How to customize the input direction of custom text editor in platform renderer?
For data type string, text editor will be created, and Entry control will be loaded in Xamarin DataForm and you can customize the data form text editor in each platform renderer by registering custom text editor to change the appearance or default style of native control. This article demonstrates the customizing the input direction of text editor in SfDataForm.
Please refer the more details about custom Entry renderer support in Xamarin.Forms.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/xamarin-forms/app-fundamentals/custom-renderer/entry
Please refer the below link for more details about renderer and native control customization support in Xamarin.Forms platform.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/xamarin-forms/app-fundamentals/custom-renderer/renderers
First of all, you should register the custom editor in SfDataForm as follows using DataFormEditor calss which is used to add new editor in SfDataForm. Here `Entry` will be loaded as custom editor.
Code example in Xamarin.Forms project.
public MainPage()
{
InitializeComponent();
var expenseInfo = new ExpenseInfo();
// CustomEditor Registration
dataForm.RegisterEditor("CustomTextEditor ", new CustomEditor(dataForm));
dataForm.RegisterEditor("Name", " CustomTextEditor ");
dataForm.DataObject = expenseInfo;
}
public class CustomEditor : DataFormEditor<CustomEntry>
{
public CustomEditor(SfDataForm dataForm) : base(dataForm)
{
}
protected override void OnInitializeView(DataFormItem dataFormItem, CustomEntry view)
{
view.Text = "CustomTextEditor";
}
protected override CustomEntry OnCreateEditorView()
{
return new CustomEntry();
}
}
public class CustomEntry : Entry
{
public CustomEntry()
{
}
}
}
You can customize the `Entry` Editor loaded in SfDataForm by using EntryRenderer class.
And EntryRenderer allows you to customize the default native rendering by using `OnElementChanged` override method which is used to renders the native controls or customized control with their own platform specific appearance.
On Android platform, `EntryRenderer` class instantiates an EditText control and changed its Gravity value as Right in order to change the default input flow direction in text editor of SfDataForm.
Code example in Xamarin.Forms.Android project.
using Xamarin.Forms;
using Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android;
[assembly: ExportRenderer(typeof(MyEntry), typeof(CustomEntryRenderer))]
namespace GettingStarted
{
public class CustomEntryRenderer : EntryRenderer
{
protected override void OnElementChanged(ElementChangedEventArgs<Entry> e)
{
base.OnElementChanged(e);
if (e.NewElement != null && this.Control != null)
{
this.Control.Gravity = Android.Views.GravityFlags.Right;
}
}
}
}
On iOS platform, `EntryRenderer` class instantiates an UITextField control and changed its TextAlignment value as Right in order to change the default input flow direction in text editor.
Code example in Xamarin.Forms.iOS project.
using Xamarin.Forms.Platform.iOS;
[assembly: ExportRenderer(typeof(MyEntry), typeof(CustomEntryRenderer))]
namespace GettingStarted
{
public class CustomEntryRenderer : EntryRenderer
{
protected override void OnElementChanged(ElementChangedEventArgs<Entry> e)
{
base.OnElementChanged(e);
if (e.NewElement != null && this.Control != null)
{
this.Control.TextAlignment = UITextAlignment.Right;
}
}
}
}
Like for UWP platform, `EntryRenderer` class instantiates an TextBox control and changed its FlowDirection value as RightToLeft to change the default input flow direction in text editor.
Code example in Xamarin.Forms.UWP project.
using Xamarin.Forms.Platform.UWP;
[assembly: ExportRenderer(typeof(MyEntry), typeof(CustomEntryRenderer))]
namespace GettingStarted
{
public class CustomEntryRenderer : EntryRenderer
{
protected override void OnElementChanged(ElementChangedEventArgs<Entry> e)
{
base.OnElementChanged(e);
if (e.NewElement != null && this.Control != null)
this.Control.FlowDirection = Windows.UI.Xaml.FlowDirection.RightToLeft;
}
}
}
Please download the sample from below link.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed learning about how to customize the input direction of custom text editor in platform renderer.
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