Export DateTime Value
PROBLEM
1) When exporting DateTime values without a specified DataFormatString to Excel, the values appear as numbers as shown in Figure 1:
Figure 1: Exporting DateTime values without specified DataFormatString
2) When exporting DateTime values with specified DataFormatString to Excel, the values appear as strings as shown in Figure 2:
Figure 2: Exporting DateTime values with specified DataFormatString
CAUSE
1) In most modern programming environments, dates are stored as real numbers. The integer part of the number is the number of days since some agreed-upon date in the past, called the epoch. In Excel, June 16, 2006, for example, is stored as 38884, counting days where January 1st, 1900 is 1.
2) When a DataFormatString has been specified for a given column, RadGridView exports the string representation of the values in that column.
SOLUTION
When an element is exported through the ExportToXlsx, ExportToPdf, ExportToWorkbook or SpreadsheetStreamingExport methods, the arguments of the ElementExportingToDocument event can be used to modify the visual appearance of the exported values and specify how they should be formatted in Excel. This is achieved through the VisualParameters property of the GridViewCellExportingEventArgs.
Example 1: Exporting DateTime Values to Excel
this.radGridView.ElementExportingToDocument += (s, e) =>
{
if (e.Element == ExportElement.Cell)
{
var cellExportingArgs = e as GridViewCellExportingEventArgs;
if ((cellExportingArgs.Column as GridViewDataColumn) == this.radGridView.Columns[1])
{
var parameters = cellExportingArgs.VisualParameters as GridViewDocumentVisualExportParameters;
parameters.Style = new CellSelectionStyle()
{
Format = new CellValueFormat("m/d/yyyy")
};
}
}
};
AddHandler Me.radGridView.ElementExportingToDocument, Sub(s, e)
If e.Element = ExportElement.Cell Then
Dim cellExportingArgs = TryCast(e, GridViewCellExportingEventArgs)
If (TryCast(cellExportingArgs.Column, GridViewDataColumn)) Is Me.radGridView.Columns(1) Then
Dim parameters = TryCast(cellExportingArgs.VisualParameters, GridViewDocumentVisualExportParameters)
parameters.Style = New CellSelectionStyle() With {.Format = New CellValueFormat("m/d/yyyy")}
End If
End If
End Sub
Figure 3: Exporting DateTime values with ElementExportingToDocument
