How do I set displayed text in DataGridBooleanColumn (defined in C#, not XAML) to desired strings, rather than the defaults?

As a side note, I am investigating why the .NET MAUI preview14 DataTemplate object will not let you use a lambda expression to set the content. It fails, expecting a type instead, but even when I use a type it still fails.

Until I figure out a way around this, or it is fixed in the next preview release, I do not see a way that you can create a DataTemplate in C# for the CellContentTemplate (or CellEditTemplate) right now.

Hi David, I didn't see your comment as I was in the middle of crafting the reply above. I can give you a quick answer about how the string format works so that you can plan accordingly.

The "0" part of the format string is just the value of the binding, whatever that value is going to be. Take a look at this Microsoft Documentation for many examples of string formatting and how they're used

• If it is a numerical value, you can use numerical formatters like
  • C2 "You have {0:C2} remaining" will render as You have $2.50 remaining
  • P1 "Your grade is {0:P1}" will render as Your grade is 100%
• If it is a DateTime object, you can use date formatters like
  • g "{0:g}" will render as 6/15/2009 1:45 PM (for the US region)

For a bool, it is just going to be the ToString version of that value. For example "Is Absent? {0}" will render as Is Absent? False at runtime

I recommend bookmarking this .NET documentation (I have it bookmarked and reference it frequently):

• Overview: How to format numbers, dates, enums, and other types in .NET | Microsoft Docs
• Standard numeric format strings | Microsoft Docs
• Standard date and time format strings | Microsoft Docs
• Standard TimeSpan format strings | Microsoft Docs

Converter

I suspect you might be looking for converter that gives you more control. In most cases a simple Stringformat gives you enough to get the result, but there are other times that the object is a complex object or you want to do something different with a bool.

Here's an example that will return a human readable value for a bool:

public class BoolToIsAbsentConverter : IValueConverter
{
    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        if(value is bool isAbsent)
        {
            if (isAbsent)
            {
                return "Student is Absent";
            }
            else
            {
                return "Student is Present";
            }
        }

        return "no result";
    }

    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }
}

A Binding accepts an instance of a converter, and the binding passes the value of the bound object to the converter and accepts whatever it returns.

Here's what it looks like in XAML

<Grid x:Name="RootGrid">
    <Grid.Resources>
        <local:BoolToIsAbsentConverter x:Key="BoolToAbsentConv" />
    </Grid.Resources>

    <Label Text="{Binding IsAbsent, Converter={StaticResource BoolToAbsentConv}}" />
</Grid>

and here is what that looks like in C#:

myLabel.SetBinding(
            Label.TextProperty,
            nameof(Student.IsAbsent),
            converter: new BoolToIsAbsentConverter());