ObservableCollection made of strings Not updating - xamarin

Ok, so, I'm trying to link an ObservableCollection from my Android project to my Cross-Platform Project::
I've got this so far...this is in my Cross-platform app
ObservableCollection<String> NewRef = DependencyService.Get<ISlateBluetoothItems>().test().testThing;
NewRef.CollectionChanged += TestThing_CollectionChanged;
listView.ItemsSource = NewRef;
private void TestThing_CollectionChanged(object sender, System.Collections.Specialized.NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
listView.ItemsSource = DependencyService.Get<ISlateBluetoothItems>().test().testThing;
Console.WriteLine("working");
}
The line "working" is never printed even if I make changes to the ObservableCollection on the android portion of my app...
Here's the interface I'm using for the DependencyService:
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
namespace ThoughtCastRewrite.BluetoothX
{
public interface ISlateBluetoothItems
{
BluetoothItems test();
}
}
Here's the class I use to expose the list:
namespace ThoughtCastRewrite.BluetoothX
{
public class BluetoothItems
{
public ObservableCollection<String> testThing;
public BluetoothItems()
{
testThing = new ObservableCollection<String>();
testThing.Add("wtf?");
}
public void AddThis()
{
testThing.Add("ok");
}
}
}
This is in the Android portion of my app, it implements the ISlateBluetoothItems interface
BluetoothItems bluetoothItems = new BluetoothItems();
then I call
bluetoothItems.AddThis();
but "ok" is not added to my list! I don't get the CollectionChanged event firing off! What's the deal guys? What's the deal?

You should assign your ObservableCollection as a source of your listview only once, not after each change. Changes to the collection will be automaticcly propagated to the listview.

Related

How to add a ViewModel for new pages of Xamarin Native iOS & Android apps

Context: I am handed this massive enterprise iOS & Android Xamarin Native applications that doesn't use ViewModels or any MVVM framework. It does have a separated Network services layer and it has a lot of pages, so starting over won't make any sense.
Why the change is needed: No MVVM, the services layer is called directly from the UI classes (Fragments & ViewControllers), and there is no good abstraction. So I will start with 1 view and then create TechDebt to transform the rest of the app.
What I know:
Adding MVVM frameworks require creating extensive changes, especially to use Navigation services for Navigating the views, and are best done if added when green-fielding the application.
As seen here, Android has an easy way of using a ViewModel but I won't be able to use that for iOS then.
I also know that I can launch a Xamarin Forms page instead and that will be all ready for MVVM, since I can just assign the BindingContext property to an instance of the ViewModel.
What I need: I need to create one new page for iOS & one for Android. I want to be able to create a ViewModel that's shared between iOS & Android. I want to be able to use it for a single view that I am creating and it should be initialized when the page is loaded.
How can I add 1 viewmodel that's shared by a ViewController & a Fragment? Am I missing something, is it much easier than I am making it?
Ended up being able to use MvvmLight for this. Added the Nuget package to the projects, Created a ViewModelBase in the Core Shared Library Project:
public abstract class ViewModelBase : GalaSoft.MvvmLight.ViewModelBase
{
private PropertyChangedEventHandler propertyChangedEventHandler;
protected bool IsLoading { get; set; }
public bool RegisteredPropertyEventHandler { get; set; }
public const string ErrorMessagePropertyName = "ErrorMessage";
public string ErrorMessage { get; set; }
public string SuccessMessage { get; set; }
public void RegisterPropertyEventHandler(PropertyChangedEventHandler propertyChangedEventHandler)
{
this.propertyChangedEventHandler = propertyChangedEventHandler;
this.PropertyChanged += propertyChangedEventHandler;
this.RegisteredPropertyEventHandler = true;
}
public void UnegisterPropertyEventHandler()
{
if (this.RegisteredPropertyEventHandler)
{
this.PropertyChanged -= propertyChangedEventHandler;
this.RegisteredPropertyEventHandler = false;
this.propertyChangedEventHandler = null;
}
}
public void TearDown()
{
this.UnegisterPropertyEventHandler();
}
protected void NotifyError (string message)
{
this.ErrorMessage = message;
RaisePropertyChanged (() => ErrorMessage);
}
}
and a ViewModelLocator
public class ViewModelLocator
{
public const string ABCPageKey = "ABCPage";
public ABCViewModel ABC
{
get
{
return ServiceLocator.Current.GetInstance<ABCViewModel> ();
}
}
public ViewModelLocator ()
{
ServiceLocator.SetLocatorProvider (() => SimpleIoc.Default);
// Register all of the view models
SimpleIoc.Default.Register<ABCViewModel> ();
}
public static void Cleanup ()
{
}
public T GetViewModel<T> ()
{
return ServiceLocator.Current.GetInstance<T> ();
}
}
On the iOS side, I already had a BaseUIViewController, so I created a BaseViewModelUIViewController on top of it
public abstract partial class BaseViewModelUIViewController<T> : BaseUIViewController where T : ViewModelBase
{
public T ViewModel
{
get
{
return App.Locator.GetViewModel<T> ();
}
}
public BaseViewModelUIViewController (IntPtr handle) : base (handle)
{
}
internal virtual void ViewModelPropertyChangedHandler (object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine (string.Format ("****** Property Changed for {0} in {1}", e.PropertyName, this.GetType ().Name));
switch (e.PropertyName)
{
default:
break;
}
}
}
And then Android, similarly I already had a BaseFragment, so I created a BaseViewModelFragment on top of it
public class BaseViewModelFragment<T> : BaseFragment where T : ViewModelBase
{
public T ViewModel
{
get
{
return App.Locator.GetViewModel<T> ();
}
}
public BaseViewModelFragment (string title) : base (title)
{
}
internal virtual void ViewModelPropertyChangedHandler (object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine (string.Format ("****** Property Changed for {0} in {1}", e.PropertyName, this.GetType ().Name));
switch (e.PropertyName)
{
default:
break;
}
}
public override void OnDestroyView ()
{
this.ViewModel.TearDown ();
base.OnDestroyView ();
}
}
I hope it makes sense to other people looking for solutions.
Creating ViewModels: So naturally, for every new ViewModel created, I had to register it in the ViewModelLocator.
Using ViewModels: In terms of usage, you can simply use the ViewModel in the UI by inheriting from the ": BaseViewModelUIViewController" for iOS or from ": BaseViewModelFragment" for Android
Unfortunately you don't miss anything, all your claims are proper and you have properly listed various directions that you can take (and that you don't like).
Xamarin.Android and Xamarin.iOS are not made with data binding in mind, but rather with using the native interfaces, only Xamarin.Forms is made for the data binding. The capabilities of native platforms to use the data binding is limited (if it existed it would be incompatible among the platforms and you would have to make separate view models, and there is not data binding for iOS as of now anyway).
So basically there is no data binding in Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android. It is completely up to you to abstract the shared business model and connect it with the user interface.

How to disable Carousel Page scrolling in Android

Using a custom renderer one can disable the swiping gesture of an CarouselPage on iOS like so:
using UIKit;
using Xamarin.Forms;
using Xamarin.Forms.Platform.iOS;
[assembly: ExportRenderer(typeof(CarouselPage), typeof(CustomCarouselPageRenderer))]
namespace App.iOS
{
public class CustomCarouselPageRenderer : CarouselPageRenderer
{
protected override void OnElementChanged(VisualElementChangedEventArgs e)
{
base.OnElementChanged(e);
UIView view = this.NativeView;
UIScrollView scrollView = (UIKit.UIScrollView)view.Subviews[0];
scrollView.ScrollEnabled = false;
}
}
}
How to accomplish the same on Android?
using Android.Content;
using XamFormsApp.Droid.Renderers;
using Xamarin.Forms;
using Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android;
[assembly: ExportRenderer(typeof(CarouselPage), typeof(CustomCarouselPageRenderer))]
namespace StixApp.Droid.Renderers
{
public class CustomCarouselPageRenderer : VisualElementRenderer<CarouselPage>
{
public CustomCarouselPageRenderer(Context context) : base(context)
{
}
protected override void OnElementChanged(ElementChangedEventArgs<CarouselPage> e)
{
base.OnElementChanged(e);
var view = this.RootView;
X
X
}
}
}
There appears to be no way to access Subviews in the same way. One can access Children like so
Android.Views.View view = (Android.Views.View)GetChildAt(i);
How to know which Child is ScrollView if any?
Using a loop to check for this, like so,
for (int i = 0; i < ChildCount; ++i)
{
Android.Views.View view = (Android.Views.View)GetChildAt(i);
if (view is ScrollView)
{
}
}
Yields the following: "The given expression is never of the provided (ScrollView) type"
So! How to disable CarouselPage swipe/scrolling as is done in iOS quite elegantly?
UPDATE: Please see sample solution.
A couple of things.
For Android the view you are looking for is not a ScrollView but a ViewPager.
This can be found under the index 0 with the GetChildAt method.
Also, why are you using VisualElementRenderer<CarouselPage> as the parent class of your CustomCarouselPageRenderer. Instead use the CarouselPageRenderer as you did with iOS.
One last thing is that on Android the Scroll of a ViewPager cannot be disabled. To get this behavior you can listen to the Touch event. Setting the Handled property of TouchEventArgs to true will prevent the scrolling from happening.
Your whole class would look something like:
[assembly: ExportRenderer(typeof(CarouselPage), typeof(CustomCarouselPageRenderer))]
namespace StixApp.Droid.Renderers
{
public class CustomCarouselPageRenderer : CarouselPageRenderer
{
private bool _canScroll = false;
public CustomCarouselPageRenderer(Context context) : base(context)
{
}
public CustomCarouselPageRenderer()
{
}
protected override void OnElementChanged(ElementChangedEventArgs<CarouselPage> e)
{
base.OnElementChanged(e);
if (this.ChildCount > 0 && this.GetChildAt(0) is ViewPager viewPager)
{
viewPager.Touch -= ViewPagerTouched;
viewPager.Touch += ViewPagerTouched;
}
}
private void ViewPagerTouched(object sender, TouchEventArgs e)
{
e.Handled = !_canScroll;
}
}
}
Just change the value of _canScroll to true to allow the scrolling.
Hope this helps.-
Overridden Methods in ViewPager class:
public class NonSwipeableViewPager : ViewPager
{
public override bool OnTouchEvent(MotionEvent e)
{
return false;
}
public override bool OnInterceptTouchEvent(MotionEvent ev)
{
return false;
}
public override bool ExecuteKeyEvent(KeyEvent ev)
{
return false;
}
}
Changes to CarouselPageRenderer:
In class declaration:
public class MyCarouselPageRenderer : VisualElementRenderer<CarouselPage>
{
NonSwipeableViewPager _viewPager;
}
In OnElementChanged:
protected override void OnElementChanged(ElementChangedEventArgs<CarouselPage> e)
{
_viewPager = new NonSwipeableViewPager(Context);
}
Note: CarouselPageAdapter, CarouselPageRenderer, MeasureSpecFactory, ObjectJavaBox, and PageContainer all had to be copied from the Xamarin.Forms github to enable a custom CarouselPageRenderer implementation. All of this is in the github sample but hopefully this spells it out more clearly for future visitors.
Note2: I would like to stress that the true behavior we were trying to achieve is probably best done with a NavigationPage as this allows us to easily pop and push any and all pages at any time without having to address the swipe issue. That being said, hopefully this solution serves to aid anyone who need this behavior on a CarouselPage.

MVVMCross 5.3.2 UWP: Where to Get IMvxWindowsFrame for MvxFormsUwpViewPresenter

I'm working out of the Xamarin Forms for MVVMCross 5 Solution Template and updated the packages to the latest version (5.3.2 for MVVMCross). Doing that changes some namespaces around particularly in the UWP project.
It seems that I need to resolve IMvxViewPresenter as MvxFormsUwpViewPresenter which takes a IMvxWindowsFrame as an argument. In the setup file method of Setup.cs there's a XamlControls.Frame rootFrame passed as an argument but I'm not sure if that's suppose to be cast somehow as IMvxWindowsFrame.
Where can you pull the object that implements IMvxWindowsFrame from or is there another way to turn the rootFrame into an IMvxWindowsFrame legitimately.
public class Setup : MvxFormsWindowsSetup
{
private readonly LaunchActivatedEventArgs _launchActivatedEventArgs;
public Setup(XamlControls.Frame rootFrame, LaunchActivatedEventArgs e) : base(rootFrame, e)
{
_launchActivatedEventArgs = e;
// Mvx.RegisterSingleton<IMvxWindowsFrame>(rootFrame);
}
protected override void InitializeFirstChance()
{
base.InitializeFirstChance();
Mvx.RegisterSingleton<Core.Services.ILocalizeService>(new Services.LocalizeService());
Mvx.RegisterSingleton<ISettings>(CrossSettings.Current);
Mvx.RegisterType<IMvxViewPresenter, MvxFormsUwpViewPresenter>();
}
protected override MvxFormsApplication CreateFormsApplication()
{
return new Core.FormsApp();
}
protected override IMvxApplication CreateApp()
{
return new Core.MvxApp();
}
protected override IMvxTrace CreateDebugTrace()
{
return new Core.DebugTrace();
}
}
public sealed partial class MainPage : WindowsPage
{
public MainPage()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
var start = Mvx.Resolve<IMvxAppStart>();
start.Start();
var presenter = Mvx.Resolve<IMvxViewPresenter>() as MvxFormsUwpViewPresenter;
LoadApplication(presenter.FormsApplication);
Encoding.RegisterProvider(CodePagesEncodingProvider.Instance);
}
}
EDIT: I've been looking more into the class MvxFormsWindowsSetup in the source code at https://github.com/MvvmCross/MvvmCross/blob/develop/MvvmCross-Forms/MvvmCross.Forms.Uwp/Platform/MvxFormsWindowsSetup.cs. It appears that in the method CreateViewPresenter that the IMvxViewPresenter is registered as a singleton with the MvxWrappedFrame already inside but by default the code does not resolve when calling var presenter = Mvx.Resolve() as MvxFormsUwpViewPresenter; in the windows page. Possible bug? Trying to see if I can resolve it myself.
Looks like it fails to resolve even if I put the code right after when Mvx is suppose to register the type / singleton
protected override IMvxWindowsViewPresenter CreateViewPresenter(IMvxWindowsFrame rootFrame)
{
var presenter = new MvxFormsUwpViewPresenter(rootFrame, FormsApplication);
Mvx.RegisterSingleton<IMvxFormsViewPresenter>(presenter);
var presenter2 = Mvx.GetSingleton<IMvxViewPresenter>() as MvxFormsUwpViewPresenter;
return presenter;
}
When updating to MvvmCross 5.3.2 for UWP, the presenter needs to resolve as IMvxFormsViewPresenter rather than IMvxViewPresenter. Change the interface type and it should load properly.
public MainPage()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
var start = Mvx.Resolve<IMvxAppStart>();
start.Start();
var presenter = Mvx.Resolve<IMvxFormsViewPresenter>() as MvxFormsUwpViewPresenter;
LoadApplication(presenter.FormsApplication);
Encoding.RegisterProvider(CodePagesEncodingProvider.Instance);
}

Xamarin Forms WebView.CanGoBack always returns false on UWP

Using the Xamarin Forms WebView control, I'm overriding the OnBackButtonPressed() and finding that the CanGoBack always returns false in UWP.
I don't see this problem in Android.
Is this a XF bug or am I doing something wrong?
Note: I'm running XF v2.3.3.193
EDIT: I upgraded to XF 2.3.4.247 and the problem persists.
I have created a code sample and reproduce your issue when the WebView browse several website. And I have found reason in the Xamarin.Forms source code.
void UpdateCanGoBackForward()
{
((IWebViewController)Element).CanGoBack = Control.CanGoBack;
((IWebViewController)Element).CanGoForward = Control.CanGoForward;
}
The CanGoBack property will be changed when UpdateCanGoBackForward method invoked. And UpdateCanGoBackForward method was called only when the native NavigationCompleted event was invoked. So if some website could not be loaded quickly, the CanGoBack property would not be changed.
You can improve this design by custom WebView. And you could follow the code below.
CustomWebView.cs
Add the new property for CustomWebView.
public class CustomWebView : WebView
{
public bool CCanGoBack { get; set; }
public CustomWebView()
{
}
}
CustomWebViewRenderer.cs
And change the property when the ContentLoading event invoked.
[assembly: ExportRenderer(typeof(CustomWebView), typeof(CustomWebViewRenderer))]
namespace CustomWebViewTest.UWP
{
public class CustomWebViewRenderer : WebViewRenderer
{
protected override void OnElementChanged(ElementChangedEventArgs<WebView> e)
{
base.OnElementChanged(e);
if (Control != null)
{
Control.ContentLoading += Control_ContentLoading;
}
}
private void Control_ContentLoading(Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.WebView sender, Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.WebViewContentLoadingEventArgs args)
{
(Element as CustomWebView).CCanGoBack = Control.CanGoBack;
}
}
}
MainPage.cs
private void backClicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (Browser.CCanGoBack)
{
Browser.GoBack();
}
}

How to detect when MvxListView is bound and has loaded its bindings?

I've Inherted MvxListView to my CustomMvxListView where I dos something with the visualization when a child has been added or removed.
It works great but can be laggy when many items get bound.
Is there a way to detect when Mvx view controls are bound and loaded there first bound data?
Found a good solution myself;
To track Itemsource changes in Android in a ListView you can use a DataSetObserver.
like:
internal class MyObserver : DataSetObserver
{
private readonly object view;
public MvxListViewNonScrollableObserver(ViewToTrack view)
{
tView = view;
DoSomething():
}
public override void OnChanged()
{
base.OnChanged();
DoSomething():
}
}
Add it to a ListView by:
class MyMvxListView : MvxListView
{
protected override void OnAttachedToWindow()
{
base.OnAttachedToWindow();
itemsourceObserver = new MyObserver(this);
Adapter.RegisterDataSetObserver(itemsourceObserver);
}
protected override void OnDetachedFromWindow()
{
if (itemsourceObserver != null)
{
Adapter.UnregisterDataSetObserver(itemsourceObserver);
itemsourceObserver = null;
}
base.OnDetachedFromWindow();
}
public void DoSomething()
{
}
DoSomething() get raised after load and on every itemsource change.

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