DateTime Field

[Ryan]

My form includes a field of the DateTime type. I want to allow the user to
be able to set both the date and the time. By default the DateTimePicker
shows just the date and calendar, the time is autoset to 12:00 PM. How's
the best way to do this?

I tried creating a custom format which displays both the date and time and
turned on the Up Down option (DateTimePicker.ShowUpDown). This works but is
a bit clunky. The user has to click on each part of the field and then
either use the keyboard up down arrows or mouse-click the Up or Down arrows
on the control. I prefer my forms to be fully completable without the mouse
(though I do like mouse options available for those who want them). Tabbing
abandons the control rather than moving to the next portion of the field and
I don't see any way to control this behavior.

Another option I considered is 2 DateTimePicker controls on the form, both
tied to the same field, one for the Date and one for the Time. The problem
I forsee is that the data from each control could conflict. Just because
the date and time aren't displayed in each control doesn't mean they aren't
there.

Any tips appreciated.. thanks.

Ryan

 

[Ryan]

Ok for now what I decided to do was split the date and time into 2 fields.
Each field actually stores a date and time well because that's the way
Microsofts datetime field works, but the other stat is ignored (in other
words if its my date field the time portion is ignored and visa versa).
I'll go with this but still open to other suggestions.

 

[Kevin Yu [MSFT]]

Hi Ryan,

1. As you can see, to display the time in the DateTimePicker, we can
specify a CustomFormat and set Format to Custom to achieve this. Here I
used yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss as the CustomFormat.

The Tab key is used to switch the focus between the controls. Since going
through each part of the Date/Time is within this control. The
DateTimePicker has defined the arrow keys to accomplish this. You can use
left/right key to move among the parts and use up/down key to adjust values.

2. If you are considering using 2 DateTimePickers to collection Date and
Time separately, you can use the first picker's date value and the second
picker's time value and combine them into a new datetime object. That will
do the same for you.

In my opinion, I suggest you try my first suggestion, because this can be
done with one control. If anything is unclear, please feel free to let me
know.

Kevin Yu
Microsoft Online Community Support

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