Using the DatePicker control in Silverlight 5


Using the DatePicker control in Silverlight 5

This article introduces the DatePicker control present in the Silverlight Toolkit and shows how to use it in Silverlight applications.

The DatePicker control enables users to select dates using a Calendar like interface. It also includes a TextBox as part of its interface so that users can enter a date instead of selecting one from the Calendar.

The DatePicker control is not part of the Silverlight runtime, it is available in the Silverlight SDK. To use a control from the Silverlight SDK, you must add a reference to the assembly and include the appropriate XML namespace mapping in XAML.

For example,

  xmlns:sdk="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation/sdk"

Let us see how to use this control.

Create a new Silverlight 5 application named SilverlightDemo.

You can see the DatePicker control in the Toolbox.

fig1.gif

Add the DatePicker control from the Toolbox into your application between the <Grid></Grid> tags.

The XAML markup will look as follows:

<UserControl x:Class="SilverlightDemo.MainPage"

    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

    xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"

    xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"

    mc:Ignorable="d"

    xmlns:sdk="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation/sdk"

    HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch">

    <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White">

        <sdk:DatePicker Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="49,77,0,0" Name="datePicker1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="120" />

    </Grid>

</UserControl>

Save, build, and execute the application. Click the calendar icon next to the Textbox in the DatePicker.

The output is shown in Figure 2.

fig2.gif

The default date format of the The DatePicker control is M/dd/yyyy. To change the format, you either use the SelectedDateFormat property which allows one of two values: Long or Short, or set the current culture of the thread to a new culture, which will also affect the date format. You can also change number of properties of this control. Figure 3 shows an example of some properties that are configured for the control.

fig3.gif

Add a TextBox and a Button control to the page and configure the XAML markup as follows:

<UserControl x:Class="SilverlightDemo.MainPage"

    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

    xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"

    xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"

    mc:Ignorable="d"

    xmlns:sdk="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation/sdk"

    HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch">

    <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White">

        <TextBox x:Name="txtDate" Height="20" Margin="49,124,182,156" Width="99"/>

        <sdk:DatePicker Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="49,77,0,0" Name="datePicker1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="120" DisplayDateEnd="11/26/2012" SelectionBackground="#FFE83333" FontFamily="Georgia" FontSize="14" DisplayDateStart="{Binding Text, ElementName=txtDate, Mode=TwoWay}" />

        <Button Height="25" Margin="40,167,169,108" Width="94" Content="OK"/>

    </Grid>

</UserControl>

This markup sets the start date, end date, font style, selection background color, and binds the content of the text box to the DatePicker. A sample output is shown in Figure 4:

fig4.gif

Some of the commonly used properties of the DatePicker control are:

Property

Description

BlackoutDates

Retrieves or assigns a collection of dates that are blacked out or unselectable

CalendarStyle

Retrieves or assigns the style that is used when rendering the calendar

DisplayDate

Retrieves or assigns the date to be displayed

DisplayDateEnd

Retrieves or assigns the beginning date in the calendar

DisplayDateStart

Retrieves or assigns the end date in the calendar

FirstDayOfWeek

Retrieves or assigns the day that is considered the beginning of the week

IsDropDownOpen

Retrieves or assigns a value that indicates whether the drop-down Calendar is open or closed

IsTodayHighlighted

Retrieves or assigns a value that indicates whether the current date is  highlighted

SelectedDate

Retrieves or assigns the selected date

SelectedDateFormat

Retrieves or assigns the format that is used to display the selected date

SelectionBackground

Retrieves or assigns the background used for selected dates

Conclusion: This article covered the DatePicker control in Silverlight 5.


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