UIHintAttribute Class (System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations)

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

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.NET Framework Class Library

UIHintAttribute Class

Updated: July 2008

Specifies the template or user-defined control Dynamic Data uses to display a data field.

Namespace: System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations
Assembly: System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations (in System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

<AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Property Or AttributeTargets.Field, AllowMultiple := True)> _
Public Class UIHintAttribute _
    Inherits Attribute

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As UIHintAttribute

[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Property|AttributeTargets.Field, AllowMultiple = true)]
public class UIHintAttribute : Attribute

Visual C++

[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets::Property|AttributeTargets::Field, AllowMultiple = true)]
public ref class UIHintAttribute : public Attribute

JScript

public class UIHintAttribute extends Attribute

Remarks

Dynamic Data uses the UIHintAttribute class to associate a user defined control with a data field. Dynamic Data uses UIHint property to determine the user-defined control to use to display a data field.

Examples

The following examples demonstrate how to add the UIHint property to a DynamicField field of a GridView control. The property is set to use a custom field template DateCalendar to displays a Calendar control for editing the DiscontinuedDate field of the Product table in the AdventureWorksLT database.

The following code snippet shows the page that uses the custom field template.

Visual Basic

<%@ Page Language="VB" %>

<script runat="server">

  Protected Sub Page_Init(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
    DynamicDataManager1.RegisterControl(ProductsGridView)
  End Sub

</script>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<html >
<head id="Head1" runat="server">
    <title>UIHint Property Sample</title>
    <link href="~/Site.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
</head>
<body>

  <form id="form1" runat="server">
    <div>
      <h2><%= ProductsDataSource.TableName%> table</h2>

      <asp:DynamicDataManager ID="DynamicDataManager1" runat="server"
        AutoLoadForeignKeys="true" />

      <asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server" EnablePartialRendering="true"/>

      <asp:UpdatePanel ID="UpdatePanel1" runat="server">
        <ContentTemplate>        

          <asp:GridView ID="ProductsGridView" runat="server" DataSourceID="ProductsDataSource"
            AutoGenerateEditButton="true"
            AutoGenerateColumns="false"
            AllowSorting="true"
            AllowPaging="true">
            <Columns>
              <asp:DynamicField DataField="Name" />
              <asp:DynamicField DataField="ProductNumber" />
              <asp:DynamicField DataField="DiscontinuedDate" UIHint="DateCalendar" />
            </Columns>        
            <EmptyDataTemplate>
              There are currently no items in this table.
            </EmptyDataTemplate>
          </asp:GridView>

          <!-- This example uses Microsoft SQL Server and connects   -->
          <!-- to the AdventureWorksLT sample database.              -->
          <asp:LinqDataSource ID="ProductsDataSource" runat="server" 
            EnableUpdate="true"
            TableName="Products" 
            ContextTypeName="AdventureWorksLTDataContext" />

          </ContentTemplate>
        </asp:UpdatePanel>

    </div>
  </form>
</body>
</html>

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>

<script runat="server">

  protected void Page_Init(object sender, EventArgs e) 
  {
    DynamicDataManager1.RegisterControl(ProductsGridView);
  }

</script>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<html >
<head id="Head1" runat="server">
    <title>UIHint Property Sample</title>
    <link href="~/Site.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
</head>
<body>

  <form id="form1" runat="server">
    <div>
      <h2><%= ProductsDataSource.TableName%> table</h2>

      <asp:DynamicDataManager ID="DynamicDataManager1" runat="server"
        AutoLoadForeignKeys="true" />

      <asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server" EnablePartialRendering="true"/>

      <asp:UpdatePanel ID="UpdatePanel1" runat="server">
        <ContentTemplate>        

          <asp:GridView ID="ProductsGridView" runat="server" DataSourceID="ProductsDataSource"
            AutoGenerateEditButton="true"
            AutoGenerateColumns="false"
            AllowSorting="true"
            AllowPaging="true">
            <Columns>
              <asp:DynamicField DataField="Name" />
              <asp:DynamicField DataField="ProductNumber" />
              <asp:DynamicField DataField="DiscontinuedDate" UIHint="DateCalendar" />
            </Columns>        
            <EmptyDataTemplate>
              There are currently no items in this table.
            </EmptyDataTemplate>
          </asp:GridView>

          <asp:LinqDataSource ID="ProductsDataSource" runat="server" 
            EnableUpdate="true"
            TableName="Products" 
            ContextTypeName="AdventureWorksLTDataContext" />

          </ContentTemplate>
        </asp:UpdatePanel>

    </div>
  </form>
</body>
</html>

The following code snippet shows the code behind the custom field template.

Visual Basic

<%@ Control Language="VB" Inherits="System.Web.DynamicData.FieldTemplateUserControl" %>

<script runat="server">

  Function GetDateString() As String 
    If Not (FieldValue Is Nothing) Then
      Dim dt As DateTime = CType(FieldValue, DateTime)
      Return dt.ToShortDateString()
    Else
      Return String.Empty
    End If
  End Function
</script>

<%# GetDateString() %>

<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.DynamicData.FieldTemplateUserControl" %>

<script runat="server">
    string GetDateString() 
    {
      if (FieldValue != null)
      {
        DateTime dt = (DateTime)FieldValue;
        return dt.ToShortDateString();
      }
      else
      {
        return string.Empty;
      }
    }
</script>

<%# GetDateString() %>

The following code snippet shows the custom field template.

Visual Basic

<%@ Control Language="VB" Inherits="System.Web.DynamicData.FieldTemplateUserControl" %>

<script runat="server">

  Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
    TextBox1.ToolTip = Column.Description

    SetUpValidator(RequiredFieldValidator1)
    SetUpValidator(RegularExpressionValidator1)
    SetUpValidator(DynamicValidator1)
  End Sub

  Protected Overrides Sub ExtractValues(ByVal dictionary As IOrderedDictionary)
    dictionary(Column.Name) = ConvertEditedValue(TextBox1.Text)
  End Sub

  Public Overrides ReadOnly Property DataControl() As Control
    Get
      Return TextBox1
    End Get
  End Property

  Protected Sub Calendar1_SelectionChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
    TextBox1.Text = Calendar1.SelectedDate.ToString("d")
  End Sub

  Function GetDateString() As String
    If Not (FieldValue Is Nothing) Then
      Dim dt As DateTime = CType(FieldValue, DateTime)
      Return dt.ToShortDateString()
    Else
      Return String.Empty
    End If
  End Function

</script>

<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" runat="server" 
  Text='<%# GetDateString() %>' 
  MaxLength="10">
</asp:TextBox>

<asp:Calendar ID="Calendar1" runat="server" 
  VisibleDate='<%# IIf(FieldValue Is Nothing, DateTime.Now, FieldValue) %>'
  SelectedDate='<%# IIf(FieldValue Is Nothing, DateTime.Now, FieldValue) %>' 
  OnSelectionChanged="Calendar1_SelectionChanged" />

<asp:RequiredFieldValidator runat="server" ID="RequiredFieldValidator1" 
  CssClass="droplist" ControlToValidate="TextBox1" Display="Dynamic" Enabled="false" />
<asp:RegularExpressionValidator runat="server" ID="RegularExpressionValidator1" 
  CssClass="droplist" ControlToValidate="TextBox1" Display="Dynamic" Enabled="false" />  
<asp:DynamicValidator runat="server" ID="DynamicValidator1" 
  CssClass="droplist" ControlToValidate="TextBox1" Display="Dynamic" />

<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.DynamicData.FieldTemplateUserControl" %>

<script runat="server">
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
        TextBox1.ToolTip = Column.Description;

        SetUpValidator(RequiredFieldValidator1);
        SetUpValidator(RegularExpressionValidator1);
        SetUpValidator(DynamicValidator1);
    }

    protected override void ExtractValues(IOrderedDictionary dictionary) {
      dictionary[Column.Name] = ConvertEditedValue(TextBox1.Text);
    }

    public override Control DataControl
    {
      get
      {
        return TextBox1;
      }
    }  

    protected void Calendar1_SelectionChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
      TextBox1.Text = Calendar1.SelectedDate.ToString("d");
    }

    string GetDateString()
    {
      if (FieldValue != null)
      {
        DateTime dt = (DateTime)FieldValue;
        return dt.ToShortDateString();
      }
      else
      {
        return string.Empty;
      }
    }
</script>

<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" runat="server" 
  Text='<%# GetDateString() %>' 
  MaxLength="10">
</asp:TextBox>

<asp:Calendar ID="Calendar1" runat="server" 
  VisibleDate='<%# (FieldValue != null) ? FieldValue : DateTime.Now %>'
  SelectedDate='<%# (FieldValue != null) ? FieldValue : DateTime.Now %>'
  OnSelectionChanged="Calendar1_SelectionChanged" />

<asp:RequiredFieldValidator runat="server" ID="RequiredFieldValidator1" 
  CssClass="droplist" ControlToValidate="TextBox1" Display="Dynamic" Enabled="false" />
<asp:RegularExpressionValidator runat="server" ID="RegularExpressionValidator1" 
  CssClass="droplist" ControlToValidate="TextBox1" Display="Dynamic" Enabled="false" />  
<asp:DynamicValidator runat="server" ID="DynamicValidator1" 
  CssClass="droplist" ControlToValidate="TextBox1" Display="Dynamic" />

To compile the example code, you need the following:

Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 or Visual Developer 2008 Express Edition Service Pack 1.
The AdventureWorksLT sample database. For information about how to download and install the SQL Server sample database, see Microsoft SQL Server Product Samples: Database on the CodePlex site. Make sure that you install the correct version of the sample database for the version of SQL Server that you are running (SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2008).
A Dynamic Data Web site. This enables you to create a data context for the database and the class that contains the data field to customize and the methods to override. In addition, it creates the environment in which to use the page described before. For more information, see Walkthrough: Creating a New ASP.NET Dynamic Data Web Site Using Scaffolding.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System..::.Object
System..::.Attribute
System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations..::.UIHintAttribute

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5 SP1

Reference

UIHintAttribute Members

System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations Namespace

Other Resources

How to: Customize Data Field Display in the Data Model

Change History

Date	History	Reason
July 2008	Added topic for new class.	SP1 feature change.

Date

History

Reason

July 2008

Added topic for new class.

SP1 feature change.