Is there a way to combine grid column definitions in Xamarin C# - xamarin

Question

Here's what I have:
var grid = new Grid();
grid.ColumnDefinitions.Add(new ColumnDefinition() { Width = new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Star) });
grid.ColumnDefinitions.Add(new ColumnDefinition() { Width = new GridLength(1) });
grid.ColumnDefinitions.Add(new ColumnDefinition() { Width = new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Star) });
Is there a way I can combine any of these lines together?

Answer 1

Not that I know of at present but if it is something you are doing often then you could make it easier via an extension method...
public static class GridExtensions
{
public static Grid Add(this Grid grid, ColumnDefinition columnDefinition)
{
grid.ColumnDefinitions.Add(columnDefinition);
return grid;
}
public static Grid AddColumnDefinition(this Grid grid, GridLength gridLength) =>
grid.Add(new ColumnDefinition {Width = gridLength});
}
Then you can call it like:
grid.AddColumnDefinition(new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Star))
.AddColumnDefinition(new GridLength(1))
.AddColumnDefinition(new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Star));
You could even take it a step further and accept the parameters for constructing GridLength and do that inside your extension method.
I am happy to accept that this is not providing fewer lines but it is less verbose and easier to read.

Answer 2

Create an extension method
Usage
//<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
// <ColumnDefinition Width="2*"/>
// <ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
// <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
// <ColumnDefinition Width="50"/>
//</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
// above Xaml equivalent
grid.AddColumnDefinitions("2*", "*", "Auto", "50");
grid.AddColumnDefinitions(); //equivalent to adding a column with 1*
Code
write sanity checks for syntax etc. to ensure code doesn't break.
public static class GridExtensions
{
public static Grid AddColumnDefinitions(this Grid grid, params string[] columndefinitions)
{
if (columndefinitions == null || columndefinitions.Length < 1)
{
grid.ColumnDefinitions.Add(new ColumnDefinition() { Width = GridLength.Star });
return grid;
}
foreach (var columnDef in columndefinitions)
{
if (columnDef.Equals("Auto"))
grid.ColumnDefinitions.Add(new ColumnDefinition() { Width = GridLength.Auto });
else if (columnDef.Contains("*"))
{
string columnWidth = columnDef.Replace("*", string.Empty);
if (columnWidth.Equals(string.Empty))
grid.ColumnDefinitions.Add(new ColumnDefinition() { Width = GridLength.Star });
else if (int.TryParse(columnWidth, out int colWidth))
grid.ColumnDefinitions.Add(new ColumnDefinition() { Width = new GridLength(colWidth, GridUnitType.Star) });
}
else if (int.TryParse(columnDef, out int colDef))
grid.ColumnDefinitions.Add(new ColumnDefinition() { Width = new GridLength(colDef, GridUnitType.Absolute) });
}
return grid;
}
}
P.S. Credit: A little spin on the answer by Bijington.

Answer 3

You could write
var grid = new Grid(){ ColumnDefinitions = {
new ColumnDefinition() { Width = new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Star) },
new ColumnDefinition() { Width = new GridLength(1) },
new ColumnDefinition() { Width = new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Star) }}};