke , IWin32Window) DateTimePicker

Passed To

DateTimePickerAccessibleObject.DateTimePickerAccessibleObject()