Binding a RadDatePicker to a data source is easy provided through the DbSelectedDate property. It works almost like the SelectedDate one, but will not throw an exception when it has been given a null value.
The example demonstrates binding a RadGrid control to a DataTable with dates, containing null values. Binding the date for the RadDatePicker in template column is done via the DbSelectedDate property:
<EditItemTemplate>
<telerik:RadDatePicker id="picker1" MinDate="2006/1/1" runat="server" DbSelectedDate='<%# Bind("Dates") %>'>
</telerik:RadDatePicker>
</EditItemTemplate>
The second Grid in the presented example benefits from the GridDateTimeColumn option so that the markup/code is highly optimized. The GridDateTimeColumn's RadDatePicker uses a "shared" calendar internally.
This demo illustrates how date pickers with shared calendars can be used either as part of a built-in RadGrid GridDateTimeColumn or inside an edit template of a GridTemplateColumn. The second approach can be used for other data bound controls (repeaters, data lists, etc.) as well. Additionally, the DbSelectedDate property of RadDatePicker is of nullable type and hence supports null values.