How to: Set and Return Dates with the Windows Forms DateTimePicker Control

The currently selected date or time in the Windows Forms DateTimePicker control is determined by the Value property. You can set the Value property before the control is displayed (for example, at design time or in the form's Load event) to determine which date will be initially selected in the control. By default, the control's Value is set to the current date. If you change the control's Value in code, the control is automatically updated on the form to reflect the new setting.

The Value property returns a DateTime structure as its value. There are several properties of the DateTime structure that return specific information about the displayed date. These properties can only be used to return a value; do not use them to set a value.

• For date values, the Month, Day, and Year properties return integer values for those time units of the selected date. The DayOfWeek property returns a value indicating the selected day of the week (possible values are listed in the DayOfWeek enumeration).

• For time values, the Hour, Minute, Second, and Millisecond properties return integer values for those time units. To configure the control to display times, see How to: Display Time with the DateTimePicker Control.

To set the date and time value of the control

• Set the Value property to a date or time value.

  C#

  dateTimePicker1.Value = new DateTime(2001, 10, 20);  
  

To return the date and time value

• Call the Text property to return the entire value as formatted in the control, or call the appropriate method of the Value property to return a part of the value. Use ToString to convert the information into a string that can be displayed to the user.

  C#

  MessageBox.Show ("The selected value is " +
     dateTimePicker1.Text);  
  MessageBox.Show ("The day of the week is " +
     dateTimePicker1.Value.DayOfWeek.ToString());  
  MessageBox.Show("Millisecond is: " +
     dateTimePicker1.Value.Millisecond.ToString());  
  

See also

• DateTimePicker Control
• How to: Display a Date in a Custom Format with the Windows Forms DateTimePicker Control