Xamarin.Forms CollectionView Tutorial

Article
Developer (Beginner)
13 minutes to complete

Before attempting this tutorial, you should have successfully completed the:

Build your first Xamarin.Forms app quickstart.
StackLayout tutorial.
Grid tutorial.
Label tutorial.
Image tutorial.

In this tutorial, you learn how to:

Create a Xamarin.Forms CollectionView in XAML.
Populate the CollectionView with data.
Respond to CollectionView items being selected.
Customize the appearance of CollectionView items.

You will use Visual Studio 2019, or Visual Studio for Mac, to create a simple application that demonstrates how to customize the appearance of a CollectionView. The following screenshots show the final application:

Create a collectionview

12 minutes remaining

Visual Studio
Visual Studio for Mac

To complete this tutorial you should have Visual Studio 2019 (latest release), with the Mobile development with .NET workload installed. In addition, you will require a paired Mac to build the tutorial application on iOS. For information about installing the Xamarin platform, see Installing Xamarin. For information about connecting Visual Studio 2019 to a Mac build host, see Pair to Mac for Xamarin.iOS development.

Launch Visual Studio, and create a new blank Xamarin.Forms app named CollectionViewTutorial.

Important

The C# and XAML snippets in this tutorial requires that the solution is named CollectionViewTutorial. Using a different name will result in build errors when you copy code from this tutorial into the solution.

For more information about the .NET Standard library that gets created, see Anatomy of a Xamarin.Forms application in the Xamarin.Forms Quickstart Deep Dive.

In Solution Explorer, in the CollectionViewTutorial project, double-click MainPage.xaml to open it. Then, in MainPage.xaml, remove all of the template code and replace it with the following code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ContentPage xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
             x:Class="CollectionViewTutorial.MainPage">
    <StackLayout Margin="20,35,20,20">
        <CollectionView>
            <CollectionView.ItemsSource>
                <x:Array Type="{x:Type x:String}">
                  <x:String>Baboon</x:String>
                  <x:String>Capuchin Monkey</x:String>
                  <x:String>Blue Monkey</x:String>
                  <x:String>Squirrel Monkey</x:String>
                  <x:String>Golden Lion Tamarin</x:String>
                  <x:String>Howler Monkey</x:String>
                  <x:String>Japanese Macaque</x:String>
                </x:Array>
            </CollectionView.ItemsSource>
        </CollectionView>
    </StackLayout>
</ContentPage>

This code declaratively defines the user interface for the page, which consists of a CollectionView in a StackLayout. The CollectionView.ItemsSource property specifies the items to display, which are defined in an array of strings.

In the Visual Studio toolbar, press the Start button (the triangular button that resembles a Play button) to launch the application inside your chosen remote iOS simulator or Android emulator:

In Visual Studio, stop the application.

To complete this tutorial you should have Visual Studio for Mac (latest release), with iOS and Android platform support installed. In addition, you will also require Xcode (latest release). For more information about installing the Xamarin platform, see Installing Xamarin.

Launch Visual Studio for Mac, and create a new blank Xamarin.Forms app named CollectionViewTutorial.

Important

The C# and XAML snippets in this tutorial requires that the solution is named CollectionViewTutorial. Using a different name will result in build errors when you copy code from this tutorial into the solution.

For more information about the .NET Standard library that gets created, see Anatomy of a Xamarin.Forms application in the Xamarin.Forms Quickstart Deep Dive.

In Solution Pad, in the CollectionViewTutorial project, double-click MainPage.xaml to open it. Then, in MainPage.xaml, remove all of the template code and replace it with the following code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ContentPage xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
             x:Class="CollectionViewTutorial.MainPage">
    <StackLayout Margin="20,35,20,20">
        <CollectionView>
            <CollectionView.ItemsSource>
                <x:Array Type="{x:Type x:String}">
                  <x:String>Baboon</x:String>
                  <x:String>Capuchin Monkey</x:String>
                  <x:String>Blue Monkey</x:String>
                  <x:String>Squirrel Monkey</x:String>
                  <x:String>Golden Lion Tamarin</x:String>
                  <x:String>Howler Monkey</x:String>
                  <x:String>Japanese Macaque</x:String>
                </x:Array>
            </CollectionView.ItemsSource>
        </CollectionView>
    </StackLayout>
</ContentPage>

In the Visual Studio for Mac toolbar, press the Start button (the triangular button that resembles a Play button) to launch the application inside your chosen iOS simulator or Android emulator:

In Visual Studio for Mac, stop the application.

Populate with data

10 minutes remaining

A CollectionView is populated with data using the ItemsSource property, which is of type IEnumerable. The previous step populated the CollectionView in XAML with an array of strings. However, typically a CollectionView will be populated with data from a collection, defined in code, that implements IEnumerable.

In this exercise, you will modify the CollectionViewTutorial project to populate the CollectionView with data from a collection of objects stored in a List.

Visual Studio
Visual Studio for Mac

In Solution Explorer, in the CollectionViewTutorial project, add a class named Monkey that contains the following code:
```
public class Monkey
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Location { get; set; }
    public string ImageUrl { get; set; }

    public override string ToString()
    {
        return Name;
    }        
}
```
This code defines a Monkey object that stores a name, location, and url of an image that represents the monkey. In addition, the class overrides the ToString method to return the Name property.

In Solution Explorer, in the CollectionViewTutorial project, expand MainPage.xaml and double-click MainPage.xaml.cs to open it. Then, in MainPage.xaml.cs, remove all of the template code and replace it with the following code:

using System.Collections.Generic;
using Xamarin.Forms;

namespace CollectionViewTutorial
{
    public partial class MainPage : ContentPage
    {
        public IList<Monkey> Monkeys { get; private set; }

        public MainPage()
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            Monkeys = new List<Monkey>();
            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Baboon",
                Location = "Africa & Asia",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Papio_anubis_%28Serengeti%2C_2009%29.jpg/200px-Papio_anubis_%28Serengeti%2C_2009%29.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Capuchin Monkey",
                Location = "Central & South America",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Capuchin_Costa_Rica.jpg/200px-Capuchin_Costa_Rica.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Blue Monkey",
                Location = "Central and East Africa",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/BlueMonkey.jpg/220px-BlueMonkey.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Squirrel Monkey",
                Location = "Central & South America",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Saimiri_sciureus-1_Luc_Viatour.jpg/220px-Saimiri_sciureus-1_Luc_Viatour.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Golden Lion Tamarin",
                Location = "Brazil",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Golden_lion_tamarin_portrait3.jpg/220px-Golden_lion_tamarin_portrait3.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Howler Monkey",
                Location = "South America",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Alouatta_guariba.jpg/200px-Alouatta_guariba.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Japanese Macaque",
                Location = "Japan",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Macaca_fuscata_fuscata1.jpg/220px-Macaca_fuscata_fuscata1.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Mandrill",
                Location = "Southern Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Mandrill_at_san_francisco_zoo.jpg/220px-Mandrill_at_san_francisco_zoo.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Proboscis Monkey",
                Location = "Borneo",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Proboscis_Monkey_in_Borneo.jpg/250px-Proboscis_Monkey_in_Borneo.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Red-shanked Douc",
                Location = "Vietnam, Laos",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Portrait_of_a_Douc.jpg/159px-Portrait_of_a_Douc.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Gray-shanked Douc",
                Location = "Vietnam",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Cuc.Phuong.Primate.Rehab.center.jpg/320px-Cuc.Phuong.Primate.Rehab.center.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Golden Snub-nosed Monkey",
                Location = "China",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Golden_Snub-nosed_Monkeys%2C_Qinling_Mountains_-_China.jpg/165px-Golden_Snub-nosed_Monkeys%2C_Qinling_Mountains_-_China.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Black Snub-nosed Monkey",
                Location = "China",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/RhinopitecusBieti.jpg/320px-RhinopitecusBieti.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey",
                Location = "Vietnam",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Tonkin_snub-nosed_monkeys_%28Rhinopithecus_avunculus%29.jpg/320px-Tonkin_snub-nosed_monkeys_%28Rhinopithecus_avunculus%29.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Thomas's Langur",
                Location = "Indonesia",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Thomas%27s_langur_Presbytis_thomasi.jpg/142px-Thomas%27s_langur_Presbytis_thomasi.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Purple-faced Langur",
                Location = "Sri Lanka",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Semnopithèque_blanchâtre_mâle.JPG/192px-Semnopithèque_blanchâtre_mâle.JPG"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Gelada",
                Location = "Ethiopia",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/Gelada-Pavian.jpg/320px-Gelada-Pavian.jpg"
            });

            BindingContext = this;
        }
    }
}

This code defines a Monkeys property of type IList<Monkey> and initializes it to an empty list in the class constructor. Monkey objects are then added to the Monkeys collection, and the BindingContext of the page is set to the MainPage object. For more information about the BindingContext property, see Bindings with a Binding Context in the Xamarin.Forms Data Binding guide.

Important

The BindingContext property is inherited through the visual tree. Therefore, because it's been set on the ContentPage object, child objects of the ContentPage inherit its value, including the CollectionView.

In MainPage.xaml, modify the CollectionView declaration to set the ItemsSource property to the Monkeys collection:
```
<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Monkeys}" />
```
This code data binds the ItemsSource property to the Monkeys collection. At runtime, the CollectionView will look at its BindingContext for the Monkeys collection, and it will be populated with data from this collection. For more information about data binding, see Xamarin.Forms Data Binding.
In the Visual Studio toolbar, press the Start button (the triangular button that resembles a Play button) to launch the application inside your chosen remote OS simulator or Android emulator:

The CollectionView is displaying the Name property for each Monkey in the Monkeys collection. This is because, by default, the CollectionView calls the ToString method when displaying the objects from a collection (which has been overridden in the Monkey class to return the Name property value).

In Visual Studio, stop the application.

In Solution Pad, in the CollectionViewTutorial project, add a class named Monkey that contains the following code:
```
public class Monkey
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Location { get; set; }
    public string ImageUrl { get; set; }

    public override string ToString()
    {
        return Name;
    }
}
```
This code defines a Monkey object that stores a name, location, and url of an image that represents the monkey. In addition, the class overrides the ToString method to return the Name property.

In Solution Pad, in the CollectionViewTutorial project, expand MainPage.xaml and double-click MainPage.xaml.cs to open it. Then, in MainPage.xaml.cs, remove all of the template code and replace it with the following code:

using System.Collections.Generic;
using Xamarin.Forms;

namespace CollectionViewTutorial
{
    public partial class MainPage : ContentPage
    {
        public IList<Monkey> Monkeys { get; private set; }

        public MainPage()
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            Monkeys = new List<Monkey>();
            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Baboon",
                Location = "Africa & Asia",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Papio_anubis_%28Serengeti%2C_2009%29.jpg/200px-Papio_anubis_%28Serengeti%2C_2009%29.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Capuchin Monkey",
                Location = "Central & South America",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Capuchin_Costa_Rica.jpg/200px-Capuchin_Costa_Rica.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Blue Monkey",
                Location = "Central and East Africa",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/BlueMonkey.jpg/220px-BlueMonkey.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Squirrel Monkey",
                Location = "Central & South America",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Saimiri_sciureus-1_Luc_Viatour.jpg/220px-Saimiri_sciureus-1_Luc_Viatour.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Golden Lion Tamarin",
                Location = "Brazil",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Golden_lion_tamarin_portrait3.jpg/220px-Golden_lion_tamarin_portrait3.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Howler Monkey",
                Location = "South America",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Alouatta_guariba.jpg/200px-Alouatta_guariba.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Japanese Macaque",
                Location = "Japan",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Macaca_fuscata_fuscata1.jpg/220px-Macaca_fuscata_fuscata1.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Mandrill",
                Location = "Southern Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Mandrill_at_san_francisco_zoo.jpg/220px-Mandrill_at_san_francisco_zoo.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Proboscis Monkey",
                Location = "Borneo",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Proboscis_Monkey_in_Borneo.jpg/250px-Proboscis_Monkey_in_Borneo.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Red-shanked Douc",
                Location = "Vietnam, Laos",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Portrait_of_a_Douc.jpg/159px-Portrait_of_a_Douc.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Gray-shanked Douc",
                Location = "Vietnam",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Cuc.Phuong.Primate.Rehab.center.jpg/320px-Cuc.Phuong.Primate.Rehab.center.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Golden Snub-nosed Monkey",
                Location = "China",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Golden_Snub-nosed_Monkeys%2C_Qinling_Mountains_-_China.jpg/165px-Golden_Snub-nosed_Monkeys%2C_Qinling_Mountains_-_China.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Black Snub-nosed Monkey",
                Location = "China",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/RhinopitecusBieti.jpg/320px-RhinopitecusBieti.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey",
                Location = "Vietnam",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Tonkin_snub-nosed_monkeys_%28Rhinopithecus_avunculus%29.jpg/320px-Tonkin_snub-nosed_monkeys_%28Rhinopithecus_avunculus%29.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Thomas's Langur",
                Location = "Indonesia",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Thomas%27s_langur_Presbytis_thomasi.jpg/142px-Thomas%27s_langur_Presbytis_thomasi.jpg"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Purple-faced Langur",
                Location = "Sri Lanka",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Semnopithèque_blanchâtre_mâle.JPG/192px-Semnopithèque_blanchâtre_mâle.JPG"
            });

            Monkeys.Add(new Monkey
            {
                Name = "Gelada",
                Location = "Ethiopia",
                ImageUrl = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/Gelada-Pavian.jpg/320px-Gelada-Pavian.jpg"
            });

            BindingContext = this;
        }
    }
}

Important

In MainPage.xaml, modify the CollectionView declaration to set the ItemsSource property to the Monkeys collection:
```
<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Monkeys}" />
```
This code data binds the ItemsSource property to the Monkeys collection. At runtime, the CollectionView will look at its BindingContext for the Monkeys collection, and it will be populated with data from this collection. For more information about data binding, see Xamarin.Forms Data Binding.
In the Visual Studio for Mac toolbar, press the Start button (the triangular button that resembles a Play button) to launch the application inside your chosen iOS simulator or Android emulator:

The CollectionView is displaying the Name property for each Monkey in the Monkeys collection. This is because, by default, the CollectionView calls the ToString method when displaying the objects from a collection (which has been overridden in the Monkey class to return the Name property value).

In Visual Studio for Mac, stop the application.

Respond to item selection

6 minutes remaining

Visual Studio
Visual Studio for Mac

In MainPage.xaml, modify the CollectionView declaration so that it sets the SelectionMode property to Single, and sets a handler for the SelectionChanged event:
```
<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Monkeys}"
                SelectionMode="Single"
                SelectionChanged="OnSelectionChanged" />
```
This code sets enables single item selection in the CollectionView, and sets the SelectionChanged event to an event handler named OnSelectionChanged. The event handler will be created in the next step.
In Solution Explorer, in the CollectionViewTutorial project, expand MainPage.xaml and double-click MainPage.xaml.cs to open it. Then, in MainPage.xaml.cs, add the OnSelectionChanged event handler to the class:
```
void OnSelectionChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
    Monkey selectedItem = e.CurrentSelection[0] as Monkey;
}
```
When an item in the CollectionView is selected, the SelectionChanged event is fired, which executes the OnSelectionChanged method. The sender argument to the method is the CollectionView object responsible for firing the event, which can be used to access the CollectionView object. The SelectionChangedEventArgs argument to the OnSelectionChanged method provides the selected item.
In the Visual Studio toolbar, press the Start button (the triangular button that resembles a Play button) to launch the application inside your chosen remote iOS simulator or Android emulator:

Set a breakpoint in the OnSelectionChanged event handler and select an item in the CollectionView. Examine the value of the selectedItem variable, to ensure it contains the data for your selected item.

In Visual Studio, stop the application.

For more information about item selection, see Xamarin.Forms CollectionView selection.

In MainPage.xaml, modify the CollectionView declaration so that it sets the SelectionMode property to Single, and sets a handler for the SelectionChanged event:
```
<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Monkeys}"
                SelectionMode="Single"
                SelectionChanged="OnSelectionChanged" />
```
This code sets enables single item selection in the CollectionView, and sets the SelectionChanged event to an event handler named OnSelectionChanged. The event handler will be created in the next step.
In Solution Pad, in the CollectionViewTutorial project, expand MainPage.xaml and double-click MainPage.xaml.cs to open it. Then, in MainPage.xaml.cs, add the OnSelectionChanged event handler to the class:
```
void OnSelectionChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
    Monkey selectedItem = e.CurrentSelection[0] as Monkey;
}
```
When an item in the CollectionView is selected, the SelectionChanged event is fired, which executes the OnSelectionChanged method. The sender argument to the method is the CollectionView object responsible for firing the event, which can be used to access the CollectionView object. The SelectionChangedEventArgs argument to the OnSelectionChanged method provides the selected item.
In the Visual Studio for Mac toolbar, press the Start button (the triangular button that resembles a Play button) to launch the application inside your chosen iOS simulator or Android emulator:

Set a breakpoint in the OnSelectionChanged event handler and select an item in the CollectionView. Examine the value of the selectedItem variable, to ensure it contains the data for your selected item.

In Visual Studio for Mac, stop the application.

For more information about item selection, see Xamarin.Forms CollectionView selection.

Customize item appearance

3 minutes remaining

Previously, the CollectionView was populated with data using data binding. However, despite data binding to a collection, where each object in the collection defined multiple items of data, only a single item of data was displayed per object (the Name property of the Monkey object).

In this exercise, you will modify the CollectionViewTutorial project so that the CollectionView displays multiple items of data in each row.

Visual Studio
Visual Studio for Mac

In MainPage.xaml, modify the CollectionView declaration to customize the appearance of each item of data:

<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Monkeys}"
                SelectionMode="Single"
                SelectionChanged="OnSelectionChanged">
    <CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <Grid Padding="10"
                  RowDefinitions="Auto, *"
                  ColumnDefinitions="Auto, *">
                <Image Grid.RowSpan="2"
                       Source="{Binding ImageUrl}"
                       Aspect="AspectFill"
                       HeightRequest="60"
                       WidthRequest="60" />
                <Label Grid.Column="1"
                       Text="{Binding Name}"
                       FontAttributes="Bold" />
                <Label Grid.Row="1"
                       Grid.Column="1"
                       Text="{Binding Location}"
                       VerticalOptions="End" />
            </Grid>
        </DataTemplate>
    </CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
</CollectionView>

This code sets the CollectionView.ItemTemplate property to a DataTemplate, which defines the appearance of each item in the CollectionView. The child of the DataTemplate is a Grid, which contains an Image object and two Label objects. The Image object data binds its Source property to the ImageUrl property of each Monkey object, while the Label objects bind their Text properties to the Name and Location properties of each Monkey object.

For more information about CollectionView item appearance, see Define item appearance. For more information about data templates, see Xamarin.Forms Data Templates.

In the Visual Studio toolbar, press the Start button (the triangular button that resembles a Play button) to launch the application inside your chosen remote iOS simulator or Android emulator:

In Visual Studio, stop the application.

In MainPage.xaml, modify the CollectionView declaration to customize the appearance of each item of data:

<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Monkeys}"
                SelectionMode="Single"
                SelectionChanged="OnSelectionChanged">
    <CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <Grid Padding="10"
                  RowDefinitions="Auto, *"
                  ColumnDefinitions="Auto, *">
                <Image Grid.RowSpan="2"
                       Source="{Binding ImageUrl}"
                       Aspect="AspectFill"
                       HeightRequest="60"
                       WidthRequest="60" />
                <Label Grid.Column="1"
                       Text="{Binding Name}"
                       FontAttributes="Bold" />
                <Label Grid.Row="1"
                       Grid.Column="1"
                       Text="{Binding Location}"
                       VerticalOptions="End" />
            </Grid>
        </DataTemplate>
    </CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
</CollectionView>

For more information about CollectionView item appearance, see Define item appearance. For more information about data templates, see Xamarin.Forms Data Templates.

In the Visual Studio for Mac toolbar, press the Start button (the triangular button that resembles a Play button) to launch the application inside your chosen iOS simulator or Android emulator:

In Visual Studio for Mac, stop the application.

Share via

Xamarin.Forms CollectionView Tutorial

Create a collectionview

Populate with data

Respond to item selection

Customize item appearance

Congratulations!

Next steps

Share via

Xamarin.Forms CollectionView Tutorial

Create a collectionview

Populate with data

Respond to item selection

Customize item appearance

Congratulations!

Next steps

Related links