Creating a Floating Label Layout in Xamarin.Forms DataForm

The Syncfusion Xamarin.Forms DataForm supports a floating label layout that includes features such as assistive labels, leading and trailing icons, and a password toggle icon to show or hide a password. It enhances the user experience of filling the DataForm by showing hints and error messages in a more intuitive way. In this blog, I will explain how to add a floating label layout in Xamarin.Forms DataForm control.

Before reading further, go through the Getting Started with Xamarin.Forms DataForm documentation.

Adding the floating label layout in the DataForm

By default, the DataForm arranges editors and their labels corresponding to data fields in the stack layout. You can enable the floating label layout in Xamarin.Forms DataForm by setting the LayoutOptions property of the DataForm or DataFormItem to TextInputLayout.

Refer to the following code.

<dataForm:SfDataForm x:Name="dataForm" LayoutOptions="TextInputLayout">
 <dataForm:SfDataForm/>

Editors supported in DataForm floating label layout

The Xamarin.Forms DataForm supports the floating label layout for the following editors:

Text editor
Password editor
Masked edit text editor
Numeric editor
Multiline text editor
Date editor
Time editor
Picker editor
Drop-down editor
Autocomplete editor

Features of DataForm floating label layout

Important features of the floating label layout are:

Different container types
Leading and trailing views
Assistive labels
Color customizations

Container types

Containers help us enhance the appearance of the editor views and provide some contrast between editors and assistive labels. The three container types are:

Outlined
Filled
None

Refer to the following code.

<dataForm:SfDataForm
        x:Name="dataForm"
          ContainerType="Outlined">
</dataForm:SfDataForm>

The default container type is Outlined. You can also set the container type to Filled and None.

Leading and trailing views

Adding a leading icon helps indicate the expected input types, such as birth dates, phone numbers, or passwords. Use the trailing icons to include clear buttons, error icons, voice input symbols, and drop-down symbols.

To add these icons, use the LeadingView and TrailingView properties in the TextInputLayoutSettings of the DataFormItem. Use the LeadingViewPosition and TrailingViewPosition properties to change the position of the leading and trailing views respectively.

Refer to the following code example.

dataForm.AutoGeneratingDataFormItem += DataForm_AutoGeneratingDataFormItem;

private void DataForm_AutoGeneratingDataFormItem1(object sender, AutoGeneratingDataFormItemEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.DataFormItem != null)
    {
        if (e.DataFormItem.Name.Equals("ContactNumber"))
        {
            e.DataFormItem.TextInputLayoutSettings = new TextInputLayoutSettings()
            {
                LeadingView = new Label()
                {
                    VerticalTextAlignment = Device.RuntimePlatform == Device.iOS ? TextAlignment.Center : TextAlignment.Start,
                    FontSize = Device.RuntimePlatform == Device.iOS ? 18 : 24,
                    Text = "F",
                    FontFamily = Device.RuntimePlatform == Device.iOS ? "ContactsIcons" :
                                                            Device.RuntimePlatform == Device.Android ? "ContactsIcons.ttf#ContactsIcons" : "Assets/Fonts/ContactsIcons.ttf#ContactsIcons"
                },

                TrailingView = new Label()
                {
                    VerticalTextAlignment = Device.RuntimePlatform == Device.iOS ? TextAlignment.Center : TextAlignment.Start,
                    FontSize = Device.RuntimePlatform == Device.iOS ? 18 : 24,
                    Text = "A",
                    FontFamily = Device.RuntimePlatform == Device.iOS ? "ContactsIcons" : Device.RuntimePlatform == Device.Android ? "ContactsIcons.ttf#ContactsIcons" : "Assets/Fonts/ContactsIcons.ttf#ContactsIcons"
                },
            };
        }
    }
}

Helper text, error text, and character counter

Displaying helper and error texts is essential to all types of form-filling. With these assistive labels, we can communicate to the users what type of input is expected. We can also show error messages when the typed input is not in the expected format.

Helper text label

Display a watermark in the editor fields to provide a hint for users. It can be set using Prompt. The helper text in the Xamarin.Forms DataForm floating label layout can be collapsed by setting the ShowHelperText to false in the DataForm or TextInputLayoutSettings.

Refer to the following code.

<dataForm:SfDataForm x:Name=”dataForm” LayoutOptions=”TextInputLayout" ShowHelperText="False">
  <dataForm:SfDataForm/>

Validation label

Also, the Xamarin.Forms DataForm allows you to display validation messages for the data provided.

Refer to the following code example.

private string _Name;

[Required(AllowEmptyStrings = false, ErrorMessage = "Name should not be empty")]
[StringLength(10, ErrorMessage = "Name should not exceed 10 characters")]
public string Name
{
    get { return this._Name; }
    set
    {
        this._Name = value;
        this.RaisePropertyChanged("Name");
    }
}

Counter label

Use this label to display the character count limitation in a given form field validation. To enable this feature, set the ShowCharCount property to true. The character limit can be set using the StringLength attribute.

Refer to the following code example.

dataForm.AutoGeneratingDataFormItem += DataForm_AutoGeneratingDataFormItem;

private void DataForm_AutoGeneratingDataFormItem(object sender, AutoGeneratingDataFormItemEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.DataFormItem != null && e.DataFormItem.Name == "Password")
    {
        e.DataFormItem.ShowCharCount = true;
    }
}

private string _Password;

[Required(AllowEmptyStrings = false, ErrorMessage = "Password should not be empty")]
[StringLength(10, ErrorMessage = "Password should not exceed 10 characters")]
public string Password
{
    get { return this._Password; }
    set
    {
        this._Password = value;
        this.RaisePropertyChanged("Password");
    }
}

Color customizations

Customize the in-focus, out-of-focus, error, valid message, and container colors to enrich the appearance of your application.

Refer to the following code example.

dataForm.AutoGeneratingDataFormItem += DataForm_AutoGeneratingDataFormItem;
dataForm.ContainerBackgroundColor = Color.Silver;

private void DataForm_AutoGeneratingDataFormItem1(object sender, AutoGeneratingDataFormItemEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.DataFormItem != null)
    {
        if (e.DataFormItem.Name == "Name")
        {
            e.DataFormItem.FocusedColor = Color.Violet;
            e.DataFormItem.UnfocusedColor = Color.Silver;
            e.DataFormItem.ErrorMessageColor = Color.DarkRed;
            e.DataFormItem.ValidMessageColor = Color.BlueViolet;
        }
    }
}

GitHub repository

You can get the complete code example for the Xamarin.Forms DataForm with floating labels on GitHub.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading! In this blog post, we’ve discussed how to add a floating label layout in our Xamarin.Forms DataForm control. This feature helps modernize the look of your data form by showing assistive labels, leading and trailing icons, and more. For more details, go through our floating label layout in Xamarin DataForm documentation. Try out the procedures in this blog post and leave your comments in the feedback section below!

The Syncfusion Xamarin suite has over 155 controls from basic editors to powerful, advanced controls like DataGrid, Charts, ListView, and RTE. Use them to build mesmerizing applications!

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