Removing Padding from Entry - xamarin

Question

So Entry does not have a padding attribute, however there is some definite padding that goes on the Entry.
Example
I have the "Michigan" Entry lined up with the "Select" Label below, however they look misaligned because the entry has some padding to the left. I tried the margin attribute that entry does have, however it did not work.
How do I get rid of that gap/padding?
I'd like to add that adding an offset margin does not working.

Answer 1

You need to make a custom renderer for the entry and set the Android EditText's PaddingLeft to 0 using the SetPadding method.
Excerpt from CustomEntryRenderer on Android:
protected override void OnElementChanged(ElementChangedEventArgs<Entry> e)
{
base.OnElementChanged(e);
if (e.NewElement == null) return;
Control.SetPadding(0, Control.PaddingTop, Control.PaddingRight, Control.PaddingBottom);
}

Answer 2

For me the custom render that worked was:
[assembly: Xamarin.Forms.ExportRenderer(typeof(MyApp.Views.Controls.CustomEntry), typeof(MyApp.Droid.Views.Controls.CustomRenderer.Android.CustomEntryRenderer))]
namespace MyApp.Droid.Views.Controls
{
namespace CustomRenderer.Android
{
public class CustomEntryRenderer : EntryRenderer
{
public CustomEntryRenderer(Context context) : base(context)
{
}
protected override void OnElementChanged(ElementChangedEventArgs<Xamarin.Forms.Entry> e)
{
base.OnElementChanged(e);
if (Control != null)
{
Control.Background = new ColorDrawable(Color.Transparent);
Control.SetPadding(0, 0, 0, 0);
Control.Gravity = GravityFlags.CenterVertical | GravityFlags.Left;
Control.TextAlignment = TextAlignment.Gravity;
}
}
}
}
}

Answer 3

I was struggling with the same issue, but I solved it by creating a custom Entry type which adds a Padding property to Xamarin Forms' Entry:
public class CustomEntry : Entry
{
public static readonly BindableProperty PaddingProperty =
BindableProperty.Create(
nameof(Padding),
typeof(Thickness),
typeof(CustomEntry),
new Thickness());
public Thickness Padding
{
get { return (Thickness)this.GetValue(PaddingProperty); }
set { this.SetValue(PaddingProperty, value); }
}
}
Then I render this CustomEntry with a custom renderer, just as Danilow proposed, with the only difference, that I read the PaddingProperty from CustomEntry and apply it in the CustomEntryRenderer.
[assembly: ExportRenderer(typeof(Entry), typeof(CustomEntryRenderer))]
namespace CrossPlatformLibrary.Forms.Android.Renderers
{
public class CustomEntryRenderer : EntryRenderer
{
public CustomEntryRenderer(Context context) : base(context)
{
}
protected override void OnElementChanged(ElementChangedEventArgs<Entry> e)
{
base.OnElementChanged(e);
if (e.NewElement == null)
{
return;
}
if (this.Element is CustomEntry customEntry)
{
var paddingLeft = (int)customEntry.Padding.Left;
var paddingTop = (int)customEntry.Padding.Top;
var paddingRight = (int)customEntry.Padding.Right;
var paddingBottom = (int)customEntry.Padding.Bottom;
this.Control.SetPadding(paddingLeft, paddingTop, paddingRight, paddingBottom);
}
}
}
}
Beware: This code needs to be extended if you want to react on PaddingProperty changes - AND - you will need to write a custom renderer for IOS if you want to support the Padding property there too.

Answer 4

Here's the same thing implemented on iOS for anyone who needs it there too. It's basically setting the left view to have 0 width that does it, but you can also play with the "LeftViewMode" to hide it completely.
this.Control.LeftView = new UIView(new CGRect(0, 0, 0, this.Control.Frame.Height));
Full code
using CoreGraphics;
using UIKit;
using YourNamespace.iOS.CustomRenderers;
using YourNamespace.Controls;
using Xamarin.Forms;
using Xamarin.Forms.Platform.iOS;
[assembly: ExportRenderer(typeof(BorderlessEntry), typeof(BorderlessEntryRenderer))]
namespace YourNamespace.iOS.CustomRenderers
{
public class BorderlessEntryRenderer : Xamarin.Forms.Platform.iOS.EntryRenderer
{
protected override void OnElementChanged(ElementChangedEventArgs<Entry> e)
{
base.OnElementChanged(e);
if (this.Control != null)
{
this.Control.LeftView = new UIView(new CGRect(0, 0, 0, this.Control.Frame.Height));
this.Control.LeftViewMode = UITextFieldViewMode.Always;
}
}
}
}