Xamarin forms button with no border issue

Question

I try to render a list of clickable items in a view. I would like to add a button with an image and a white border (the first one). I discovered that the buttons in my StackLayout/ViewCell can't render a border.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ContentPage 
xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms" 
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml" 
xmlns:controls="clr-namespace:XLabs.Forms.Controls;assembly=XLabs.Forms"
x:Class="*.PlacesPage"
Title="TEST">
<ContentPage.Padding>
    <OnPlatform x:TypeArguments="Thickness" iOS="0, 20, 0, 0" />
</ContentPage.Padding>
<ContentPage.Content>
    <Grid>
        <ListView x:Name="lvPlaces" ItemsSource="{Binding Places}" SeparatorColor="Gray" SeparatorVisibility="Default" RowHeight="120" >
            <ListView.ItemTemplate>
              <DataTemplate>
                  <ViewCell>
                    <ViewCell.View>
                        <StackLayout Orientation="Horizontal">
                            <Button HorizontalOptions="Center" VerticalOptions="Center" BorderWidth="3" BorderColor="White" Text="IMG"></Button>
                            <Button Text="{Binding Name}" BorderWidth="0" FontSize="20" BackgroundColor="Transparent" Clicked="OnButtonClickedPlace"></Button>
                        </StackLayout>
                    </ViewCell.View>
                  </ViewCell>
              </DataTemplate>
            </ListView.ItemTemplate>
        </ListView>
    </Grid>
</ContentPage.Content>

Answer 1

I'm using Xamarin.Forms 2.3, and I was also trying to create a button, with no border radius, a background color set to white, and a border color & width, and none of the above answers worked for me.

Actually I still had to set the BorderRadius to 1 (my width was 2), AND add another workaround that I just cannot understand :

In my Android project, I added a Custom renderer, for Button, with nothing in it. Absolutely nothing. So the behavior of Xamarin forms, is different on Android when you use the Default renderer, and when you use a custom renderer that inherits from the default renderer, and yet with no line of code in it.

My Renderer:

[assembly: ExportRenderer(typeof(Xamarin.Forms.Button), typeof(GenericButtonRenderer))]

    namespace Express.CustomRenderers
{
    public class GenericButtonRenderer : Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android.ButtonRenderer
    {
    }
}

Answer 2

There seems to be a issue in Xamarin.Forms where Button borders don't show on Android when the ButtonRadius is 0. (It doesn't appear that this issue is fixed as of Xamarin.Forms v2.0.0.6482.) It's not ideal since it will slightly change the look of the button, but you can work around it by setting BorderRadius = 1 for just Android, or all platforms, giving a slightly perceptible rounding to the corners.

Workaround (code)

// HACK: fixes a bug where border doesn't work without a radius.
yourButton.BorderRadius = Device.OnPlatform<int>(iOS: 0, Android: 1, WinPhone: 0);

Workaround (XAML)

<Button
    x:Name="YourButton"
    Text="Some Button Text"
    TextColor="Black"
    Clicked="OnClickedDiscover"
    BackgroundColor="Aqua"
    BorderColor="Red"
    BorderWidth="1">
    <Button.BorderRadius>
        <!-- HACK: fixes a bug where border doesn't work without a radius. -->
        <OnPlatform x:TypeArguments="x:Int32">
            <OnPlatform.Android>1</OnPlatform.Android>
        </OnPlatform>
    </Button.BorderRadius>
</Button>

Answer 3

Are you using Android? If yes, then:

On Android this property will not have an effect unless VisualElement.BackgroundColor is set to a non-default color.

Answer 4

In Xamarin.Forms 2.5.0, the patch has been reverted :

"Revert "Fix border on android buttons (#941)" (#1192)"

You have to use a custom renderer for now...

This bug has been fixed in the last version of Xamarin Forms 2.4.0 :

> 36031 - "Button border not drawn on Android without a BorderRadius" (PR)