Question

Is there an easy way to show a formatted string representing a TimeSpan field in a DataGridViewTextBoxColumn of a DataGridView?

I have an array of custom objects (returned by a web service) that I’m binding to my datagrid. These object have a TimeSpan property. When I bind this property to the column of the datagrid I obtain the object name (something like MyApplication.MyClass.TimeSpan) and not the timespan string.

How can I solve?

NOTE:
At last I discovered my problem is that I get my array of objects from a web service.
It seems that TimeSpan type cannot be xml-serialized, so the system class is re-classed into a custom object:

• https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/94492/timestamp-class-should-be-xml-serializable

• http://forums.silverlight.net/t/51793.aspx

Answer 1

Create a read-only string property in your object that will represent the formatted TimeSpan. Something like:

public class MyObject
{
private TimeSpan _myTimeSpan;

// ...

public string TimeSpanFormatted
{
    get
    {
         return _myTimeSpan.ToString("c");
    }
}

// ...
}

Then add a column for this property and hide the “raw” TimeSpan column.

See here for TimeSpan formatting info.

NOTE: For your column’s properties be sure to set the DataMember to TimeSpanFormatted