MonthCalendar.TrailingForeColor Property

Definition

Gets or sets a value indicating the color of days in months that are not fully displayed in the control.

C#
public System.Drawing.Color TrailingForeColor { get; set; }

Property Value

A Color. The default is Gray.

Exceptions

The value is not a valid Color.

Examples

The following code example displays a form containing a MonthCalendar control that displays one calendar year. The example demonstrates setting the BackColor, ForeColor, TitleBackColor, TitleForeColor, CalendarDimensions, and TrailingForeColor properties to customize the look of the calendar control. Other properties such as AnnuallyBoldedDates, BoldedDates, and MonthlyBoldedDates are set to customize which dates are bold. The example also sets the FirstDayOfWeek, MaxDate, MinDate, and MaxSelectionCount properties to change the calendar format. The DateSelected and DateChanged events are also handled and their status is displayed on the form.

C#
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;

public class Form1 : System.Windows.Forms.Form
{
    private System.Windows.Forms.MonthCalendar monthCalendar1;
    private System.Windows.Forms.TextBox textBox1;

    [STAThread]
    static void Main() 
    {
        Application.Run(new Form1());
    }

    public Form1()
    {
        this.textBox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.TextBox();
        this.textBox1.BorderStyle = System.Windows.Forms.BorderStyle.FixedSingle;
        this.textBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(48, 488);
        this.textBox1.Multiline = true;
        this.textBox1.ReadOnly = true;
        this.textBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(824, 32);

        // Create the calendar.
        this.monthCalendar1 = new System.Windows.Forms.MonthCalendar();

        // Set the calendar location.
        this.monthCalendar1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(47, 16);

        // Change the color.
        this.monthCalendar1.BackColor = System.Drawing.SystemColors.Info;
        this.monthCalendar1.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.FromArgb(
                                 ((System.Byte)(192)), ((System.Byte)(0)), ((System.Byte)(192)));
        this.monthCalendar1.TitleBackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Purple;
        this.monthCalendar1.TitleForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.Yellow;
        this.monthCalendar1.TrailingForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.FromArgb(
                                 ((System.Byte)(192)), ((System.Byte)(192)), ((System.Byte)(0)));

        // Add dates to the AnnuallyBoldedDates array.
        this.monthCalendar1.AnnuallyBoldedDates = 
            new System.DateTime[] { new System.DateTime(2002, 4, 20, 0, 0, 0, 0),
                                    new System.DateTime(2002, 4, 28, 0, 0, 0, 0),
                                    new System.DateTime(2002, 5, 5, 0, 0, 0, 0),
                                    new System.DateTime(2002, 7, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0),
                                    new System.DateTime(2002, 12, 15, 0, 0, 0, 0),
                                    new System.DateTime(2002, 12, 18, 0, 0, 0, 0)};

        // Add dates to BoldedDates array.
        this.monthCalendar1.BoldedDates = new System.DateTime[] {new System.DateTime(2002, 9, 26, 0, 0, 0, 0)};

        // Add dates to MonthlyBoldedDates array.
        this.monthCalendar1.MonthlyBoldedDates = 
           new System.DateTime[] {new System.DateTime(2002, 1, 15, 0, 0, 0, 0),
                                  new System.DateTime(2002, 1, 30, 0, 0, 0, 0)};

        // Configure the calendar to display 3 rows by 4 columns of months.
        this.monthCalendar1.CalendarDimensions = new System.Drawing.Size(4, 3);

        // Set week to begin on Monday.
        this.monthCalendar1.FirstDayOfWeek = System.Windows.Forms.Day.Monday;

        // Set the maximum visible date on the calendar to 12/31/2010.
        this.monthCalendar1.MaxDate = new System.DateTime(2010, 12, 31, 0, 0, 0, 0);

        // Set the minimum visible date on calendar to 12/31/2010.
        this.monthCalendar1.MinDate = new System.DateTime(1999, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0);

        // Only allow 21 days to be selected at the same time.
        this.monthCalendar1.MaxSelectionCount = 21;

        // Set the calendar to move one month at a time when navigating using the arrows.
        this.monthCalendar1.ScrollChange = 1;

        // Do not show the "Today" banner.
        this.monthCalendar1.ShowToday = false;

        // Do not circle today's date.
        this.monthCalendar1.ShowTodayCircle = false;
            
        // Show the week numbers to the left of each week.
        this.monthCalendar1.ShowWeekNumbers = true;

        // Add event handlers for the DateSelected and DateChanged events
        this.monthCalendar1.DateSelected += new System.Windows.Forms.DateRangeEventHandler(this.monthCalendar1_DateSelected);
        this.monthCalendar1.DateChanged += new System.Windows.Forms.DateRangeEventHandler(this.monthCalendar1_DateChanged);

        // Set up how the form should be displayed and add the controls to the form.
        this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(920, 566);
        this.Controls.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.Control[] {this.textBox1, this.monthCalendar1});
        this.Text = "Month Calendar Example";
    }

    private void monthCalendar1_DateSelected(object sender, System.Windows.Forms.DateRangeEventArgs e)
    {
        // Show the start and end dates in the text box.
        this.textBox1.Text = "Date Selected: Start = " +
            e.Start.ToShortDateString() + " : End = " + e.End.ToShortDateString();
    }

    private void monthCalendar1_DateChanged(object sender, System.Windows.Forms.DateRangeEventArgs e)
    {
        // Show the start and end dates in the text box.
        this.textBox1.Text = "Date Changed: Start =  " +
            e.Start.ToShortDateString() + " : End = " + e.End.ToShortDateString();
    }
}

Remarks

When the calendar is displayed, some dates precede and some follow the months that are fully displayed. Using the TrailingForeColor property, you can modify the color of the text for those dates.

Starting with Windows Vista and depending on the theme, setting this property might not change the appearance of the calendar. For example, if Windows is set to use the Aero theme, setting this property has no effect. This is because an updated version of the calendar is rendered with an appearance that is derived at run time from the current operating system theme. If you want to use this property and enable the earlier version of the calendar, you can disable visual styles for your application. Disabling visual styles might affect the appearance and behavior of other controls in your application. To disable visual styles in Visual Basic, open the Project Designer and uncheck the Enable XP visual styles check box. To disable visual styles in C#, open Program.cs and comment out Application.EnableVisualStyles();.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
Windows Desktop 3.0, 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10