I need to retrieve data from a database and show them as a monthly record in a datagrid. for example, i have the following data:

reportId | createdate | ExpenseSub
-------- | ---------- | ---------
1 | 10/20/2003 | Buy a PC
2 | 10/29/2003 | Buy a Notebook
3 | 11/1/2003 | Go to travel
4 | 11/19/2003 | Buy present for cousin
. . .
. . .
. . .
12 | 2/28/2004 | Mom's birthday
13 | 3/1/2004 | Other expenses


================================================== ======

and would like to show it using a datagrid as follow

<b>Monthly report on expenses</b>
|------------------|---------------|
| Records | Total Records |
|------------------|---------------|
| October 2003 | 2 |
|------------------|---------------|
| November 2003 | 2 |
|------------------|---------------|
| . . |
| . . |
| . . |
|------------------|---------------|
| February 2004 | 1 |
|------------------|---------------|
| March 2004 | 1 |
|------------------|---------------|


can anybody has any idea on this?

create a function that counts the days based on the month. Similar to this:

Private Function countDays(ByVal myDate As Date)
    Dim strConn As String = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings("dbLogs")
    Dim objConn As New OleDbConnection(strConn)

    Dim strSQL As String = "SELECT Count(the_date) FROM logging WHERE (the_date = #" & myDate & "#)"

    Dim objCommand As New OleDbCommand(strSQL, objConn)

    Dim sResult As String
    objConn.Open()
    sResult = CType(objCommand.ExecuteScalar(), String)
    objConn.Close()

    Return sResult
End Function

Then I call the above function in another function and match days for a calendar. Below:

Sub calendar_dayrender(ByVal s As Object, ByVal e As DayRenderEventArgs)
    Dim strConn As String = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings("dbLogs")
    Dim objConn As New OleDbConnection(strConn)

    Dim strSQL As String = "SELECT DISTINCT the_date FROM logging" ' & _
    Dim objAdapter As New OleDbDataAdapter(strSQL, strConn)
    ' DataSet & Adapter & Table

    Dim objDataSet As New DataSet
    objAdapter.Fill(objDataSet, "Fall")
    Dim strEvents
    Dim row As DataRow
    e.Day.IsSelectable = False

    For Each row In objDataSet.Tables("Fall").Rows

    Dim eventDate As DateTime = CType(row("the_date"), DateTime)
    If eventDate.Equals(e.Day.Date) Then
        strEvents = "<br /><b>" & countDays(row("the_date")) & " Visitors</b><br />"
        e.Cell.Controls.Add(New LiteralControl(strEvents))
    End If

    Next
End Sub

This should give you an idea although it's not by month. You will have to create the function to look for months instead of the calendar_dayrender.