FormatInfo.FormatString Property

Gets the pattern for formatting values.

Namespace: DevExpress.Utils

Assembly: DevExpress.Data.v24.2.dll

Declaration

C#

public virtual string FormatString { get; set; }

VB.NET

Public Overridable Property FormatString As String

Property Value

Type	Description
String	The string representing the format pattern.

Remarks

Use the FormatString property to specify the format pattern for formatting values.

Standard format specifiers for composing the format pattern are described in the Standard Numeric Format Strings and Date and Time Format Strings topics in MSDN.

In addition to the format string, you need to specify the format provider which contains information how to interpret the format string. This can be done by defining one of the following properties:

1. FormatInfo.FormatType. Use this property if you wish to format values based on the current language and regional settings (culture).

   Note

   Changing the FormatType property automatically resets the FormatString property. Thus, it is recommended to set FormatType prior to FormatString.

2. FormatInfo.Format. The property allows you to specify the format provider for a specific culture.

See Formatting Values, to learn more.

Example

The sample code below formats display values of the date and text editors. The FormatInfo.FormatType and FormatInfo.FormatString properties of the editor’s RepositoryItem.DisplayFormat object are used for this purpose.

The image below displays the editors before and after formatting their display values.

C#

dateEdit1.Properties.DisplayFormat.FormatType = FormatType.DateTime;
dateEdit1.Properties.DisplayFormat.FormatString = "MMMM/yyyy";
textEdit1.Properties.DisplayFormat.FormatType = FormatType.Numeric;
textEdit1.Properties.DisplayFormat.FormatString = "c2";

VB.NET

DateEdit1.Properties.DisplayFormat.FormatType = FormatType.DateTime
DateEdit1.Properties.DisplayFormat.FormatString = "MMMM/yyyy"
TextEdit1.Properties.DisplayFormat.FormatType = FormatType.Numeric
TextEdit1.Properties.DisplayFormat.FormatString = "c2"

Related GitHub Examples

The following code snippets (auto-collected from DevExpress Examples) contain references to the FormatString property.

Note

The algorithm used to collect these code examples remains a work in progress. Accordingly, the links and snippets below may produce inaccurate results. If you encounter an issue with code examples below, please use the feedback form on this page to report the issue.

C#

winforms-grid-copy-cells-in-biff8-format-using-excel-export-api/CS/gridCopyToClipboardExample/CopyToClipboardHelper.cs#L33

if(gridColumn.DisplayFormat.FormatType == FormatType.DateTime)
    column.ApplyFormatting(XlCellFormatting.FromNetFormat(gridColumn.DisplayFormat.FormatString, true));
else if(gridColumn.DisplayFormat.FormatType != FormatType.None)

winforms-pivot-access-other-cell-value-while-calculating-the-current-cell/CS/WinAppCustomCellValue/Form1.cs#L20

fieldPercentOfBeverages.CellFormat.FormatType = DevExpress.Utils.FormatType.Numeric;
fieldPercentOfBeverages.CellFormat.FormatString = "P";
pivotGridControl1.Fields.Add(fieldPercentOfBeverages);

winforms-treelist-unbound-columns/CS/TreeList_UnboundDataViaEvent/Form1.cs#L33

unbColumnMarchChange.Format.FormatType = DevExpress.Utils.FormatType.Numeric;
unbColumnMarchChange.Format.FormatString = "p2";
tlBandThisYear.Columns.Add(unbColumnMarchChange);

winforms-grid-custom-print-cells-headers-in-print-preview/CS/GridBeforePrint/MyGridViewPrintInfo.cs#L87

View.OptionsPrint.PrintVertLines,
cell.ColumnInfo.Column.DisplayFormat.FormatString,
CalcBrickBordersEX(),

winforms-lookupedit-bind-to-simple-data-types/CS/LookupEdit-StandardBinding/Form1.cs#L23

gridView1.Columns["UnitPrice"].DisplayFormat.FormatType = DevExpress.Utils.FormatType.Numeric;
gridView1.Columns["UnitPrice"].DisplayFormat.FormatString = "c2";

VB.NET

winforms-grid-copy-cells-in-biff8-format-using-excel-export-api/VB/gridCopyToClipboardExample/CopyToClipboardHelper.vb#L34

If gridColumn.DisplayFormat.FormatType = FormatType.DateTime Then
    column.ApplyFormatting(XlCellFormatting.FromNetFormat(gridColumn.DisplayFormat.FormatString, True))
ElseIf gridColumn.DisplayFormat.FormatType <> FormatType.None Then

winforms-pivot-access-other-cell-value-while-calculating-the-current-cell/VB/WinAppCustomCellValue/Form1.vb#L17

fieldPercentOfBeverages.CellFormat.FormatType = DevExpress.Utils.FormatType.Numeric
fieldPercentOfBeverages.CellFormat.FormatString = "P"
pivotGridControl1.Fields.Add(fieldPercentOfBeverages)

winforms-grid-visualize-master-detail-data/VB/Form1.vb#L59

    cardView1.Columns("UnitPrice").DisplayFormat.FormatType = DevExpress.Utils.FormatType.Numeric
    cardView1.Columns("UnitPrice").DisplayFormat.FormatString = "c2"
End Sub

winforms-treelist-unbound-columns/VB/TreeList_UnboundDataViaEvent/Form1.vb#L28

unbColumnMarchChange.Format.FormatType = DevExpress.Utils.FormatType.Numeric
unbColumnMarchChange.Format.FormatString = "p2"
tlBandThisYear.Columns.Add(unbColumnMarchChange)

winforms-grid-custom-print-cells-headers-in-print-preview/VB/GridBeforePrint/MyGridViewPrintInfo.vb#L79

Dim horzAlignment As HorzAlignment = (TryCast(Me.View, MyGridView)).GetHorzAlignment(rowHandle, cell.Column, cell.Appearance.HAlignment)
Dim info As New PrintCellHelperInfo(New Point(If(cell.Column Is Nothing, -1, cell.Column.AbsoluteIndex), rowHandle), LineColor, PrintingSystemBase, cell.CellValue, cell.Appearance, displayText, r, Graph, horzAlignment, Me.View.OptionsPrint.PrintHorzLines, Me.View.OptionsPrint.PrintVertLines, cell.ColumnInfo.Column.DisplayFormat.FormatString, CalcBrickBordersEX(), PaddingInfo.Empty)