[xamarin] How do you switch pages in Xamarin.Forms?

How do you switch between pages in Xamarin Forms?

My main page is a ContentPage and I don't want to switch to something like a Tabbed Page.

I've been able to pseudo-do it by finding parents of the controls that should trigger the new page until I find the ContentPage and then swap out the Content with controls for a new page. But this seems really sloppy.

In the App class you can set the MainPage to a Navigation Page and set the root page to your ContentPage:

public App ()
{
    // The root page of your application
    MainPage = new NavigationPage( new FirstContentPage() );
}

Then in your first ContentPage call:

Navigation.PushAsync (new SecondContentPage ());

Call:

((App)App.Current).ChangeScreen(new Map());

Create this method inside App.xaml.cs:

public void ChangeScreen(Page page)
{
     MainPage = page;
}

If you do not want to go the previous page i.e. do not let the user go back to the login screen once authorization is done, then you can use;

 App.Current.MainPage = new HomePage();

If you want to enable back functionality, just use

Navigation.PushModalAsync(new HomePage())

XAML page add this

<ContentPage.ToolbarItems>
            <ToolbarItem Text="Next" Order="Primary"
            Activated="Handle_Activated"/>

</ContentPage.ToolbarItems>   

on the CS page

 async void Handle_Activated(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
        {
            await App.Navigator.PushAsync(new PAGE());
        }

If your project has been set up as a PCL forms project (and very likely as Shared Forms as well but I haven't tried that) there is a class App.cs that looks like this:

public class App
{
    public static Page GetMainPage ()
    {     
        AuditorDB.Model.Extensions.AutoTimestamp = true;
        return new NavigationPage (new LoginPage ());
    }
}

you can modify the GetMainPage method to return a new TabbedPaged or some other page you have defined in the project

From there on you can add commands or event handlers to execute code and do

// to show OtherPage and be able to go back
Navigation.PushAsync(new OtherPage());

// to show AnotherPage and not have a Back button
Navigation.PushModalAsync(new AnotherPage()); 

// to go back one step on the navigation stack
Navigation.PopAsync();

Push a new page onto the stack, then remove the current page. This results in a switch.

item.Tapped += async (sender, e) => {
    await Navigation.PushAsync (new SecondPage ());
    Navigation.RemovePage(this);
};

You need to be in a Navigation Page first:

MainPage = NavigationPage(new FirstPage());

Switching content isn't ideal as you have just one big page and one set of page events like OnAppearing ect.

In App.Xaml.Cs:

MainPage = new NavigationPage( new YourPage());

When you wish to navigate from YourPage to the next page you do:

await Navigation.PushAsync(new YourSecondPage());

You can read more about Xamarin Forms navigation here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/xamarin-forms/app-fundamentals/navigation/hierarchical

Microsoft has quite good docs on this.

There is also the newer concept of the Shell. It allows for a new way of structuring your application and simplifies navigation in some cases.

Intro: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/xamarin/shell-xamarin-forms-4-0-getting-started/

Video on basics of Shell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y1bUAcOjZY&t=3112s

Docs: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/xamarin-forms/app-fundamentals/shell/

By using the PushAsync() method you can push and PopModalAsync() you can pop pages to and from the navigation stack. In my code example below I have a Navigation page (Root Page) and from this page I push a content page that is a login page once I am complete with my login page I pop back to the root page

~~~ Navigation can be thought of as a last-in, first-out stack of Page objects.To move from one page to another an application will push a new page onto this stack. To return back to the previous page the application will pop the current page from the stack. This navigation in Xamarin.Forms is handled by the INavigation interface

Xamarin.Forms has a NavigationPage class that implements this interface and will manage the stack of Pages. The NavigationPage class will also add a navigation bar to the top of the screen that displays a title and will also have a platform appropriate Back button that will return to the previous page. The following code shows how to wrap a NavigationPage around the first page in an application:

Reference to content listed above and a link you should review for more information on Xamarin Forms, see the Navigation section:

http://developer.xamarin.com/guides/cross-platform/xamarin-forms/introduction-to-xamarin-forms/

~~~

public class MainActivity : AndroidActivity
{
    protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle)
    {
        base.OnCreate(bundle);

        Xamarin.Forms.Forms.Init(this, bundle);
        // Set our view from the "main" layout resource
        SetPage(BuildView());
    }

    static Page BuildView()
    {
        var mainNav = new NavigationPage(new RootPage());
        return mainNav;
    }
}


public class RootPage : ContentPage
{
    async void ShowLoginDialog()
    {
        var page = new LoginPage();

        await Navigation.PushModalAsync(page);
    }
}

//Removed code for simplicity only the pop is displayed

private async void AuthenticationResult(bool isValid)
{
    await navigation.PopModalAsync();
}

In Xamarin we have page called NavigationPage. It holds stack of ContentPages. NavigationPage has method like PushAsync()and PopAsync(). PushAsync add a page at the top of the stack, at that time that page page will become the currently active page. PopAsync() method remove the page from the top of the stack.

In App.Xaml.Cs we can set like.

MainPage = new NavigationPage( new YourPage());

await Navigation.PushAsync(new newPage()); this method will add newPage at the top of the stack. At this time nePage will be currently active page.

Seems like this thread is very popular and it will be sad not to mention here that there is an alternative way - ViewModel First Navigation. Most of the MVVM frameworks out there using it, however if you want to understand what it is about, continue reading.

All the official Xamarin.Forms documentation is demonstrating a simple, yet slightly not MVVM pure solution. That is because the Page(View) should know nothing about the ViewModel and vice versa. Here is a great example of this violation:

// C# version
public partial class MyPage : ContentPage
{
    public MyPage()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        // Violation
        this.BindingContext = new MyViewModel();
    }
}

// XAML version
<?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:viewmodels="clr-namespace:MyApp.ViewModel"
    x:Class="MyApp.Views.MyPage">
    <ContentPage.BindingContext>
        <!-- Violation -->
        <viewmodels:MyViewModel />
    </ContentPage.BindingContext>
</ContentPage>

If you have a 2 pages application this approach might be good for you. However if you are working on a big enterprise solution you better go with a ViewModel First Navigation approach. It is slightly more complicated but much cleaner approach that allow you to navigate between ViewModels instead of navigation between Pages(Views). One of the advantages beside clear separation of concerns is that you could easily pass parameters to the next ViewModel or execute an async initialization code right after navigation. Now to details.

(I will try to simplify all the code examples as much as possible).

1. First of all we need a place where we could register all our objects and optionally define their lifetime. For this matter we can use an IOC container, you can choose one yourself. In this example I will use Autofac(it is one of the fastest available). We can keep a reference to it in the App so it will be available globally (not a good idea, but needed for simplification):

public class DependencyResolver
{
    static IContainer container;

    public DependencyResolver(params Module[] modules)
    {
        var builder = new ContainerBuilder();

        if (modules != null)
            foreach (var module in modules)
                builder.RegisterModule(module);

        container = builder.Build();
    }

    public T Resolve<T>() => container.Resolve<T>();
    public object Resolve(Type type) => container.Resolve(type);
}

public partial class App : Application
{
    public DependencyResolver DependencyResolver { get; }

    // Pass here platform specific dependencies
    public App(Module platformIocModule)
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        DependencyResolver = new DependencyResolver(platformIocModule, new IocModule());
        MainPage = new WelcomeView();
    }

    /* The rest of the code ... */
}

2.We will need an object responsible for retrieving a Page (View) for a specific ViewModel and vice versa. The second case might be useful in case of setting the root/main page of the app. For that we should agree on a simple convention that all the ViewModels should be in ViewModels directory and Pages(Views) should be in the Views directory. In other words ViewModels should live in [MyApp].ViewModels namespace and Pages(Views) in [MyApp].Views namespace. In addition to that we should agree that WelcomeView(Page) should have a WelcomeViewModel and etc. Here is a code example of a mapper:

public class TypeMapperService
{
    public Type MapViewModelToView(Type viewModelType)
    {
        var viewName = viewModelType.FullName.Replace("Model", string.Empty);
        var viewAssemblyName = GetTypeAssemblyName(viewModelType);
        var viewTypeName = GenerateTypeName("{0}, {1}", viewName, viewAssemblyName);
        return Type.GetType(viewTypeName);
    }

    public Type MapViewToViewModel(Type viewType)
    {
        var viewModelName = viewType.FullName.Replace(".Views.", ".ViewModels.");
        var viewModelAssemblyName = GetTypeAssemblyName(viewType);
        var viewTypeModelName = GenerateTypeName("{0}Model, {1}", viewModelName, viewModelAssemblyName);
        return Type.GetType(viewTypeModelName);
    }

    string GetTypeAssemblyName(Type type) => type.GetTypeInfo().Assembly.FullName;
    string GenerateTypeName(string format, string typeName, string assemblyName) =>
        string.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, format, typeName, assemblyName);
}

3.For the case of setting a root page we will need sort of ViewModelLocator that will set the BindingContext automatically:

public static class ViewModelLocator
{
    public static readonly BindableProperty AutoWireViewModelProperty =
        BindableProperty.CreateAttached("AutoWireViewModel", typeof(bool), typeof(ViewModelLocator), default(bool), propertyChanged: OnAutoWireViewModelChanged);

    public static bool GetAutoWireViewModel(BindableObject bindable) =>
        (bool)bindable.GetValue(AutoWireViewModelProperty);

    public static void SetAutoWireViewModel(BindableObject bindable, bool value) =>
        bindable.SetValue(AutoWireViewModelProperty, value);

    static ITypeMapperService mapper = (Application.Current as App).DependencyResolver.Resolve<ITypeMapperService>();

    static void OnAutoWireViewModelChanged(BindableObject bindable, object oldValue, object newValue)
    {
        var view = bindable as Element;
        var viewType = view.GetType();
        var viewModelType = mapper.MapViewToViewModel(viewType);
        var viewModel =  (Application.Current as App).DependencyResolver.Resolve(viewModelType);
        view.BindingContext = viewModel;
    }
}

// Usage example
<?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:viewmodels="clr-namespace:MyApp.ViewModel"
    viewmodels:ViewModelLocator.AutoWireViewModel="true"
    x:Class="MyApp.Views.MyPage">
</ContentPage>

4.Finally we will need a NavigationService that will support ViewModel First Navigation approach:

public class NavigationService
{
    TypeMapperService mapperService { get; }

    public NavigationService(TypeMapperService mapperService)
    {
        this.mapperService = mapperService;
    }

    protected Page CreatePage(Type viewModelType)
    {
        Type pageType = mapperService.MapViewModelToView(viewModelType);
        if (pageType == null)
        {
            throw new Exception($"Cannot locate page type for {viewModelType}");
        }

        return Activator.CreateInstance(pageType) as Page;
    }

    protected Page GetCurrentPage()
    {
        var mainPage = Application.Current.MainPage;

        if (mainPage is MasterDetailPage)
        {
            return ((MasterDetailPage)mainPage).Detail;
        }

        // TabbedPage : MultiPage<Page>
        // CarouselPage : MultiPage<ContentPage>
        if (mainPage is TabbedPage || mainPage is CarouselPage)
        {
            return ((MultiPage<Page>)mainPage).CurrentPage;
        }

        return mainPage;
    }

    public Task PushAsync(Page page, bool animated = true)
    {
        var navigationPage = Application.Current.MainPage as NavigationPage;
        return navigationPage.PushAsync(page, animated);
    }

    public Task PopAsync(bool animated = true)
    {
        var mainPage = Application.Current.MainPage as NavigationPage;
        return mainPage.Navigation.PopAsync(animated);
    }

    public Task PushModalAsync<TViewModel>(object parameter = null, bool animated = true) where TViewModel : BaseViewModel =>
        InternalPushModalAsync(typeof(TViewModel), animated, parameter);

    public Task PopModalAsync(bool animated = true)
    {
        var mainPage = GetCurrentPage();
        if (mainPage != null)
            return mainPage.Navigation.PopModalAsync(animated);

        throw new Exception("Current page is null.");
    }

    async Task InternalPushModalAsync(Type viewModelType, bool animated, object parameter)
    {
        var page = CreatePage(viewModelType);
        var currentNavigationPage = GetCurrentPage();

        if (currentNavigationPage != null)
        {
            await currentNavigationPage.Navigation.PushModalAsync(page, animated);
        }
        else
        {
            throw new Exception("Current page is null.");
        }

        await (page.BindingContext as BaseViewModel).InitializeAsync(parameter);
    }
}

As you may see there is a BaseViewModel - abstract base class for all the ViewModels where you can define methods like InitializeAsync that will get executed right after the navigation. And here is an example of navigation:

public class WelcomeViewModel : BaseViewModel
{
    public ICommand NewGameCmd { get; }
    public ICommand TopScoreCmd { get; }
    public ICommand AboutCmd { get; }

    public WelcomeViewModel(INavigationService navigation) : base(navigation)
    {
        NewGameCmd = new Command(async () => await Navigation.PushModalAsync<GameViewModel>());
        TopScoreCmd = new Command(async () => await navigation.PushModalAsync<TopScoreViewModel>());
        AboutCmd = new Command(async () => await navigation.PushModalAsync<AboutViewModel>());
    }
}

As you understand this approach is more complicated, harder to debug and might be confusing. However there are many advantages plus you actually don't have to implement it yourself since most of the MVVM frameworks support it out of the box. The code example that is demonstrated here is available on github.

There are plenty of good articles about ViewModel First Navigation approach and there is a free Enterprise Application Patterns using Xamarin.Forms eBook which is explaining this and many other interesting topics in detail.

After PushAsync use PopAsync (with this) to remove current page.

await Navigation.PushAsync(new YourSecondPage());
this.Navigation.PopAsync(this);

One page to another page navigation in Xamarin.forms using Navigation property Below sample code

void addClicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            //var createEmp = (Employee)BindingContext;
            Employee emp = new Employee();
            emp.Address = AddressEntry.Text;   
            App.Database.SaveItem(emp);
            this.Navigation.PushAsync(new EmployeeDetails());
  this.Navigation.PushModalAsync(new EmployeeDetails());
        }

To navigate one page to another page with in view cell Below code Xamrian.forms

 private async void BtnEdit_Clicked1(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            App.Database.GetItem(empid);
            await App.Current.MainPage.Navigation.PushModalAsync(new EmployeeRegistration(empid));
        }

Example like below

public class OptionsViewCell : ViewCell
    {
        int empid;
        Button btnEdit;
        public OptionsViewCell()
        {
        }
        protected override void OnBindingContextChanged()
        {
            base.OnBindingContextChanged();

            if (this.BindingContext == null)
                return;

            dynamic obj = BindingContext;
            empid = Convert.ToInt32(obj.Eid);
            var lblname = new Label
            {
                BackgroundColor = Color.Lime,
                Text = obj.Ename,
            };

            var lblAddress = new Label
            {
                BackgroundColor = Color.Yellow,
                Text = obj.Address,
            };

            var lblphonenumber = new Label
            {
                BackgroundColor = Color.Pink,
                Text = obj.phonenumber,
            };

            var lblemail = new Label
            {
                BackgroundColor = Color.Purple,
                Text = obj.email,
            };

            var lbleid = new Label
            {
                BackgroundColor = Color.Silver,
                Text = (empid).ToString(),
            };

             //var lbleid = new Label
            //{
            //    BackgroundColor = Color.Silver,
            //    // HorizontalOptions = LayoutOptions.CenterAndExpand
            //};
            //lbleid.SetBinding(Label.TextProperty, "Eid");
            Button btnDelete = new Button
            {
                BackgroundColor = Color.Gray,

                Text = "Delete",
                //WidthRequest = 15,
                //HeightRequest = 20,
                TextColor = Color.Red,
                HorizontalOptions = LayoutOptions.EndAndExpand,
            };
            btnDelete.Clicked += BtnDelete_Clicked;
            //btnDelete.PropertyChanged += BtnDelete_PropertyChanged;  

            btnEdit = new Button
            {
                BackgroundColor = Color.Gray,
                Text = "Edit",
                TextColor = Color.Green,
            };
            // lbleid.SetBinding(Label.TextProperty, "Eid");
            btnEdit.Clicked += BtnEdit_Clicked1; ;
            //btnEdit.Clicked += async (s, e) =>{
            //    await App.Current.MainPage.Navigation.PushModalAsync(new EmployeeRegistration());
            //};

            View = new StackLayout()
            {
                Orientation = StackOrientation.Horizontal,
                BackgroundColor = Color.White,
                Children = { lbleid, lblname, lblAddress, lblemail, lblphonenumber, btnDelete, btnEdit },
            };

        }

        private async void BtnEdit_Clicked1(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            App.Database.GetItem(empid);
            await App.Current.MainPage.Navigation.PushModalAsync(new EmployeeRegistration(empid));
        }



        private void BtnDelete_Clicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            // var eid = Convert.ToInt32(empid);
            // var item = (Xamarin.Forms.Button)sender;
            int eid = empid;
            App.Database.DeleteItem(empid);
        }

    }