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In a Xamarin Forms app, I am trying to create a custom Entry implementation that does not automatically display the soft keyboard when it is focused. The goal is to use one instance of this entry alongside other conventional entries on a page.

I am familiar with the recommended Xamarin Forms pattern for custom view rendering, and have successfully created both the Entry and its renderer, as follows:

public class BlindEntry : Entry
{
}

[assembly: ExportRenderer(typeof(BlindEntry), typeof(BlindEntryRenderer))]

public class BlindEntryRenderer : EntryRenderer
{
    protected override void OnElementChanged(ElementChangedEventArgs<Entry> e)
    {
        base.OnElementChanged(e);

        if (Control != null)
        {
            Control.FocusChange += Control_FocusChange;
        }
    }

    private void Control_FocusChange(object sender, FocusChangeEventArgs e)
    {
        if (e.HasFocus)
        {
            // What goes here?
        }
        else
        {
            // What goes here?
        }
    }
}

To show and hide the soft keyboard, I imagine one of the recommendations from this question will provide the solution, but there are many different opinions on which is the best approach. Also, even after choosing a suitable pattern, I am not clear how to access the required native Android APIs from within the above custom renderer.

For example, I know that I can obtain a reference to an InputMethodManager using the following call (from within an Activity), but it is not obvious how to reference the containing activity from inside the renderer:

var imm = GetSystemService(InputMethodService)

Thanks, in advance, for your suggestions.

Tim

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Tim Coulter
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1 Answers1

1

Try this instead inside OnElementChanged():

Control.InputType = Android.Text.InputTypes.Null;

This will prevent the keyboard from appearing when selecting the Entry without having to check its focus.

=== Edit ===

Turns out there is actually the ShowSoftInputOnFocus property available for doing exactly this.

Control.ShowSoftInputOnFocus = false;
jimmgarr
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  • This looks like a very elegant solution, but the assignment is ignored. If I set a breakpoint immediately after setting the InputType property value, I can see that it is set to Android.Text.InputTypes.DatetimeVariationNormal. – Tim Coulter Jul 28 '16 at 07:45
  • I dont think this is working. Using Control.ShowSoftInputOnFocus = false; will still show then hide keyboard causing it to briefly be visible. This is not desired effect; instead it should prevent keyboard from showing up entirely rather than showing, then hiding it. – pixel Dec 24 '18 at 15:59