Ext.Net retrieve DateField with GetCmp

Question

I have a web page in ASP + Ext.Net in c# where I create some controls dynamically (text fields, comboboxes, datefields etc) based on an XML. When the user presses a button I have to read the values of those controls and do something with it, so I am using Ext.Net.X.GetCmp to do that. It works just fine for all controls, unless the control is a date control (T=DateField), and unless it has a custom date format (e.g. "dd MMM yyyy"). In that case, it returns a FormatException when I Try to retrieve the control.

A very short example to reproduce the problem:

ASPX:

<%@ Page Language="C#" CodeBehind="Sandbox.aspx.cs" Inherits="MyNamespace.Sandbox" %>

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head runat="server">
    <title>Multiple DateFields with DateRange Validation - Ext.NET Examples</title>
    <link href="/resources/css/examples.css" rel="stylesheet" />
</head>
<body>
    <form runat="server">
        <ext:ResourceManager runat="server" />


        <ext:Window 
            runat="server" 
            Width="350"
            Title="DateRange"
            Icon="Date"
            Closable="false"
            BodyPadding="5"
            Layout="Anchor"
            DefaultAnchor="100%">
            <Items>
                <ext:Button ID="MyTestButton" runat="server" Flex="1" Text="Test" ToolTip="Click here to crash" OnDirectClick="ButtonClicked" />
                <ext:FieldContainer
                    ID="MyFieldContainer"
                    runat="server"
                    >
                    <Items>
                        <%--HERE I CREATE A DATEFIELD IN CODE BEHIND--%>
                    </Items>
                </ext:FieldContainer>
            </Items>           
        </ext:Window>                
   </form>
</body>
</html>

Code behind (C#):

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using Ext.Net;

namespace MyNamespace {
    public partial class Sandbox : System.Web.UI.Page {
        protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
            if (!this.Page.IsPostBack) {
                CreateDateField();
            }
        }

        protected void CreateDateField() {
            DateField date = new DateField() {
                ID = "MyDateField",
                //FieldLabel = "From",
                Format = "dd MMM yyyy",
                SubmitFormat = "dd/MM/yyyy",
                Value = "01 Jun 2014"
            };
            date.AddTo(MyFieldContainer);
        }

        [DirectMethod]
        public void ButtonClicked(object sender, DirectEventArgs e) {
            // Try to retrieve the control.
            // Spoiler alert: it will crash
            DateField date = Ext.Net.X.GetCmp<DateField>("MyDateField");
            // Change the date to see if it worked.
            date.Value = "02 Jun 2014";
        }
    }
}

The error I get is just a System.FormatException: String was not recognized as a valid DateTime. I have tried playing with the SubmitFormat property with no luck. Again, with the default date format it works just fine, but a requirement for the customer is to have their custom date format.

What am I doing wrong? Thank you very much for the help.

Daniil Veriga Daniil Veriga · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-18T12:27:41

X.GetCmp reads a value from POST, but it has no idea about the Format, because it is absent in POST.

You have to specify the format manually. The same format that the DateField is created with.

X.GetCmp<DateField>("dfDate", new DateField.Config() { Format = "dd MMM yyyy"});

A bit more details about the X.GetCmp feature.

Ext.Net retrieve DateField with GetCmp

1 Answers