Complex DataBinding with Date Formats in .NET 1.1

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Did you know that you can do some pretty complex things with .NET's late binding in ASP.NET 1.X? I had a problem where I needed to be able to kick out dates in a specific format. I didn't want to use a helper method, which involves compiled code, so I found a solution.

1<%# CType(DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "DateAdded"), DateTime).ToString("dd MMM yyyy") %>

Your datatype on the DataItem can be a string or a DateTime object. Either way, you must do the conversion first, otherwise there would be an implicit conversion, which is not allowed in late-binding code. The bold part is the name of the date property on the object you are binding against.

As with any late-binding, you'll have a slight performance delay on the first hit, but that's just cause the page is recompiling. It'll be fine after that.

4 Comments

How about

DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "DateAdded", "dd MMM yyyy")

Same thing... without the cast.

Matt Berther - Thursday, September 30, 2004 5:48:00 AM

Nope, doesn't work. I get "dd MMM yyyy" as my value. That's why I had to cast...

Robert McLaws - Thursday, September 30, 2004 6:02:00 AM

Or you could use:

CType(Container.DataItem.DateAdded, DateTime).ToString("dd MMM yyyy")

I find it a bit more compact and easier to read.

LeeB - Thursday, September 30, 2004 6:53:00 AM

Try

DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "DateAdded", "{0:dd MMM yyyy}")

or (depending on the type of Container.DataItem) (c# code)

((DataRowView) Container.DataItem)["DateAdded"].ToString("dd MMM yyyy")

to avoid the use of reflection in the .Eval.

Johnny Hall - Thursday, September 30, 2004 1:02:00 PM

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