Calendar: Data Binding

Data Source

Create a new datasource and assign the control ID to DataSourceID property in the designer (ASPX template):

<DayPilot:DayPilotCalendar ID="DayPilotCalendar1" runat="server" 
    DataSourceID="SqlDataSource1"     DataTextField="name" 
    DataValueField="id" 
    StartDate="2007-01-01" 
    DataStartField="Start" 
    DataEndField="End"  >
</DayPilot:DayPilotCalendar>

You can also assign data source directly using DataSource property (in the code only):

DayPilotCalendar1.DataSource = MyDataSource;

The data source must implement IListSource, IEnumerable or IDataSource interface. That is for example:

  • XmlDataSource
  • SqlDataSource
  • ArrayList
  • DataTable
  • DataSet (first DataTable will be loaded)

Columns

You need to specify which columns of the data source will be used:

PropertyRequiredColumn typeColumn purpose
DataStartFieldYesDateTimeEvent start date & time.
DataEndFieldYesDateTimeEvent end date & time.
DataValueFieldYesstringEvent primary key (id).
DataTextFieldYesstringEvent name (description).
DataColumnFieldIn Resources viewstringId of the column where the event should appear (used for Resources view, ViewType="Resources").
DataTagFieldsNostringEvent custom data (use it to pass additional information to event handlers). Comma separated list.

The column content will be converted to DateTime/string using Convert.ToDateTime()/Convert.ToString(). That means that the type doesn't have to be the same in the database. However, it must be convertible to the target type.

Data Binding

To load the data from the data source you need to call DataBind() method:

    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (!IsPostBack)
        {
            DataBind();
        }
    }

In the event handler (when handling either PostBack or CallBack) you need to call DataBind() again if you have changed the data (e.g., after modifying the event duration in EventResize handler). If you use CallBack handling rather than PostBack, you need to call Update() method to send the changes back to the control:

protected void DayPilotCalendar1_EventResize(object sender, EventResizeEventArgs e)
{
         
    // Update your data source here
    // ...
 

    DayPilotCalendar1.DataBind();
    DayPilotCalendar1.Update(); // necessary for handling CallBack, but won't hurt for PostBack
}

By default the event data are stored in the ViewState. It doesn't store the complete data source:

  • It selects only the values defined in DataValueField, DataTextField, DataColumnField, DataStartField, DataEndField columns from the data source.
  • It selects only the events that are within the time range specified by StartDate and Days properties.

Using DataTagFields

Define the data source fields that you want to pass with the event in DataTagFields, e.g. DataTagFields="eventtype, background".

There are three places where you can access the information from the tag fields:

  1. BeforeEventRender event handler (access it as e.Tag["eventtype"] here and use it to draw custom icons in the event, custom background colors, etc.)
  2. Event-related events on the client side, e.g. in EventClickJavaScript (as e.tag("eventtype")).
  3. Event-related events on the server side, e.g. in EventClick event handler (as e.Tag["eventtype"]).

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