Hi Mike

That looks like a potentially great solution, I hadn't thought of looking for enter/exit edit mode properties on the text editor - that sounds like it could be the missing piece.  I will give it a go.

Re SQL changing the data:  

We are using a decimal in both the code and in SQL Server (2008 R2).  When we assign a value to the decimal property in code it gets just the number of decimal places the user entered.  When we save and reload the data from the database it then has the number of decimal places defined on the database.  

So, if the user enters 21.1 in a control bound to a user class then that value will stay as 21.1 until the data in the class is reloaded from the database.  As soon as that happens then the value will show as 21.1000 (if the value was defined as say Decimal(10.4) in SQL, i.e. with 4DP).  This happens on both UltraTextEdtiors and in grid columns.

I'm guessing that the reason is that .net holds the decimal value as a literal in memory, so if the value is set to 21.1000 then .net doesn't knock off the trailing zeros, it just holds it in memory like that.  When the infragistics controls then access the ToString property 21.1000 is returned, rather than the 21.1 I would have expected.  

If you create a Decimal(10,4) column in a table in SQL and enter 21.1 into that field via the editor SQL will save and display that value as 21.1000.  I guess it also reports the value back to our code as 21.1000 and so this is the value that gets put in the class's property and consequently into the control.

Hi,

Hmm, very interesting. I didn't think this was possible, but I did a little research and apparently, the decimal data type has a scale factor which retains trailing zeroes.

So if you do this:

            decimal d = 21.2000m;            
            Debug.WriteLine(d);

You get this:

21.2000

Live and learn. :)

We didn't believe it either, but as you say, once you are aware it happens there is documentation out there that shows that this is the expected .net behaviour for a decimal.  

I've now tried your suggestion above, but am having no luck.  As far as I can tell the OwnerToEdit conversion doesn't fire again after the control switches to Edit mode, so there doesn't seem to be a point at which I can change the formatting in response to editing starting?

This is the code for my converter and events:

    Public Class DecimalDataFilter

        Implements Infragistics.Win.IEditorDataFilter

 

        Private Property FormatString As String

 

        Private _inEditMode As Boolean

        Public Property InEditMode As Boolean

            Get

                Return _inEditMode

            End Get

            Set(value As Boolean)

                _inEditMode = value

                Debug.Print("InEditMode Property set to: " + _inEditMode.ToString())

            End Set

        End Property

 

        Public Function Convert(ByVal args As Infragistics.Win.EditorDataFilterConvertArgs) _

            As Object Implements Infragistics.Win.IEditorDataFilter.Convert

 

            Select Case args.Direction

                Case ConversionDirection.EditorToOwner

                    args.Handled = True

 

                    Debug.Print("Editor to owner, in edit " + InEditMode.ToString())

                    If IsNumeric(args.Value) Then

                        'Debug.Print("E2O, is numeric")

                        Return Decimal.Parse(args.Value.ToString())

                    Else

                        'Debug.Print("E2O, NOT numeric")

                        Return 0

                    End If

 

 

                Case ConversionDirection.OwnerToEditor

                    args.Handled = True

 

                    Debug.Print("Owner to editor, in edit " + InEditMode.ToString())

 

                    If Me.InEditMode Then

                        ' Debug.Print("O2E, in edit mode, FormatString = 0.#######")

 

                        Me.FormatString = "0.#######"

                    Else

                        'Debug.Print("O2E, in edit mode FormatString = #,0.00")

 

                        Me.FormatString = "#,0.0"

                    End If

 

                    If IsNumeric(args.Value) Then

                        Dim valueToFormat As Decimal = Decimal.Parse(args.Value)

                        Return valueToFormat.ToString(Me.FormatString)

 

                        'Debug.Print("O2E, is numeric, valAsString = " & valAsString)

                    Else

                        Return "NOT NUMERIC!!"

                    End If

 

                Case Else

                    'this case can never happen

                    Return Nothing

            End Select

        End Function

    End Class

 

 

    Private Sub CapacityInUnitsUltraTextEditor_AfterEnterEditMode(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles CapacityInUnitsUltraTextEditor.AfterEnterEditMode

        Debug.Print("UTE After enter edit")

        Dim decFilter As DecimalDataFilter = DirectCast(Me.CapacityInUnitsUltraTextEditor.DataFilter, DecimalDataFilter)

        decFilter.InEditMode = True

 

    End Sub

 

    Private Sub CapacityInUnitsUltraTextEditor_AfterExitEditMode(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles CapacityInUnitsUltraTextEditor.AfterExitEditMode

        Debug.Print("UTE After exit edit")

        Dim decFilter As DecimalDataFilter = DirectCast(Me.CapacityInUnitsUltraTextEditor.DataFilter, DecimalDataFilter)

        decFilter.InEditMode = False

 

    End Sub

 

    Private Sub CapacityInUnitsUltraTextEditor_BeforeEnterEditMode(sender As Object, e As System.ComponentModel.CancelEventArgs) Handles CapacityInUnitsUltraTextEditor.BeforeEnterEditMode

 

        Debug.Print("UTE Before enter edit")

        Dim decFilter As DecimalDataFilter = DirectCast(Me.CapacityInUnitsUltraTextEditor.DataFilter, DecimalDataFilter)

        decFilter.InEditMode = True

    End Sub

Hi,

redox said:

As far as I can tell the OwnerToEdit conversion doesn't fire again after the control switches to Edit mode, so there doesn't seem to be a point at which I can change the formatting in response to editing starting?

Hm, that's unfortunate.

I guess the alternative is - don't bind the control and then use the BeforeEnterEditMode and AfterExitEditMode events to change the Value of the UltraTextEditor directly. And then you will have to manually handle the getting and setting of the value from the data source.

I guess you could also take sort've a hybrid approach. You could use the DataFilter to format the value only when the control is not in edit mode. When it enters edit mode, you can use the AfterEnterEditMode event to modify the text in the child TextBox control that UltraTextEditor uses. Something like this:

    Private Sub UltraTextEditor1_AfterEnterEditMode(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles UltraTextEditor1.AfterEnterEditMode
        Dim ute As UltraTextEditor = CType(sender, UltraTextEditor)
        Dim tb As TextBox = CType(ute.Controls(0), TextBox)

        Dim d As Decimal
        Dim success As Boolean = Decimal.TryParse(ute.Value, d)
        If (success) Then
            tb.Text = d.ToString("0.#######")
        Else
            tb.Text = d.ToString("Not Numeric")
        End If
    End Sub

Hi Mike

Success!  The hybrid version works a treat.  Thanks for all of your help on this.