Date formatting in WPF datagrid

I want to change is the date column from a format "DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM:SS" to "DD.MM.YYYY".

  <DataGrid Name="dgBuchung" AutoGenerateColumns="True" 
            ItemsSource="{Binding}" Grid.ColumnSpan="3" >
  <ab:DataGridTextColumn Header="Fecha Entrada" Width="110"  
       Binding="{Binding date, StringFormat={}{0:dd/MM/yyyy}}" IsReadOnly="True" />
                        
</DataGrid>
                                      

Unfortunately that code throws an XMLParseException.

First of all, is this way of solution possible while using AutoGenerateColumns? If no, how else can I try to handle this?

If yes, what is the problem with the code above?

Don`t forget to use DataGrid.Columns, all columns must be inside that collection. In my project I format date a little bit differently:

<tk:DataGrid>
    <tk:DataGrid.Columns>
        <tk:DataGridTextColumn Binding="{Binding StartDate, StringFormat=\{0:dd.MM.yy HH:mm:ss\}}" />
    </tk:DataGrid.Columns>
</tk:DataGrid>

With AutoGenerateColumns you won`t be able to contol formatting as DataGird will add its own columns.

Very late to the party here but in case anyone else stumbles across this page...

You can do it by setting the AutoGeneratingColumn handler in XAML:

<DataGrid AutoGeneratingColumn="OnAutoGeneratingColumn"  ..etc.. />

And then in code behind do something like this:

private void OnAutoGeneratingColumn(object sender, DataGridAutoGeneratingColumnEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.PropertyType == typeof(System.DateTime))
        (e.Column as DataGridTextColumn).Binding.StringFormat = "dd/MM/yyyy";
}

If your bound property is DateTime, then all you need is

Binding={Property, StringFormat=d}

Binding="{Binding YourColumn ,StringFormat='yyyy-MM-dd'}"

first select datagrid and then go to properties find Datagrid_AutoGeneratingColumn and the double click And then use this code

   Datagrid_AutoGeneratingColumn(object sender, DataGridAutoGeneratingColumnEventArgs e)
            {
                if (e.PropertyName == "Your column name")
                    (e.Column as DataGridTextColumn).Binding.StringFormat = "dd/MMMMMMMMM/yyyy";
                if (e.PropertyName == "Your column name")
                    (e.Column as DataGridTextColumn).Binding.StringFormat = "dd/MMMMMMMMM/yyyy";
            }


       

I try it it works on WPF

I know the accepted answer is quite old, but there is a way to control formatting with AutoGeneratColumns :

First create a function that will trigger when a column is generated :

<DataGrid x:Name="dataGrid" AutoGeneratedColumns="dataGrid_AutoGeneratedColumns" Margin="116,62,10,10"/>

Then check if the type of the column generated is a DateTime and just change its String format to "d" to remove the time part :

private void DataGrid_AutoGeneratingColumn(object sender, DataGridAutoGeneratingColumnEventArgs e)
        {
            if(YourColumn == typeof(DateTime))
            {
                e.Column.ClipboardContentBinding.StringFormat = "d";
            }
        }

This is a very old question, but I found a new solution, so I wrote about it.

> First of all, is this way of solution possible while using AutoGenerateColumns?

Yes, that can be done with AttachedProperty as follows.

<DataGrid AutoGenerateColumns="True" 
   local:DataGridOperation.DateTimeFormatAutoGenerate="yy-MM-dd"
   ItemsSource="{Binding}" />

AttachedProperty

There are two AttachedProperty defined that allow you to specify two formats. DateTimeFormatAutoGenerate for DateTime and TimeSpanFormatAutoGenerate for TimeSpan.

class DataGridOperation
{
    public static string GetDateTimeFormatAutoGenerate(DependencyObject obj) => (string)obj.GetValue(DateTimeFormatAutoGenerateProperty);
    public static void SetDateTimeFormatAutoGenerate(DependencyObject obj, string value) => obj.SetValue(DateTimeFormatAutoGenerateProperty, value);
    public static readonly DependencyProperty DateTimeFormatAutoGenerateProperty =
        DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("DateTimeFormatAutoGenerate", typeof(string), typeof(DataGridOperation),
            new PropertyMetadata(null, (d, e) => AddEventHandlerOnGenerating<DateTime>(d, e)));

    public static string GetTimeSpanFormatAutoGenerate(DependencyObject obj) => (string)obj.GetValue(TimeSpanFormatAutoGenerateProperty);
    public static void SetTimeSpanFormatAutoGenerate(DependencyObject obj, string value) => obj.SetValue(TimeSpanFormatAutoGenerateProperty, value);
    public static readonly DependencyProperty TimeSpanFormatAutoGenerateProperty =
        DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("TimeSpanFormatAutoGenerate", typeof(string), typeof(DataGridOperation),
            new PropertyMetadata(null, (d, e) => AddEventHandlerOnGenerating<TimeSpan>(d, e)));

    private static void AddEventHandlerOnGenerating<T>(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        if (!(d is DataGrid dGrid))
            return;

        if ((e.NewValue is string format))
            dGrid.AutoGeneratingColumn += (o, e) => AddFormat_OnGenerating<T>(e, format);
    }

    private static void AddFormat_OnGenerating<T>(DataGridAutoGeneratingColumnEventArgs e, string format)
    {
        if (e.PropertyType == typeof(T))
            (e.Column as DataGridTextColumn).Binding.StringFormat = format;
    }
}

How to use

View

<Window
   x:Class="DataGridAutogenerateCustom.MainWindow"
   xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
   xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
   xmlns:local="clr-namespace:DataGridAutogenerateCustom"
   Width="400" Height="250">
   <Window.DataContext>
      <local:MainWindowViewModel />
   </Window.DataContext>
   <StackPanel>
      <TextBlock Text="DEFAULT FORMAT" />
      <DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding Dates}" />

      <TextBlock Margin="0,30,0,0" Text="CUSTOM FORMAT" />
      <DataGrid
         local:DataGridOperation.DateTimeFormatAutoGenerate="yy-MM-dd"
         local:DataGridOperation.TimeSpanFormatAutoGenerate="dd\-hh\-mm\-ss"
         ItemsSource="{Binding Dates}" />
   </StackPanel>
</Window>

ViewModel

public class MainWindowViewModel
{
    public DatePairs[] Dates { get; } = new DatePairs[]
    {
        new (){StartDate= new (2011,1,1), EndDate= new (2011,2,1) },
        new (){StartDate= new (2020,1,1), EndDate= new (2021,1,1) },
    };
}

public class DatePairs
{
    public DateTime StartDate { get; set; }
    public DateTime EndDate { get; set; }
    public TimeSpan Span => EndDate - StartDate;
}

demo_wpf_datagrid