FarPoint's Input Pro Product Tour

The fpDateTime control displays and formats date and time values. Date and time values can be set and returned independently. To simplify data entry, you can customize the fpDateTime control, restricting the values allowed in the control and formatting dates as you prefer. You can use a predefined format or define your own date/time format.

The fpDateTime control offers a calendar feature that lets the user see a month at a time (for example) and select a date. The control can display a pop-up calendar or a drop-down calendar, and you can customize the appearance of the calendar. Alternatively, the control can display a clock, or both a calendar and a clock. You can also add buttons to an fpDateTime control to customize user interaction.

Setting and Returning Date and Time Values | Providing Buttons | Validating Date/Time Data | Formatting Date/Time Values | Providing a Calendar or Clock | Customizing User Entry

Back to Top

Setting and Returning Date and Time Values

The fpDateTime control provides a number of properties that set and return date and time values, together or separately. In addition, the fpDateTime control provides a function or method that lets you return an adjusted date value, such as the date 10 days from the current date.

To set date and time values
	Set the Text property

To return date and time values, use the property
Text	Returns the date and time as a formatted string
UnFmtText	Returns the date and time in the format "YYYYMMDD HHNNSS"
Value	Returns the date and time as a value of the double data type in the format "ddddd.tttttttt", where "ddddd" represents the date value in the date serial format and "tttttttt" represents the time value in the time serial format. Date values prior to 12/30/1899 have negative date serial values. For example, the date 12/29/1899 has a date serial value of -1.

To set or return the complete date value
	Set or return the DateValue property using the format "YYYYMMDD"

To return an adjusted date value
	Call the DateAdjustDate function and provide the date value to adjust in the Date or DateString parameter, and the amount by which to adjust the date in the YearAdjust, MonthAdjust, and DayAdjust parameters.

To set or return a part of the date value
	Set or return the day, month, or year using the Day, Month, or Year properties

To set or return the complete time value
	Set or return the TimeValue property using the format "HH:NN:SS.xx", where "HH" stands for hours, "NN" for minutes, "SS" for seconds, and "xx" for hundredths of a second

To set or return a part of the time value
	Set or return the hours, minutes, or seconds using the Hour, Min, or Sec properties

Providing Buttons
The fpDateTime control can display buttons to let the user quickly change the value of the control without typing. You can choose which type of buttons to display and the amount by which the value of the control changes when the user clicks a button. The drop-down button, the pop-up button, and spin buttons all have default behaviors for the fpDateTime control. The drop-down and pop-up buttons let the user display a calendar for the month of the date value of the control or a clock for the time value. Spin buttons increment and decrement the date and time values of the control depending on the location of the cursor.

Validating Date/Time Data
NOTE: Be sure to read the Customizing User Entry* section below for information on validation of data while being entered by the user.* When the fpDateTime control loses the focus, it checks the value of the control to see whether it is valid. Any value other than a valid date or time is invalid; for example, "January 32, 1994" is invalid. If an invalid value is received, an InvalidData event occurs after the control loses the focus. However, if the user provides an incomplete date/time value, the fpDateTime control can supply missing values and delete extra characters to correct the date and time when it loses the focus. You can specify how the missing date or time values are calculated using the DateCalcMethod property. You can create an fpDateTime control that limits the range of dates and times that the user can type. Any date/time value that is larger than the maximum or smaller than the minimum date or time value is treated as invalid. You can change the fpDateTime control's appearance to reflect that it has received invalid data. In addition, you can specify whether and how invalid data is displayed. You can also specify whether the control allows the Null value.

Formatting Date/Time Values
You can create an fpDateTime control that displays a date only, a time only, or a combination of the two. You specify the format for the value by selecting a predefined format or creating a user-defined format. If you do not specify a date/time format for the control, the format defaults to the international or regional Windows settings. When you specify the international format, the control displays the format chosen in the Windows international or regional settings for the system. Time values default to the current international setting. You can specify that time values be displayed as 12-hour or 24-hour values. You can specify whether morning and evening indicators are displayed with the date and time values for user-defined date/time formats. You can also provide different text to display for the short and long day and month names.

Providing a Calendar or Clock
You can provide a calendar or clock, or both, for the fpDateTime control. By default, the fpDateTime control provides a pop-up calendar. You can use other default behaviors for the calendar and clock, or you can set specific behaviors, including writing your own code for the behavior or canceling the calendar or clock. You can also customize the appearance of the calendar, such as the changing the time interval and style of the headings. The user can display the calendar or clock at any time by clicking the right mouse button while the pointer is over the fpDateTime control, pressing the F4 key, or clicking the pop-up or drop-down button (if provided) on the fpDateTime control.You can also display the calendar or clock for the user at a particular time by setting the Action property to 7 (Pop-Up) in your code.

Customizing User Entry
If the UserEntry property is set to 0 (Formatted), the control checks each character as the user types it or when it is pasted into the control. If the user tries to type or paste a character that is not valid for the control, the control does not accept the character, and a UserError event occurs. You can also configure the control to beep when the user supplies an invalid character. The fpDateTime control accepts only numbers and letters that specify a valid date or time, accompanied by valid separator characters. The user can type any of the following characters to indicate distinct data, such as to separate month values from day values: comma (,), hyphen (-), slash (/), period (.), colon (:), space, and backslash (\). Regardless of which separator character the user types, the fpDateTime control displays separator characters according to the defined format. The characters that the fpDateTime control considers invalid depend on the date/time format. By default, the fpDateTime control uses the short date format specified in the Windows international or regional settings. You can change the format used by the fpDateTime control. The user does not have to type the date and time in the specified format unless the UserEntry property is set to 0 (Formatted). The fpDateTime control formats the date correctly when the control loses the focus. For example, when using the short date format, if the user types "July 4, 1994", the fpDateTime control formats the value as "7/4/94" when the control loses the focus.

fpDateTime Control

Have a question?

RSS Subscribe

SD Times 'TOP 100' Industry Innovator - Read the press release (pdf)

fpDoubleSingle Control

fpLongInteger Control