The power of the DateSelect control would be more useful, if the functionality
of the control can be customized to match the application. This section
describes the various ways you could customize the control to your need.
Customizing Options
Fifteen different options are available in the DateSelect control for
selecting a date range. However, you may selectively hide/show the ones
most appropriate to the application. You may also change the text displayed
for the options in the drop down list.
To hide some of the options at design time, use the 'Settings' PropertyPage.
All options are listed in a checked list box, and you may uncheck any
inappropriate option from this list. At run time, you may use the Options
Property of the control as follows:
dts.Options(Option_Name).Visible = [True
| False]
Where Option_Name is one of the dtsOptions Enum, or a numeric value
between 0 and 14.
You can also customize the Text displayed for each options, in the
DropDownList. This can't be done at design time. Following code demonstrates
how to do it at run time:
dts.Options(Option_Name).Text = "New
Text of your choice"
Where Option_Name is one of the dtsOptions Enum, or a numeric value
between 0 and 14.
This feature can be used for localization purpose.
Customizing Initial Settings
At design time, you may set the Selected Option (Selection), Selected
Month, Selected Year, Selected Custom Choice etc. through various properties
or the Property Pages. This allows you to assist the user with the options
they are most likely to use. Note that these are initial options when
the control loads, and will change as the user changes their selection.
These Properties are also available at run time if you need to retrieve
the user selection via code, or set them programmatically. The following
table lists these properties:
|
Property |
Description |
| Selection |
Returns/Sets
the Options selected in the Options Drop Down List Box. |
|
SelectedMonth |
Returns/Sets
a numeric value indicating the month selected in the Month List
Box. |
|
SelectedYear |
Returns/Sets
the year value in the Up/Down control. |
| CustomChoice |
Returns/Sets
the option selected in the Custom Choice Drop Down List Box. |
| CustomRange |
Returns/Sets
the numeric value in the CustomRange TextBox. |
| Operator
|
Returns/Sets
the operator used in expression. |
| StartDate |
Returns/Sets
the Start Date value. |
| EndDate |
Returns/Sets
the End Date value. |
Properties for setting options and
values.
Disabling Constituent Controls
The DateSelect allows You to disable most of the Constituent controls
if needed, so that the user won't be able to change the values. The
following properties are available for this purpose:
|
Property |
Description |
| DisableSelection |
The Option
List is disabled, which means the user must use the option you set. |
|
DisableCustomChoice |
Disables
the CustomChoice Drop Down list box, which means you may restrict
to only one options (Date, Month, Week or Year) when the user selects
CustomRange as the option. |
|
DisableStartDate |
Disables
the Start Date DatePicker control, even when the user selects an
option that allows changing the start date (Date, Expression, DateRange
etc.). |
|
DisableEndDate |
Disables
the End Date DatePicker control, even if the user selects an option
that allows changing the end date (DateRange). |
Properties that disable constituent
controls.
