Question

ItemRenderer using datefield

Asked by: alon_sabi

Hi,

I am trying to figure out a way to render dates that come from MySQL (YYYY-MM-DD).

This is the error message I get:

Type Coercion failed: cannot convert "2003-09-02" to Date.

I am using the following as a renderer:

dgc.itemRenderer = new ClassFactory(mx.controls.DateField);

Where dgc is an AdvancedDataGridColumn object.

I tried using a labelFunction to convert the string to a date using DateField.stringToDate, but it seems that the labelFunction is called after the renderer.

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Asked On
2009-05-08 at 14:19:40ID24393832
Tags

Flex 3

,

DataGrid

,

AdvancedDataGrid

Topic

Adobe Flex

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
6

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Answers

 

by: mplordPosted on 2009-05-10 at 07:25:33ID: 24348494

Trying to use a DateField as a an itemRenderer implies that you might want to edit the data using DateField as an itemEditor as well. If you just want to display the date and not edit it, you might as well forget the itemRenderer and have the date displayed as text.

If you do want the field to be editable using DateField as an itemEditor (as well as itemRenderer), any answer here is going to depend on whether you're setting the dataProvider of the AdvancedDataGrid using XML, or for example an ArrayCollection.

Could you clarify, and perhaps provide an example of how you're setting the dataProvider for the grid?

 

by: alon_sabiPosted on 2009-05-10 at 13:11:10ID: 24349817

Yes, I will need to edit the item as well. I am using httpservice to grab a jason encoded string from PHP.
I jason decode it into an array collection.

I am currently looping thtough the result set, and convert all of the date fields to date objects, and that seems to work ... But ... It is really not efficient. I do not want to loop through the items in PHP / flex ... Is there a way to do the convertion using a custom date renderer or just before the date rendere tries to use it ?

 

by: alon_sabiPosted on 2009-05-10 at 13:38:17ID: 24349949

BTW will it be more efficient to use XML (speed wise compared to json) ?
 
Also is there a better way than httpservice ?

I am completely new to Flex.

 

by: mplordPosted on 2009-05-10 at 18:15:08ID: 24350892

OK, using JSON decode, I assume your ArrayCollection is of 'Objects' which has properties for each value, so we can't subclass the Object to intercept getting/setting date on that object.

This solution overrides the AdvancedDataGridColumn which displays the date from a String value, and allows you to edit the date using DateField and this will update your objects with the correct string formatting.

Part 1:
I've mocked up a couple of objects which have a string date field for date of birth (dob)
Notice the new control ADGCDate which extends AdvancedDataGridColumn.

Part 2:
The code for ADGCDate (create in a file called ADGCDate alongside your main Application file).

Part 1:
 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolute" creationComplete="init();" xmlns:mycontrols="*">
 
	<mx:Script>
		<![CDATA[
			import mx.collections.ArrayCollection;
 
			[Bindable] private var model:ArrayCollection = new ArrayCollection();
			
			private function init():void
			{
				var person1:Object = new Object();
				person1['name'] = "Fred";
				person1['age'] = "35";
				person1['dob'] = "1974-02-23";
				var person2:Object = new Object();
				person2['name'] = "Jim";
				person2['age'] = "25";
				person2['dob'] = "1984-03-13";
				model.addItem(person1);
				model.addItem(person2);
				
				adg1.dataProvider = model;
			}
			
		]]>
	</mx:Script>
 
	<mx:AdvancedDataGrid id="adg1" designViewDataType="flat" width="377" height="186" horizontalCenter="0" verticalCenter="0" editable="true">
		<mx:columns>
			<mx:AdvancedDataGridColumn headerText="Name" dataField="name"/>
			<mx:AdvancedDataGridColumn headerText="Age" dataField="age"/>
			<mycontrols:ADGCDate headerText="DOB" dataField="dob"/>
		</mx:columns>
	</mx:AdvancedDataGrid>
	
	
</mx:Application>
 
 
Part 2:
 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:AdvancedDataGridColumn
	xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"
	editable="true"
	rendererIsEditor="true"
	editorDataField="datevalue">
 
	<mx:itemRenderer>
		<mx:Component>
			<mx:HBox xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" width="100%" height="100%" horizontalAlign="center">
			    <mx:Script>
			        <![CDATA[
			        
			        	public function get datevalue():String
			        	{
			        		return DateField.dateToString(df.selectedDate, "YYYY-MM-DD");
			        	}
			        
			            override public function set data(value:Object):void
			            {
			                if(value != null)
			                {
			                    super.data = value;
			                    df.selectedDate = DateField.stringToDate(value[outerDocument.dataField], "YYYY-MM-DD");
			                }
			            }
			           
			            private function onDataChange(e:Event):void
			            {
						 	var item:Object = super.data;
							item[outerDocument.dataField] = DateField.dateToString(df.selectedDate, "YYYY-MM-DD");
			            }
			        ]]>
			    </mx:Script>
			    <mx:DateField id="df" width="100%" enabled="{outerDocument.editable}" dataChange="onDataChange" formatString="YYYY-MM-DD"/>
			</mx:HBox>
		</mx:Component>
	</mx:itemRenderer>
</mx:AdvancedDataGridColumn>
                                              
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by: mplordPosted on 2009-05-10 at 18:28:00ID: 24350943

Oh, and as for speed comparisons between XML/JSON or anything else like AMFPHP etc. I think that's a seperate question entirely ;) - it depends on a number of circumstances.

 

by: alon_sabiPosted on 2009-05-11 at 14:40:28ID: 31579654

Thank you, it worked ...
I did add a couple of small items to the ADGCDate file which I needed ...

I added a DateFormatter , and a labelFunction that uses the DateFormatter, so the PHP script can send a date format to show in the field (MMM-DD-YYYY for example for Sept-16-2009).

Thank you !

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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