asp.net - Formatting DataBinder.Eval data

Question

How can I format data coming from a DataBinder.Eval statement in an ASPX page?

For example, I want to display the published date of the news items in a particular format in the homepage. I'm using the ASP.NET 2.0 Repeater control to show the list of news items.

The code for this goes like this:

<asp:Repeater ID="Repeater1" runat="server" DataSourceID="ObjectDataSource1">
<HeaderTemplate><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="255"></HeaderTemplate>
<ItemTemplate>
    <tr><td >
            <a href='/content/latestNews.aspx?id=<%#DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "id") %>'>
                <asp:Label ID="lblNewsTitle" runat="server" Text='<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "title") %>'></asp:Label>
            </a>
    </td></tr>
    <tr><td>
           <asp:Label ID="lblNewsDate" runat="server" Text='<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "publishedDate"))%>'></asp:Label>
    </td></tr>
</ItemTemplate>
<FooterTemplate></table></FooterTemplate></asp:Repeater>

Is there a way I could call a custom method with the DataBinder.Eval value as its parameter (something like below)?

<asp:Label ID="lblNewsDate" runat="server" Text='<%# GetDateInHomepageFormat(DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "publishedDate")) )%>'></asp:Label>

If yes, then where do I write the GetDateInHomepageFormat method? I tried out in the code behind page but got a run time error? If this is not possible, is there a way to do inline formatting?

Answer 1

There is an optional overload for DataBinder.Eval to supply formatting:

<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "expression"[, "format"]) %>

The format parameter is a String value, using the value placeholder replacement syntax (called composite formatting) like this:

<asp:Label id="lblNewsDate" runat="server" Text='<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "publishedDate", "{0:dddd d MMMM}") %>'</label>