Xamarin.Forms Autocomplete CrossPlatform

Question

I am a newbie to Xamarin.Forms Platform. I hope you can help me in moving ahead. I want to have a control like autocomplete in xamarin.forms like below

_{(source: codetheory.in)}

Can you please guide how can it be achievable in Xamarin.Forms? I want to achieve it with the Entry Control

TIA

Answer 1

You haven't included what exactly you want, just some sort of autocomplete.

I'll bullet point the Manual way to do it in general for a List of items:

1. Use a TextBox to allow the user to input text.
2. Use a List to gather all your objects together with their searchable property such as the object Name.
3. As the user types something in the TextBox, the app should search in the List for the String entered in the TextBox.
4. The suggestions should be displayed, according to the String value typed, in a ListView under the TextBox.
5. User clicks on the ListView item, which is a suggestion, and then that autocompletes by taking the object Name from the item clicked on, to the TextBox.

A general way of doing autocomplete without the long rough procedure above is to use the Android AutoCompleteTextView.

You can still use the basic logic to do it in Xamarin Forms.

Look here for the AutoCompleteTextView for Android. Look here, here and here for help with AutoComplete in Xamarin Forms.

Answer 2

I have a Xamarin.Forms custom control you can use that works with iOS, Android and UWP. It uses custom renderers to provide native UI under the covers. I built this because I didn't find any control that provided a good native experience and didn't change the height of the control when the dropdown opens. All the doc + reference to the NuGet package is available here: https://github.com/dotMorten/XamarinFormsControls/tree/master/AutoSuggestBox

Answer 3

I have implemented an AutocompleteView in my project. You can refer it.

public class AutoCompleteView : ContentView
{
    public static readonly BindableProperty SuggestionsProperty = BindableProperty.Create(nameof(Suggestions), typeof(IEnumerable), typeof(AutoCompleteView), null, BindingMode.OneWay, null, OnSuggestionsChanged);
    public static readonly BindableProperty SearchTextProperty = BindableProperty.Create(nameof(SearchText), typeof(string), typeof(AutoCompleteView), null, BindingMode.TwoWay, null, OnSearchTextChanged);
    public static readonly BindableProperty PlaceholderProperty = BindableProperty.Create(nameof(Placeholder), typeof(string), typeof(AutoCompleteView), null, BindingMode.OneWay, null, OnPlaceholderChanged);
    public static readonly BindableProperty MaximumVisibleSuggestionItemsProperty = BindableProperty.Create(nameof(MaximumVisibleSuggestionItems), typeof(int), typeof(AutoCompleteView), 4);
    public static readonly BindableProperty SuggestionItemTemplateProperty = BindableProperty.Create(nameof(SuggestionItemTemplate), typeof(DataTemplate), typeof(AutoCompleteView), null, BindingMode.OneWay, null, OnSuggestionItemTemplateChanged);
    public static readonly BindableProperty DisplayPropertyNameProperty = BindableProperty.Create(nameof(DisplayPropertyName), typeof(string), typeof(AutoCompleteView));

    public IEnumerable Suggestions
    {
        get { return (IEnumerable)GetValue(SuggestionsProperty); }
        set { SetValue(SuggestionsProperty, value); }
    }

    public string SearchText
    {
        get { return (string)GetValue(SearchTextProperty); }
        set { SetValue(SearchTextProperty, value); }
    }

    public string Placeholder
    {
        get { return (string)GetValue(PlaceholderProperty); }
        set { SetValue(PlaceholderProperty, value); }
    }

    public int MaximumVisibleSuggestionItems
    {
        get { return (int)GetValue(MaximumVisibleSuggestionItemsProperty); }
        set { SetValue(MaximumVisibleSuggestionItemsProperty, value); }
    }

    public DataTemplate SuggestionItemTemplate
    {
        get { return (DataTemplate)GetValue(SuggestionItemTemplateProperty); }
        set { SetValue(SuggestionItemTemplateProperty, value); }
    }

    public string DisplayPropertyName
    {
        get { return (string)GetValue(DisplayPropertyNameProperty); }
        set { SetValue(DisplayPropertyNameProperty, value); }
    }

    public ItemsStack SuggestionsListView { get; private set; }
    public Entry SearchEntry { get; private set; }
    public IEnumerable OriginSuggestions { get; private set; }
    public NestedScrollView SuggestionWrapper { get; private set; }
    public Grid Container { get; private set; }

    public bool IsSelected { get; private set; }
    public int TotalNumberOfTypings { get; private set; }

    private static void OnSuggestionsChanged(object bindable, object oldValue, object newValue)
    {
        var autoCompleteView = bindable as AutoCompleteView;

        var suggestions = (IEnumerable)newValue;
        autoCompleteView.OriginSuggestions = suggestions;

        suggestions = autoCompleteView.FilterSuggestions(suggestions, autoCompleteView.SearchText);
        autoCompleteView.SuggestionsListView.ItemsSource = suggestions;
    }

    private static void OnSearchTextChanged(object bindable, object oldValue, object newValue)
    {
        var autoCompleteView = bindable as AutoCompleteView;

        var suggestions = autoCompleteView.OriginSuggestions;
        if (newValue != null)
        {
            suggestions = autoCompleteView.FilterSuggestions(suggestions, autoCompleteView.SearchText);
            // assign when initializing with data
            if (autoCompleteView.SearchEntry.Text != autoCompleteView.SearchText)
            {
                autoCompleteView.SearchEntry.Text = autoCompleteView.SearchText;
            }
        }
        autoCompleteView.SuggestionsListView.ItemsSource = suggestions;

        if (Device.OS == TargetPlatform.Android)
        {
            // update the layout -> only do this when user is typing instead of selection an item from suggestions list 
            // -> prevent duplicated update layout
            if (!autoCompleteView.IsSelected)
            {
                autoCompleteView.UpdateLayout();
            }
            else
            {
                autoCompleteView.IsSelected = false;
            }
        }
    }

    private static void OnSuggestionItemTemplateChanged(object bindable, object oldValue, object newValue)
    {
        var autoCompleteView = bindable as AutoCompleteView;

        if (autoCompleteView.SuggestionsListView != null)
        {
            autoCompleteView.SuggestionsListView.ItemTemplate = autoCompleteView.SuggestionItemTemplate;
        }
    }

    public IEnumerable FilterSuggestions(IEnumerable suggestions, string keyword)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(keyword) || suggestions == null) return suggestions;

        var searchWords = keyword.ConvertToNonMark().ToLower().Split(new string[] { " " }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
        var result = suggestions.Cast<object>();
        foreach (var item in searchWords)
        {
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(DisplayPropertyName))
            {
                result = result.Where(x => x.GetType().GetRuntimeProperty(DisplayPropertyName).GetValue(x).ToString().ConvertToNonMark().ToLower().Contains(item)).ToList();
            }
            else
            {
                result = result.Where(x => x.ToString().ConvertToNonMark().ToLower().Contains(item)).ToList();
            }
        }

        return result;
    }

    private static void OnPlaceholderChanged(object bindable, object oldValue, object newValue)
    {
        var autoCompleteView = bindable as AutoCompleteView;
        autoCompleteView.SearchEntry.Placeholder = newValue?.ToString();
    }

    public void UpdateLayout()
    {
        var expectedHeight = this.getExpectedHeight();
        Container.HeightRequest = expectedHeight;
        Container.ForceLayout();
    }

    private void SearchEntry_TextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        TotalNumberOfTypings++;
        Device.StartTimer(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(1000), () => {
            TotalNumberOfTypings--;
            if (TotalNumberOfTypings == 0)
            {
                SearchText = e.NewTextValue;
            }
            return false;
        });
    }

    private void SearchEntry_Focused(object sender, FocusEventArgs e)
    {
        UpdateLayout();
        IsSelected = false;
    }

    private void SearchEntry_Unfocused(object sender, FocusEventArgs e)
    {
        Container.HeightRequest = 50;
        Container.ForceLayout();
    }

    private void SuggestionsListView_ItemSelected(object sender, ItemTappedEventArgs e)
    {
        IsSelected = true;
        SearchEntry.Text = !string.IsNullOrEmpty(DisplayPropertyName) ? e.Item?.GetType()?.GetRuntimeProperty(DisplayPropertyName)?.GetValue(e.Item)?.ToString() : e.Item?.ToString();
        Container.HeightRequest = 50;
        Container.ForceLayout();
    }

    private void OverlapContentView_Tapped(object sender, TappedEventArgs e)
    {
        UpdateLayout();
        IsSelected = false;

     }

    private int getExpectedHeight()
    {
        var items = SuggestionsListView.ItemsSource as IList;
        int wrapperHeightRequest = items != null ?
            (items.Count >= MaximumVisibleSuggestionItems ? MaximumVisibleSuggestionItems * 40 : items.Count * 40) : 0;
        if (Device.OS == TargetPlatform.Android)
        {
            return wrapperHeightRequest + 50;
        }
        return MaximumVisibleSuggestionItems * 40 + 50;
    }

    public AutoCompleteView()
    {
        Container = new Grid();
        SearchEntry = new Entry();
        SuggestionsListView = new ItemsStack();
        SuggestionWrapper = new NestedScrollView();

        // init Grid Layout
        Container.RowSpacing = 0;
        Container.ColumnDefinitions.Add(new ColumnDefinition() { Width = GridLength.Star });
        Container.RowDefinitions.Add(new RowDefinition() { Height = GridLength.Star });
        Container.RowDefinitions.Add(new RowDefinition() { Height = 50 });
        Container.HeightRequest = 50;

        // init Search Entry
        SearchEntry.HorizontalOptions = LayoutOptions.Fill;
        SearchEntry.VerticalOptions = LayoutOptions.Fill;
        SearchEntry.TextChanged += SearchEntry_TextChanged;
        SearchEntry.Unfocused += SearchEntry_Unfocused;
        SearchEntry.Focused += SearchEntry_Focused;

        // init Suggestions ListView
        SuggestionsListView.BackgroundColor = Color.White;
        SuggestionsListView.ItemTapped += SuggestionsListView_ItemSelected;
        SuggestionsListView.VerticalOptions = LayoutOptions.End;
        SuggestionsListView.Spacing = 1;

        // suggestions Listview's wrapper
        SuggestionWrapper.VerticalOptions = LayoutOptions.Fill;
        SuggestionWrapper.Orientation = ScrollOrientation.Vertical;
        SuggestionWrapper.BackgroundColor = Color.White;
        SuggestionWrapper.Content = SuggestionsListView;

        Container.Children.Add(SuggestionWrapper);
        Container.Children.Add(SearchEntry, 0, 1);

        this.Content = Container;
    }
}

Usage example:

<customControls:AutoCompleteView SearchText="{Binding User.UniversitySchool}" Suggestions="{Binding Schools}" DisplayPropertyName="Name" Placeholder="Please choose your school">
                    <customControls:AutoCompleteView.SuggestionItemTemplate>
                        <DataTemplate>
                            <ContentView Padding="10">
                                <Label Text="{Binding Name}" HeightRequest="20" LineBreakMode="HeadTruncation" Style="{StaticResource MainContentLabel}" />
                            </ContentView>
                        </DataTemplate>
                    </customControls:AutoCompleteView.SuggestionItemTemplate>
                </customControls:AutoCompleteView>

In this view, I used the ItemStack control. You can refer this: https://gist.github.com/NVentimiglia/2723411428cdbb72fac6

Answer 4

Please read these articles and try to implement solution on Xamarin.Forms using Custom Renderers.

Google Place API with Autocomplete in Xamarin Android

Xamarin.iOS Location Autocomplete by using Google Place API