OK, I have to renege on this statement. As it turns out ... str(ProductPrice, 12,2) as [Retail] ... is a better choice if you allow sorting and for a more consistent layout. The cast to varchar sorted as you might expect 1,11-19,2,20-29,3 etc. Whereas, the str() method, which agreeably should sort the same way, sorts 1,2,3 ... 8,9,10,11,12 etc. This is a subtle nuance that I found in testing. I hope this helps someone.

My Thanks,

>Since I build the query on the fly I don't think that is available for me :( at least I couldn't find a way to do it in code... I wound up using a CAST right in my SQL statement ... CAST(ProductPrice AS varchar(12)) as [Retail] ... ProductPrice is money datatype and the grid gave me 4 digits to the right of the decimal. All I wanted to show was 2. This works fine and allows me to filter columns as yet unknown.
>
>If I missed something please fill me in. ;)
>
>My thanks,
>
>>Hi Joe,
>>
>>You can set the DataFormatString for the BoundColumn to:
>>
>>{0:c}
>>
>>Which will format the data as currency (thereby putting in the $, decimal place, and appropriate digits after the decimal place).
>>
>>
>>>I have a grid with a dynamic SQL that has a SQL data type 'money' that insists on the full display of 4 decimal places to the left. How can I format the col on the fly?
>>>
>>>My thanks in advance,